Power-to-X

What is Power-to-X?

The process for producing a synthetic energy carrier using electricity is known as ‘Power-to-X’ (or PtX for short). In a first step, water is split into its components hydrogen (H) and oxygen (O) in a so-called electrolyser using electricity (power). The hydrogen is then either used directly as a fuel or processed further. For the latter, it is fed into a reactor together with carbon dioxide (CO₂) or nitrogen (N₂), which is obtained from industrial exhaust air or directly from the atmosphere.

Depending on the reactor type, different products (‘X’) are created from the starting materials H₂ and CO₂ or N₂. These can be gaseous (‘power-to-gas’, e.g. methane or ammonia), liquid (‘power-to-liquid’, e.g. paraffin) or solid (‘power-to-solid’, e.g. plastics). Products from power-to-X processes are therefore very diverse, but always electricity-based.