Welcome to the energy system of the future

Decarbonization means replacing fossil fuels that contain carbon with climate-friendly alternatives for the production of energy.

Significantly reducing CO₂ emissions is the most important thing we can do to achieve effective climate protection – and a key step in the transformation toward sustainable energy systems. The good news is that we are on the right track. In recent years, the share of renewable energies in electricity generation has drastically increased, thanks to the use of wind power, solar energy, hydropower, biomass, and geothermal energy, for example. This type of energy generation is more eco-friendly and causes lower CO₂ emissions than the use of fossil fuels.

We are achieving decarbonization through:

• The electrification of systems and applications that were run on fossil fuels in the past.
• The increased use of renewable energies, low-emission fuels, and hydrogen.
• The application of technologies that remove CO₂ from industrial processes or the ambient air.

Green hydrogen plays a key role in decarbonization. It can be produced using renewable energies and used without any detrimental effect in terms of carbon footprint. Green hydrogen makes industry less dependent on fossil fuels. What’s more, short-term energy surpluses from solar farms, wind farms, and hydroelectric power stations can also be put to use if they are converted into hydrogen and kept in long-term storage facilities. Renewable energies like solar and wind are subject to fluctuations depending on the weather, season, and time of day. Therefore, hydrogen, when being used in combination with renewable energy sources and battery storage, becomes the unifying element that delivers a stable power supply.

Digitalization is a binary constituent of future energy systems in more ways than one – it presents us with both challenges and opportunities.

On the one hand, exchanging data in networked systems uses increasing amounts of energy – but, on the other hand, this networking can also boost the efficiency of energy management in systems.

In future energy systems, digitalization will help:

• Flexibly adjust the energy supply in line with the demand for energy.
• Boost efficiency in the supply, transmission, and consumption of energy.
• Cut the costs of energy systems.

One particularly promising approach is the use of digital twins as a way of virtually mapping real systems. These digital twins can be used to monitor, analyze, and maintain technical systems remotely in real time. This form of modeling promises greater efficiency and lower operating costs, especially when it comes to large production systems.

Decentralization means producing energy as close as possible to the locations where it will be used, e.g. in the form of electricity.

Decentralized production will mean big changes to energy supplies for consumers, because transport routes are shorter and the systems are smaller. Decentralized electricity generation leads to less dependence on large distribution grids, speeds up the transformation toward sustainably produced electricity, and makes it easier to supply power in line with current demand.

The benefits of decentralized energy systems:

• Smaller systems can adapt to local circumstances perfectly and use renewable energies that are available locally.
• Consumers who generate their own electricity, e.g. by means of photovoltaic systems, can feed it into the local power grid more easily. They become prosumers rather than consumers, thereby cutting their energy costs.
• Disruption to, or failure of, local energy grids affects fewer customers, and back-up solutions provide a safeguard.

If local energy grids generate surplus electricity, this can be stored locally. In this context, hydrogen produced in electrolysis systems that run on renewable energy is an important addition to battery storage. As a source of energy that is suitable for universal use, hydrogen can be utilized for mobility applications, as a raw material and process gas in industry, or for reconversion for feeding into electricity grids. Hydrogen therefore boosts the availability of energy that is produced using climate-friendly methods for a whole host of applications.

The energy landscape of 2050 will be shaped by one key element – hydrogen.

This gas is one of the most abundant chemical elements in the universe. There is certainly nothing new about the idea of using hydrogen for technical purposes. This highly volatile and very flammable gas, which is colorless and odorless under normal conditions, has long since been used in industry as a process gas and fuel.

However, the hydrogen that is used in industry today – and this is the key difference compared to the energy system of 2050 – is primarily produced from methane, which is the main constituent of natural gas. This chemical process generates large amounts of CO₂ as a by-product. When this environmentally harmful CO₂ is released into the atmosphere without first undergoing any further chemical treatment, the associated hydrogen is known as “gray hydrogen” – and this currently makes up around 95 percent of the hydrogen produced globally.

We can therefore only take those all-important steps toward the future by using green hydrogen. This is produced from water in electrolysis systems, using electricity from renewable sources. The reaction products of this electrochemical process are hydrogen and oxygen. No CO₂ emissions are produced, so water electrolysis is a climate-friendly process.

Green hydrogen produced in this way is the key element of the energy system of the future – and a vital constituent that is suitable for universal use.

• In its molecular form, hydrogen is an energy source, and its potential can be used by converting it into electrons – in other words, into electricity.
• When converted into electricity in fuel cell vehicles, green hydrogen is a CO₂-neutral fuel that is suitable for trucks, buses, and rail vehicles, for example. Hydrogen internal-combustion engines are also CO₂-neutral mobility applications.
• In stationary fuel cells, hydrogen supplies the building sector with electrical energy. If the process heat that is generated is utilized for heating or air conditioning purposes, the overall efficiency of the systems increases to 90 percent.
• Hydrogen is also used to store energy. When systems that generate electricity produce a surplus, this electrical energy can be converted into hydrogen so it can then be stored and transported. Hydrogen can be transported by pumping it through pipelines in its pure form or by converting it into chemical derivatives, such as ammonia or methanol.
• Industry uses green hydrogen as a raw material for many chemical products and as a fuel for energy-intensive processes.

Energy is a precious resource, and managing it intelligently helps cut costs and reduce CO₂ emissions.

Energy efficiency means achieving a desired result, using as little energy as possible. To give an example from everyday life, LED lights produce the same level of brightness as other lights, but they use a lot less electrical energy to do so.

On a larger scale, electric vehicles are around two to four times more energy-efficient than vehicles with an internal-combustion engine, while heat pumps are up to five times more efficient than heating systems that use fossil fuels. Saving energy and resources in industrial production has great potential for increasing energy efficiency.

The technology that is available today offers many levers for reducing energy consumption:

• Use of energy-saving technologies.
• Energy- and resource-efficient products and production processes in industry.
• Use of automation and digitalization.
• Electrification of processes and applications.

Last but not least, every single person’s awareness and behavior has a significant impact on their personal energy consumption.

Industrializing technological innovations is one of our strengths.

On this basis, we supply electrolysis components for producing hydrogen on a large scale – in other words, components that are suitable for applications in the industrial environment.

• For high demand: The Bosch PEM electrolysis stack is used in high-volume production facilities that are producing hydrogen with a capacity of hundreds of megawatts.
• For flexible use: The electrolysis units can be integrated into buildings or installed as stand-alone production systems.
• For high-volume consumption: Suitable for industrial processes, such as producing ammonia and methanol in the chemical industry.

Our decentralized solutions help ensure that hydrogen is produced in the locations where it is needed.

When systems grow and demand rises, our PEM electrolysis stack can be integrated into container solutions that can be expanded flexibly as required.

• Practical capacity: up to 10 megawatts.
• Production directly at the site of consumption: no transport costs, e.g. to cover the industrial plant’s own needs.
• Solution for hydrogen fueling stations: on-site production supplements or replaces fuel deliveries.
• Solution for wind or solar farms: generated electrical energy is converted directly into hydrogen, which can then be transported to consumers through pipelines or in tankers.

Bosch SOFC fuel cell systems meet the high demands of industry and commerce for a reliable energy supply.

A reliable, cost-effective energy supply is an absolute must for commercial users – and efficiency and sustainability are also high up on the list of requirements. Bosch SOFC systems can meet these challenges and supply heat and electricity in a way that is efficient, cost-effective, scalable, and environmentally friendly.

• Decentralized solution: A Bosch SOFC fuel cell system can be installed wherever energy is required.
• Flexible use: The systems can be installed in buildings or as a containerized solution, and can be expanded as required.
• Scalable as needed: from 100 kilowatts up to the megawatt range.
• Low-emission: When run on green hydrogen that is produced using electricity from renewable energy sources, the SOFC systems supply electricity and heat without any CO₂ emissions.
• Fuel flexibility: The SOFC system can be operated using biomethane or natural gas. If hydrogen is available, the system can also operate on a natural gas-hydrogen mixture or pure hydrogen as fuel.

When it comes to energy management in data centers, a reliable power supply is absolutely paramount.

Other important factors include cost-effective, energy-efficient operation, even when data volumes rise exponentially, combined with ever-increasing computing capacity and performance. SOFC systems that operate in parallel with the grid can plug any gaps in the supply – or prevent these from arising in the first place. This makes the data center more resilient to any disruption in the power supply. Thanks to their flexibility, efficiency, and security of supply, Bosch SOFC systems offer a dependable solution for data centers’ growing requirements in terms of reliability and efficiency.

• Fast installation: Boasting a flexible, modular design, the systems are easily scalable and can be adapted in line with energy requirements.
• Flexible choice of location: Data centers can be built wherever computing power is needed – independent of the power grid or grid capacity.
• High efficiency: If the process heat generated in the fuel cell systems is used, e.g. to cool IT infrastructure via absorption or adsorption coolers or to heat neighboring buildings, or is fed into district heating grids, the overall efficiency of the systems increases to up to 90 percent.
• Resilience: The modular design of the SOFC systems makes them resistant to disruption. If individual units fail, the overall system can compensate accordingly. Another benefit is that maintenance work can be carried out on SOFC units while they are still running.

Although many buildings in our towns and cities are already powered with electricity from renewable energies, a more flexible solution will be needed for the efficient and reliable energy supply of the future.

Our SOFC system offers an innovative solution for balancing out fluctuations in the power supply from public grids. It is designed to be run on hydrogen, natural gas, or biomethane.

• Decentralized supply of electricity and heat: Our SOFC systems offer a direct, on-site supply of energy for building complexes or urban quarters.
• Increased resilience: With SOFC systems, security of supply can be achieved independently of grid stability.
• Equivalent efficiency and costs: The efficiency and operating costs of our Bosch SOFC systems are comparable to those of conventional power supply systems such as co-generation plants, district heating, and electricity drawn from the grid.
• Use of waste heat: With the Bosch SOFC system, waste heat that is generated by the process can be used for heating or cooling processes, thereby significantly boosting the economic efficiency of the system.