Optimal Strategy for Using Biomass to enable California High Penetration Solar

Slowing climate change requires reducing emissions of carbon dioxide. So, moving towards a 100% renewable energy grid is paramount. Solar energy has great potential but identifying how to provide power when the sun sets and during the winter is a challenge. Here we focus on how to use biomethane to reduce the size of that challenge. We analyze strategies for using biomethane and identify the novel Allam cycle technology instead of the current Combined Cycle Gas Turbines (CCGT). We use a simple approach to identify the best combination between solar and the Allam cycle to enable high penetration of solar.