Storing renewable electricity in molecules can solve two problems at once: first of all environmentally harmful CO2 can be used as a feedstock, and secondly it can enhance the capacity to store renewable electricity in chemical bonds for long periods of time. The latter is necessary because traditional batteries do not yet have the capacity to ensure enough flexibility, stability and security to store wind and solar energy on a large scale for extended time periods. Utrecht University researchers published a Perspective article on the status quo of “power to methane” earlier this month in Nature Catalysis.