Reconsidering the role of electricity under the scenario of high renewable energy penetration

With the growing penetration of intermittent and fluctuating renewable energy sources, global and domestic energy systems are changing rapidly and traditional power grids are facing dramatic challenges. Under this scenario, the role of electricity should be reconsidered: it can not only directly meet the power demand of end users but also be converted into and stored as chemical energy. In this perspective, two routes of realizing this role transition of electricity are discussed, which are the electrified fuel conversion and the electrified fuel synthesis. Electricity can facilitate the traditional conversion of carbon-based fuels (e. g., the fuel reforming and gasification processes) by both electrified heating and electrochemical enhancement of reaction kinetics. For the fuel synthesis, the H 2 O and CO 2 electrolysis, the direct and indirect electrochemical synthesis of both carbonaceous fuels and ammonia are highlighted for enabling diverse fuel options in the future. Finally, the importance of electricity in fuel separation and compression is also emphasized to achieve efficient interconnection between different energy networks.