Domestic generation game

Combined heat and power (CHP) generation systems are well established in municipal and industrial settings, but one day it is hoped that homes could have their own domestic electrical energy storage system, providing heating, power, refrigeration and air conditioning.

The universities of

,

and

are collaborating with

and

universities and the Beijing Institute of Engineering Thermophysics in China to develop a biofuel micro-trigeneration system, which will include a cryogenic-based energy storage system.

'The whole system has a generator which will produce electricity for domestic use. It will also generate waste heat, which will be used to provide heating, hot water, and to heat or convert the cryogen in the energy storage system,' said Leeds University's Prof Yulong Ding.

The system will take in surplus electricity during off-peak hours and use this to help produce a cryogen from a gaseous input, such as air. By producing the cryogen, the system is therefore storing energy. During peak demand, the system expands the cryogen (waste heat from the generator heats the cryogen) to convert it into a liquid and release the stored energy, generating electricity in the process.