Natural gas power plants can use about 20 percent less fuel
when the sun is shining by injecting solar energy into natural gas with a new
system being developed by the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National
Laboratory. The system converts natural gas and sunlight into a more
energy-rich fuel called syngas, which power plants can burn to make
electricity.
"Our system will enable power plants to use less
natural gas to produce the same amount of electricity they already make,"
said PNNL engineer Bob Wegeng, who is leading the project. "At the same
time, the system lowers a power plant's greenhouse gas emissions at a cost
that's competitive with traditional fossil fuel power."