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Volkswagen to Make Electricity in Your Basement

September 15, 2009 By 27 Comments
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Power from the LichtBlick decentralized system can be supplied to the grid quickly. In the first year of production, 2010, these will only be available in Germany, where almost half of their electricity is expected to be renewable by 2020.

Because they are highly efficient, these home CHP units already reduce CO2 emissions by up to 60 percent, compared with conventional heat and power generation using natural gas. Each EcoBlue unit consists of a natural gas engine that powers a electricity generation unit; while the exhaust gas is captured for the heating component.

But in future iterations, the plants will run on biogas, a renewable energy source with no impact on the climate. Says Kemfert: “the most ecological would be to feed these mini-plants with biogas” rather than natural gas.”

Volkswagen sees these home power units as amortizing their design investment; adding a new use for their natural gas engine engineering expertize. Instead of using energy only for transportation, they will be using it to power the grid. First volume production begins at their Salzgitter engine factory. Each unit will cost around $7,300.

From De Siegel:

“The centerpiece of the new mini powerplant system is a natural-gas-powered engine used in some Volkswagen Golf models. Thanks to the engine’s highly intelligent design — and the fact that the heat it produces can be directly used to heat the house — the efficiency factor of the Volkswagen mini thermal powerplant lies at around 94 percent.

To understand how that is an improvement over the current situation, you first have to know that the efficiency factor of your average nuclear power plant is only between 30 percent and 40 percent and that even modern coal- and gas-fired powerplants only reach an efficiency factor of between 40 percent and 60 percent. ”

More details from De Siegel:

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About Susan Kraemer

Susan Kraemer writes at CleanTechnica, Earthtechling, and GreenProphet and has been published at Ecoseed, NRDC OnEarth, MatterNetwork, Celsius, EnergyNow and Scientific American.

As a former serial entrepreneur in product design she brings an innovator's perspective on inventing a carbon-constrained civilization: If necessity is the mother of invention: solving climate change is the mother of all necessities! As a lover of history and sci fi, she enjoys chronicling the strange future we are creating in these interesting times. 

Follow Susan @dotcommodity on twitter.

  • http://www.gasfurnacereview.com/ gas furnace

     Hi,
    Thanks for sharing the information….I glad to read this blog by Volkswagen…

  • pariah

    Sure would be a good option if solar storms take out the grid, no?

  • pariah

    Sure would be a good option if solar storms take out the grid, no?

  • grupa jurgena

    Witamy pomysł jest dobry potrzeba czasu żeby to wszystko zgrać – benzyna czy olej opałowy, to się kłuci z ekologią samochody agregaty elektrownie węglowe, to nie pozwoli nam iść w stronę dobrego klimatu, nigdy nie uda się nam dojście do ochrony klimatu, powiecie Krytyką nie na problemu, więc jak ten pomysł rozwiązać. Powie ktoś marzenia nowe źródła energetyczne i tu widzimy jaskółkę Urządzenia w piwnicy 20 kw niekorzystające z gazu czy ropy czy benzyny ich praca, cicha zasili dom i nadmiar do miejskiej sieci energetycznej, to jest wizja rozwiązania tematu czy daleka powiemy, że wyłania się nam z popiołów to, co będzie nas grzało i dawało energię do sieci to samo będzie napędzać nasze samochody elektryczne o niesamowitym zasięgu, da nam energii nadmiarze, wszyscy powiecie ta wizja jest nie realna marzenia grupy Jurgena. To od was zależy, kiedy ją wszyscy chcemy musimy się zmienić, ale wszyscy ci, co są blisko ropy gazu czy kasy powiemy to kilka miesięcy do wyjaśnienia sobie czy świat zacznie się zmieniać, gdy dostanie nową energię

  • grupa jurgena

    Witamy pomysł jest dobry potrzeba czasu żeby to wszystko zgrać – benzyna czy olej opałowy, to się kłuci z ekologią samochody agregaty elektrownie węglowe, to nie pozwoli nam iść w stronę dobrego klimatu, nigdy nie uda się nam dojście do ochrony klimatu, powiecie Krytyką nie na problemu, więc jak ten pomysł rozwiązać. Powie ktoś marzenia nowe źródła energetyczne i tu widzimy jaskółkę Urządzenia w piwnicy 20 kw niekorzystające z gazu czy ropy czy benzyny ich praca, cicha zasili dom i nadmiar do miejskiej sieci energetycznej, to jest wizja rozwiązania tematu czy daleka powiemy, że wyłania się nam z popiołów to, co będzie nas grzało i dawało energię do sieci to samo będzie napędzać nasze samochody elektryczne o niesamowitym zasięgu, da nam energii nadmiarze, wszyscy powiecie ta wizja jest nie realna marzenia grupy Jurgena. To od was zależy, kiedy ją wszyscy chcemy musimy się zmienić, ale wszyscy ci, co są blisko ropy gazu czy kasy powiemy to kilka miesięcy do wyjaśnienia sobie czy świat zacznie się zmieniać, gdy dostanie nową energię

  • http://www.forgreenheat.org John Ackerly

    I think this is fantastic concept, and should also be developed to run off of wood pellets. I’d like to see life-cycle analysis of wood pellets compared to biogas to power these thermal units. Austria is already leader in pellet central furnaces that provide domestic hot water and heat – but not electricity.

  • http://www.forgreenheat.org John Ackerly

    I think this is fantastic concept, and should also be developed to run off of wood pellets. I’d like to see life-cycle analysis of wood pellets compared to biogas to power these thermal units. Austria is already leader in pellet central furnaces that provide domestic hot water and heat – but not electricity.

  • Paul

    @Richard (Dick Smith?)

    –A commentor who has no actual comment on the story!– Bring it on mate!!

    Have you read about truck stop plug-in sites being installed across the US? So resting truck drivers can turn off their engines instead of running them for hours just to power their AC systems. At idle the Diesel runs at all of 3% energy efficiency (emissions = energy LOL) and now local residents can get some piece and quite (noise = energy LOL)

    A nuclear bomb = energy…. what is your point??

    This VW system is meant to be based in residential areas. I don’t see any mention of it being intended for areas only zoned for industrial levels of noise. Having just returned from an event where diesel gen sets ran 24 hours a day to provide lighting… I am well aware of the noise and vibration they make, even when insulated from the ground by tires.

    Even a small 2 hp air compressor can generate significant disturbance in a quiet residential neighborhood, and they only make noise, they don’t pump out noxious fumes!

    The ‘green’ movement is meant to be getting away from ICEs not finding new ways for auto manufacturers to sell more of them!

  • Paul

    @Richard (Dick Smith?)

    –A commentor who has no actual comment on the story!– Bring it on mate!!

    Have you read about truck stop plug-in sites being installed across the US? So resting truck drivers can turn off their engines instead of running them for hours just to power their AC systems. At idle the Diesel runs at all of 3% energy efficiency (emissions = energy LOL) and now local residents can get some piece and quite (noise = energy LOL)

    A nuclear bomb = energy…. what is your point??

    This VW system is meant to be based in residential areas. I don’t see any mention of it being intended for areas only zoned for industrial levels of noise. Having just returned from an event where diesel gen sets ran 24 hours a day to provide lighting… I am well aware of the noise and vibration they make, even when insulated from the ground by tires.

    Even a small 2 hp air compressor can generate significant disturbance in a quiet residential neighborhood, and they only make noise, they don’t pump out noxious fumes!

    The ‘green’ movement is meant to be getting away from ICEs not finding new ways for auto manufacturers to sell more of them!

  • http://greenoptions.com/author/susan Susan Kraemer

    @Richard

    :-)

  • http://greenoptions.com/author/susan Susan Kraemer

    @Richard

    :-)

  • Richard Smith

    ”I’d also like to point out the noise and emissions from such an ICE are not mentioned. Ever tried to get some sleep within earshot of a diesel genset?”

    noise= energy

    emissions = energy

    ( my comment = totally uninformed layman’s quick impression after skim reading )

  • Richard Smith

    ”I’d also like to point out the noise and emissions from such an ICE are not mentioned. Ever tried to get some sleep within earshot of a diesel genset?”

    noise= energy

    emissions = energy

    ( my comment = totally uninformed layman’s quick impression after skim reading )

  • Paul

    I’d have to say 94% is a misleading exaggeration! A regular gasoline fueled ICE is at best 30% energy efficient at the flywheel. They’re talking about running an ICE on natural gas, a fuel with even lower energy density than petroleum.

    Based on the Gasoline figure simple math says they are claiming a whopping 64% of their energy generation from waste heat which might fly if they’re talking about Germany in the middle of winter, but is a gross exaggeration for the rest of the year. That much heat energy can simply not be used in a domestic house year round.

    I’d also like to point out the noise and emissions from such an ICE are not mentioned. Ever tried to get some sleep within earshot of a diesel genset? LOL

  • Paul

    I’d have to say 94% is a misleading exaggeration! A regular gasoline fueled ICE is at best 30% energy efficient at the flywheel. They’re talking about running an ICE on natural gas, a fuel with even lower energy density than petroleum.

    Based on the Gasoline figure simple math says they are claiming a whopping 64% of their energy generation from waste heat which might fly if they’re talking about Germany in the middle of winter, but is a gross exaggeration for the rest of the year. That much heat energy can simply not be used in a domestic house year round.

    I’d also like to point out the noise and emissions from such an ICE are not mentioned. Ever tried to get some sleep within earshot of a diesel genset? LOL

  • http://energyjustice.org Marty

    But where are we getting this gas from? I don’t know about in Germany, but over here in the US, thousands of acres of arable land and billions of gallons of drinkable water are being poisoned in an effort to extract this so-called clean energy.

    You can’t forget to look at the extraction side of things!

    http://www.energyjustice.net/naturalgas/

  • http://energyjustice.org Marty

    But where are we getting this gas from? I don’t know about in Germany, but over here in the US, thousands of acres of arable land and billions of gallons of drinkable water are being poisoned in an effort to extract this so-called clean energy.

    You can’t forget to look at the extraction side of things!

    http://www.energyjustice.net/naturalgas/

  • http://greenoptions.com/author/susan Susan Kraemer

    Tom, you write it comparing cost, power and heat output of the Capstone, Freewatt and EcoBlue CHP

    :-) We need more writers. There’s so much news.

  • http://greenoptions.com/author/susan Susan Kraemer

    Tom, you write it comparing cost, power and heat output of the Capstone, Freewatt and EcoBlue CHP

    :-) We need more writers. There’s so much news.

  • Tom Lakosh

    I wish they had an English website, but 94% total efficiency is very impressive, probably necessitating both block cooling and exhaust heat capture. Susan, can you do another article comparing cost, power and heat output of the Capstone, Freewatt and EcoBlue CHP systems? Given the large amount of waste heat in these systems, it might be advantageous to add an Organic Rankine Cycle generator to improve the power to heat ratio. The design of the stratified heat storage tank is also critical for efficient heat capture and storage.

  • Tom Lakosh

    I wish they had an English website, but 94% total efficiency is very impressive, probably necessitating both block cooling and exhaust heat capture. Susan, can you do another article comparing cost, power and heat output of the Capstone, Freewatt and EcoBlue CHP systems? Given the large amount of waste heat in these systems, it might be advantageous to add an Organic Rankine Cycle generator to improve the power to heat ratio. The design of the stratified heat storage tank is also critical for efficient heat capture and storage.

  • http://greenoptions.com/author/susan Susan Kraemer

    Ben; the money you could make would depend on

    a. if you have a Feed in Tarfiff available where you live and

    b. if it would cover CHP.

    CHP is not a classic “renewable” like solar etc, though worthy.

    One city I know is considering a FIT that will pay for CHP in California, Sacramento’s SMUD:

    http://cleantechnica.com/2009/08/17/smud-offers-unusual-feed-in-tariff-but-not-as-good-as-gainesvilles/

    Germany, where this is being pioneered, has the best FIT in the world for solar, but this arrangement with Volkswagen and LightBlick only lowers their energy costs for energy customers hosting this.

    But wouldn’t a Feed in Tariff be perfect for this.

    MD – thanks – great info

  • http://greenoptions.com/author/susan Susan Kraemer

    Ben; the money you could make would depend on

    a. if you have a Feed in Tarfiff available where you live and

    b. if it would cover CHP.

    CHP is not a classic “renewable” like solar etc, though worthy.

    One city I know is considering a FIT that will pay for CHP in California, Sacramento’s SMUD:

    http://cleantechnica.com/2009/08/17/smud-offers-unusual-feed-in-tariff-but-not-as-good-as-gainesvilles/

    Germany, where this is being pioneered, has the best FIT in the world for solar, but this arrangement with Volkswagen and LightBlick only lowers their energy costs for energy customers hosting this.

    But wouldn’t a Feed in Tariff be perfect for this.

    MD – thanks – great info

  • MD

    Honda already makes something similar: http://www.hondanews.com/categories/1048/releases/4880

    Makes sense for VW to follow suit.

    If you have any generator that uses some form of IC engine, and that engine is cooled via a fluid in contained with a water jacket, you can run the coolant to an indoor storage tank in any building and run heaters off of it or run it through a heat exchanger for domestic hot water…

    You end up with electricity, heat and warm water…

  • MD

    Honda already makes something similar: http://www.hondanews.com/categories/1048/releases/4880

    Makes sense for VW to follow suit.

    If you have any generator that uses some form of IC engine, and that engine is cooled via a fluid in contained with a water jacket, you can run the coolant to an indoor storage tank in any building and run heaters off of it or run it through a heat exchanger for domestic hot water…

    You end up with electricity, heat and warm water…

  • Ben

    This would be great to have during a power outage too.

    that $7300 price tag is steep though. How much do you think you would make back in personal savings and selling to the grid (minus the cost of the gas to create that electricity)?

    Is there a business model where the $7300 device could be installed for free and then you just pay monthly? Like a cell phone plan where you get the phone for free if you commit to a long contract?

  • Ben

    This would be great to have during a power outage too.

    that $7300 price tag is steep though. How much do you think you would make back in personal savings and selling to the grid (minus the cost of the gas to create that electricity)?

    Is there a business model where the $7300 device could be installed for free and then you just pay monthly? Like a cell phone plan where you get the phone for free if you commit to a long contract?

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