Germany

With the growing need for decarbonization the future gas demand will decrease and the necessity of a gas distribution network is at stake. A remaining industrial gas demand on the distribution network level could lead to industry becoming the main gas consumer supplied by the gas distribution network leading to the question: can industry keep the gas distribution network alive? To answer this research question a three-stage analysis was conducted starting from a rough estimate of average gas demand per production site and then increasing the level of detail. This paper shows that about one third of the German industry sites investigated are currently supplied by the gas distribution network. While the steel industry offers new opportunities the food and tobacco industry alone cannot sustain the gas distribution network by itself.

The accident at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in March 2011 caused by an earthquake and a subsequent tsunami resulted in a failure of the power systems that are needed to cool the reactors at the plant. The accident progression in the absence of heat removal systems caused Units 1-3 to undergo fuel melting. Containment pressurization and hydrogen explosions ultimately resulted in the escape of radioactivity from reactor containments into the atmosphere and ocean. Problems in containment venting operation leakage from primary containment boundary to the reactor building improper functioning of standby gas treatment system (SGTS) unmitigated hydrogen accumulation in the reactor building were identified as some of the reasons those added-up in the severity of the accident. The Fukushima accident not only initiated worldwide demand for installation of adequate control and mitigation measures to minimize the potential source term to the environment but also advocated assessment of the existing mitigation systems performance behavior under a wide range of postulated accident scenarios. The uncertainty in estimating the released fraction of the radionuclides due to the Fukushima accident also underlined the need for comprehensive understanding of fission product behavior as a function of the thermal hydraulic conditions and the type of gaseous aqueous and solid materials available for interaction e.g. gas components decontamination paint aerosols and water pools. In the light of the Fukushima accident additional experimental needs identified for hydrogen and fission product issues need to be investigated in an integrated and optimized way. Additionally as more and more passive safety systems such as passive autocatalytic recombiners and filtered containment venting systems are being retrofitted in current reactors and also planned for future reactors identified hydrogen and fission product issues will need to be coupled with the operation of passive safety systems in phenomena oriented and coupled effects experiments. In the present paper potential hydrogen and fission product issues raised by the Fukushima accident are discussed. The discussion focuses on hydrogen and fission product behavior inside nuclear power plant containments under severe accident conditions. The relevant experimental investigations conducted in the technical scale containment THAI (thermal hydraulics hydrogen aerosols and iodine) test facility (9.2 m high 3.2 m in diameter and 60 m3 volume) are discussed in the light of the Fukushima accident.

In this work the mechanical milling of a FeTiMn alloy for hydrogen storage purposes was performed in an industrial milling device. The TiFe hydride is interesting from the technological standpoint because of the abundance and the low cost of its constituent elements Ti and Fe as well as its high volumetric hydrogen capacity. However TiFe is difficult to activate usually requiring a thermal treatment above 400 °C. A TiFeMn alloy milled for just 10 min in a 100 L industrial milling device showed excellent hydrogen storage properties without any thermal treatment. The as-milled TiFeMn alloy did not need any activation procedure and showed fast kinetic behavior and good cycling stability. Microstructural and morphological characterization of the as-received and as-milled TiFeMn alloys revealed that the material presents reduced particle and crystallite sizes even after such short time of milling. The refined microstructure of the as-milled TiFeMn is deemed to account for the improved hydrogen absorption-desorption properties.

This report commissioned by the Hydrogen Council and announced in conjunction with the launch of the initiative at the World Economic Forum in January 2017 details the future potential that hydrogen is ready to provide and sets out the vision of the Council and the key actions it considers fundamental for policy makers to implement to fully unlock and empower the contribution of hydrogen to the energy transition.

In this paper we explore the role of hydrogen in the energy transition including its potential recent achievements and challenges to its deployment. We also offer recommendations to ensure that the proper conditions are developed to accelerate the deployment of hydrogen technologies with the support of policymakers the private sector and society.

You can download the full report from the Hydrogen Council website here

Deployed at scale hydrogen could account for almost one-fifth of total final energy consumed by 2050. This would reduce annual CO2 emissions by roughly 6 gigatons compared to today’s levels and contribute roughly 20% of the abatement required to limit global warming to two degrees Celsius.

On the demand side the Hydrogen Council sees the potential for hydrogen to power about 10 to 15 million cars and 500000 trucks by 2030 with many uses in other sectors as well such as industry processes and feedstocks building heating and power power generation and storage. Overall the study predicts that the annual demand for hydrogen could increase tenfold by 2050 to almost 80 EJ in 2050 meeting 18% of total final energy demand in the 2050 two-degree scenario. At a time when global populations are expected to grow by two billion people by 2050 hydrogen technologies have the potential to create opportunities for sustainable economic growth.

“The world in the 21st century must transition to widespread low carbon energy use” said Takeshi Uchiyamada Chairman of Toyota Motor Corporation and co-chair of the Hydrogen Council. “Hydrogen is an indispensable resource to achieve this transition because it can be used to store and transport wind solar and other renewable electricity to power transportation and many other things. The Hydrogen Council has identified seven roles for hydrogen which is why we are encouraging governments and investors to give it a prominent role in their energy plans. The sooner we get the hydrogen economy going the better and we are all committed to making this a reality.”

Achieving such scale would require substantial investments; approximately US$20 to 25 billion annually for a total of about US$280 billion until 2030. Within the right regulatory framework – including long-term stable coordination and incentive policies – the report considers that attracting these investments to scale the technology is feasible. The world already invests more than US$1.7 trillion in energy each year including US$650 billion in oil and gas US$300 billion in renewable electricity and more than US$300 billion in the automotive industry.

“This study confirms the place of hydrogen as a central pillar in the energy transition and encourages us in our support of its large-scale deployment. Hydrogen will be an unavoidable enabler for the energy transition in certain sectors and geographies. The sooner we make this happen the sooner we will be able to enjoy the needed benefits of Hydrogen at the service of our economies and our societies” said Benoît Potier Chairman and CEO Air Liquide. “Solutions are technologically mature and industry players are committed. We need concerted stakeholder efforts to make this happen; leading this effort is the role of the Hydrogen Council.”

The launch of the new roadmap came during the Sustainability Innovation Forum in the presence of 18 senior members of the Hydrogen led by co-chairs Takeshi Uchiyamada Chairman of Toyota and Benoît Potier Chairman and CEO Air Liquide and accompanied by Prof. Aldo Belloni CEO of The Linde Group Woong-chul Yang Vice Chairman of Hyundai Motor Company and Anne Stevens Board Member of Anglo American. During the launch the Hydrogen Council called upon investors policymakers and businesses to join them in accelerating deployment of hydrogen solutions for the energy transition. It was also announced that Woong-chul Yang of Hyundai Motor Company will succeed Takeshi Uchiyamada of Toyota in the rotating role of the Council’s co-chair and preside the group together with Benoit Potier CEO Air Liquide in 2018. Mr Uchiyamada is planning to return as Co-chairman in 2020 coinciding with the Tokyo Olympic and Paalympic Games an important milestone for showcasing hydrogen society and mobility.

You can download the full report from the Hydrogen Council website here

Achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement requires increased global climate action especially towards the production and use of synthetic e-fuels. This paper focuses on aviation and maritime transport and the role of green hydrogen for indirect electrification of industry sectors. Based on a sound analysis of existing multilateral cooperation the paper proposes four potential initiatives to increase climate ambition of the G20 countries in the respective policy field: a Sustainable e-Kerosene Alliance a Sustainable e-fuel Alliance for Maritime Shipping a Hard-to-Abate Sector Partnership and a Global Supply-demand-partnership.

The full report can be found here on the Umweltbundesamt website

Since the addition of Al to high-Mn steels is known to reduce their sensitivity to hydrogen-induced delayed fracture we investigate possible trapping effects connected to the presence of Al in the grain interior employing density-functional theory (DFT). The role of Al-based precipitates is also investigated to understand the relevance of short-range ordering effects. So-called E21-Fe3AlC κ-carbides are frequently observed in Fe-Mn-Al-C alloys. Since H tends to occupy the same positions as C in these precipitates the interaction and competition between both interstitials is also investigated via DFT-based simulations. While the individual H–H/C–H chemical interactions are generally repulsive the tendency of interstitials to increase the lattice parameter can yield a net increase of the trapping capability. An increased Mn content is shown to enhance H trapping due to attractive short-range interactions. Favorable short-range ordering is expected to occur at the interface between an Fe matrix and the E21-Fe3AlC κ-carbides which is identified as a particularly attractive trapping site for H. At the same time accumulation of H at sites of this type is observed to yield decohesion of this interface thereby promoting fracture formation. The interplay of these effects evident in the trapping energies at various locations and dependent on the H concentration can be expressed mathematically resulting in a term that describes the hydrogen embrittlement

This study investigates the global allocation of hydrogen and synfuels in order to achieve the well below 2 ◦C preferably 1.5 ◦C target set in the Paris Agreement. For this purpose TIMES Integrated Assessment Model (TIAM) a global energy system model is used. In order to investigate global hydrogen and synfuel flows cost potential curves are aggregated and implemented into TIAM as well as demand technologies for the end use sectors. Furthermore hydrogen and synfuel trades are established using liquid hydrogen transport (LH2 ) and both new and existing technologies for synfuels are implemented. To represent a wide range of possible future events four different scenarios are considered with different characteristics of climate and security of supply policies. The results show that in the case of climate policy the renewable energies need tremendous expansion. The final energy consumption is shifting towards the direct use of electricity while certain demand technologies (e.g. aviation and international shipping) require hydrogen and synfuels for full decarbonization. Due to different security of supply policies the global allocation of hydrogen and synfuel production and exports is shifting while the 1.5 ◦C target remains feasible in the different climate policy scenarios. Considering climate policy Middle East Asia is the preferred region for hydrogen export. For synfuel production several regions are competitive including Middle East Asia Mexico Africa South America and Australia. In the case of security of supply policies Middle East Asia is sharing the export volume with Africa while only minor changes can be seen in the synfuel supply.

The effective usage of renewable energy sources requires ways of storage and delivery to balance energy demand and availability divergences. Carbon-free chemical energy carriers are proposed solutions converting clean electricity into stable media for storage long-distance energy trade and on-demand electricity generation. Among them hydrogen (H2) is noteworthy being the subject of significant investment and research. Metal fuels such as iron (Fe) represent another promising solution for a clean energy supply but establishing an interconnected ecosystem still requires considerable research and development. This work proposes a model to assess the supply chain characteristics of hydrogen and iron as clean carbon-free energy carriers and then examines case studies of possible trade routes between the potential energy exporters Morocco Saudi Arabia and Australia and the energy importers Germany and Japan. The work comprises the assessment of economic (levelized cost of electricity - LCOE) energetic (thermodynamic efficiency) and environmental (CO2 emissions) aspects which are quantified by the comprehensive model accounting for the most critical processes in the supply chain. The assessment is complemented by sensitivity and uncertainty analyses to identify the main drivers for energy costs. Iron is shown to be lower-cost and more efficient to transport in longer routes and for long-term storage but potentially more expensive and less efficient than H2 to produce and convert. Uncertainties related to the supply chain specifications and the sensitivity to the used variables indicate that the path to viable energy carriers fundamentally depends on efficient synthesis conversion storage and transport. A break-even analysis demonstrated that clean energy carriers could be competitive with conventional energy carriers at low renewable energy prices while carbon taxes might be needed to level the playing field. Thereby green iron shows potential to become an important energy carrier for long-distance trade in a globalized clean energy market.

While the share of renewable energy sources increased within the last years with an ongoing upward trend the energy sector is facing the problem of storing large amounts of electrical energy properly. To compensate daily and seasonal fluctuations a sufficient storage system has to be developed. The storage of hydrogen in the subsurface referred to as Underground Hydrogen Storage (UHS) shows potential to be a solution for this problem. Hydrogen produced from excess energy via electrolysis is injected into a subsurface reservoir and withdrawn when required. As hydrogen possesses unique thermodynamic properties many commonly used correlations can not be simply transferred to a system with a high hydrogen content. Mixing processes with the present fluids are essential to be understood to achieve high storage efficiencies. Additionally in the past microbial activity e.g. by methanogenic archaea was observed leading to a changing fluid composition over time. To evaluate the capability of reservoir simulators to cover these processes the present study establishes a benchmark scenario of an exemplary underground hydrogen storage scenario. The benchmark comprises of a generic sandstone gas reservoir and a typical gas storage schedule is defined. Based on this benchmark the present study assesses the capabilities of the commercial simulator Schlumberger ECLIPSE and the open-source simulator DuMux to mimic UHS related processes such as hydrodynamics but also microbial activity. While ECLIPSE offers a reasonable mix of user-friendliness and computation time DuMux allows for a better adjustment of correlations and the implementation of biochemical reactions. The corresponding input data (ECLIPSE format) and relevant results are provided in a repository to allow this simulation study’s reproduction and extension.