Carbon-hydride energy storage system

The carbon-hydride energy storage system stores hydrogen, which is difficult to handle, in the form of the stable liquid methylcyclohexane, thereby making it easy to transport and keep hydrogen in long-term storage as an energy medium. Since this makes it easy to convert energy into hydrogen for storage and reuse, it can contribute to the stable supply of renewable energy such as wind power, which fluctuates greatly. Expectations are high for this system as a means of improving Japan's energy self-sufficiency ratio by helping expand the use of renewable energy and accelerating the achievement of a low-carbon hydrogen society. Based on a 2011 contract with the National Institute of Polar Research, we have been working in the city of Nikaho in Akita Prefecture on the development of a practical version of this system while acquiring basic data that will, among other things, help improve the energy self-sufficiency ratio of Antarctica in the future.