[throwawayzRUU6f]

I'm surprised why this path isn't discussed as a viable option forward, especially given how much attention is given to hydrogen, despite mountains of likely insurmountable engineering challenges that surround H2.

Production of natural gas is a somewhat inefficient, but infinitely scalable battery for renewables.

My cynical take is that there's no hype to be generated around power-to-natural-gas, and people hyping up hydrogen don't want the public to know that most of originates from breaking fossil fuels.

[adrianN]

This path is in fact being discussed. Power2Gas for seasonal storage is a key part of all plans for decarbonization that I'm aware of. There are already a number of demo P2G plants in operation.

[throwawayzRUU6f]

> Power2Gas for seasonal storage is a key part of all plans for decarbonization that I'm aware of

That's my understanding, too; amongst the technocrats and field-experts, power-to-gas is taken very seriously. However, amongst the public and the press, even the pop-science press, it's scarcely ever mentioned. Hydrogen, batteries, biofuels, carbon capture, and even fusion all enjoy vastly more attention. I cannot think of any explanation that wouldn't be cynical or sinister

[Ericson2314]

I think the reason is a lot similar: any time we strip the oxygen from C20 that's carbon capture, and we aught to rebury the stuff.

These biofuels only look good when one forgets we need to put a lot of carbon back into the ground, and the latter is already one of the most expensive parts of the transition.

biofuels for air transport make sense, simply because there might be no alternative, and in conjunction with basically limiting air travel to trans-oceanic routes. But it absolutely doesn't make sense for electricity generation.