Wind cycles and the rise of alcohol technology

If the wind blows at night but nobody is consuming electricity then, what is the value of wind farms? Matt Kahn

Talking about this article:

ELKINS, W.Va. — Another wind farm opened on another windy ridge in West Virginia this week, 61 turbines stretched across 12 miles, generating up to 98 megawatts of electricity. But the novel element is a cluster of big steel boxes in the middle, the largest battery installation attached to the power grid in the continental United States. NYT

The issue here is the great stumbling block, how to store energy. Matt suggests storing the energy in electric cars at night. I suggest the industrial goal here is the generation of alcohol with atomic level nanotech. Look at the idea of the methanol economy The energy storage of methanol, its easy manufacture combined with nanotech based conversion and we have the winning fuel storage. The link as the appropriate equations:

More importantly, methanol can also be produced from CO₂ by catalytic hydrogenation of CO₂ with H₂ where the hydrogen has been obtained from water electrolysis. Methanol may also be produced through CO₂ electrochemical reduction, if electrical power is available. The energy needed for these reactions in order to be carbon neutral would come from renewable energy sources such as wind, hydroelectricity and solar as well as nuclear power. In effect, all of them allow free energy to be stored in easily transportable methanol, which is made immediately from hydrogen and carbon dioxide, rather than attempting to store energy in free hydrogen.

CO₂ + 3H₂ → CH₃OH + H₂O

CO₂ +2H₂O + electrons → CO + 2H₂ (+ 3/2 O₂) → CH₃OH

The best source of O2 is from the ocean. So the methanol economy starts with electricity from wind driving active methanol generation at coastal stations. Use the electricity to supply free electrons to nanotech hydrogenation process, getting vaporous CO2 and H2O from sea water. I will become he human search engine in this project.

Go here and read up on some exciting results of new intermediate forms of CO2 that make hydrogenation much ore efficient.