Spain

Green hydrogen production is a sustainable energy solution with great potential offering advantages such as adaptability storage capacity and ease of transport. However there are challenges such as high energy consumption production costs demand and regulation which hinder its largescale adoption. This study explores the role of simulation models in optimizing the technical and economic aspects of green hydrogen production. The proposed system which integrates photovoltaic and energy storage technologies significantly reduces the grid dependency of the electrolyzer achieving an energy self-consumption of 64 kWh per kilogram of hydrogen produced. By replacing the high-fidelity model of the electrolyzer with a reduced-order model it is possible to minimize the computational effort and simulation times for different step configurations. These findings offer relevant information to improve the economic viability and energy efficiency in green hydrogen production. This facilitates decision-making at a local level by implementing strategies to achieve a sustainable energy transition.

The decarbonization of the maritime sector represents a priority in the energy policy agendas of the majority of Countries worldwide and the International Maritime Organization (IMO) has recently revised its strategy aiming for an ambitious zero-emissions scenario by 2050. In these regards there is a broad consensus on hydrogen as one of the most promising clean energy vectors for maritime transport and a key towards that goal. However to date an international regulatory framework for the use of hydrogen on-board of ships is absent this posing a severe limitation to the adoption of hydrogen technologies in this sector. To cope with this issue this paper presents a preliminary gap assessment analysis for the International Code of Safety for Ship Using Gases or other Low-flashpoint Fuels (IGF Code) with relation to hydrogen as a fuel. The analysis is structured according to the IGF Code chapters and a bottom-up approach is followed to review the code content and assess its relevance to hydrogen. The risks related to hydrogen are accounted for in assessing the gaps and providing a first level set of recommendations for IGF Code updates. By this means this work settles the basis for further research over the identified gaps towards the identification of a final set of recommendations for the IGF Code update.

Energy communities led by local citizens are vital for achieving the European energy transition goals. This study examines the design of a regional energy community in a rural area of Spain aiming to address the pressing issue of rural depopulation. Seven villages were selected based on criteria such as size energy demand population and proximity to infrastructure. Three energy valorization scenarios generating eight subscenarios were analyzed: (1) self-consumption including direct sale (1A) net billing (1B) and selling to other consumers (1C); (2) battery storage including storing for self-consumption (2A) battery-to-grid (2B) and electric vehicle recharging points (2C); and (3) advanced options such as hydrogen refueling stations (3A) and hydrogen-based fertilizer production (3B). The findings underscore that designing rural energy communities with a focus on social impact—especially in relation to depopulation—requires an innovative approach to both their design and operation. Although none of the scenarios alone can fully reverse depopulation trends or drive systemic change they can significantly mitigate the issue if social impact is embedded as a core principle. For rural energy communities to effectively tackle depopulation strategies such as acting as an energy retailer or aggregating individual villages into a single unified energy community structure are crucial. These approaches align with the primary objective of revitalizing rural communities through the energy transition.

The use of aluminum-based products is widespread and growing particularly in industries such as automotive food packaging and construction. Obtaining aluminum is expensive and energy-intensive making the recycling of existing products essential for economic and environmental viability. This work explores the potential of using green hydrogen as a replacement for natural gas in the smelting and refining furnaces in aluminum recycling facilities. The adoption of green hydrogen has the potential to curtail approximately 4.54 Ktons/year of CO2 emissions rendering it a sustainable and economically advantageous solution. The work evaluates the economic viability of a case study through assessing the Net Present Value (NPV) and the Internal Rate of Return (IRR). Furthermore it is employed single- and multi-parameter sensitivity analyses to obtain insight on the most relevant conditions to achieve economic viability. Results demonstrate that integrating on-site green hydrogen generation yields a favorable NPV of €57370 an IRR of 9.83% and a 19.63-year payback period. The primary factors influencing NPV are the initial electricity consumption stack and the H2 price.

The global economic growth the increase in thepopulation and advances in technology lead to an increment in theglobal primary energy demand. Considering that most of thisenergy is currently supplied by fossil fuels a considerable amountof greenhouse gases are emitted contributing to climate changewhich is the reason why the next European Union bindingagreement is focused on reducing carbon emissions usinghydrogen. This study reviews different technologies for hydrogenproduction using renewable and non-renewable resources.Furthermore a comparative analysis is performed on renewable-based technologies to evaluate which technologies are economically and energetically more promising. The results show howbiomass-based technologies allow for a similar hydrogen yield compared to those obtained with water-based technologies but withhigher energy efficiencies and lower operational costs. More specifically biomass gasification and steam reforming obtained a properbalance between the studied parameters with gasification being the technique that allows for higher hydrogen yields while steamreforming is more energy-efficient. Nevertheless the application of hydrogen as the energy vector of the future requires both the useof renewable feedstocks with a sustainable energy source. This combination would potentially produce green hydrogen whilereducing carbon dioxide emissions limiting global climate change and thus achieving the so-called hydrogen economy.

The current work presents the electro-oxidation of olive mill and biodiesel wastewaters in an alkaline medium with the aim of hydrogen production and simultaneous reduction in the organic pollution content. The process is performed at laboratory scale in an own-design single cavity electrolyzer with graphite electrodes and no membrane. The system and the procedures to generate hydrogen under ambient conditions are described. The gas flow generated is analyzed through gas chromatography. The wastewater balance in the liquid electrolyte shows a reduction in the chemical oxygen demand (COD) pointing to a decrease in the organic content. The experimental results confirm the production of hydrogen with different purity levels and the simultaneous reduction in organic contaminants. This wastewater treatment appears as a feasible process to obtain hydrogen at ambient conditions powered with renewable energy sources resulting in a more competitive hydrogen cost.

Decarbonizing the steel industry will require a shift towards renewable energy. However costs and emissions associated with the long-distance transport of renewable energy carriers may incentivize the relocation of steel production closer to renewable energy sources. This “green relocation” would affect regional economic structures and global trade patterns. Nevertheless the macroeconomic and environmental impacts of alternative industry location options remain underexplored. This study compares the impacts on value-added prices and emissions under two options for decarbonizing the Dutch steel industry: importing green hydrogen from Brazil to produce green steel in the Netherlands versus relocating production to Brazil and transporting green steel to the Netherlands. Impacts are analyzed by combining a price and a quantity model within an environmentally extended multiregional input-output (EE-MRIO) framework. Results suggest that the relocation option brings the greatest synergies between climate and economic goals at the global level as it leads to lower production costs smaller price effects and greater emissions reductions. However relocation also results in stronger distributive impacts across global regions. Higher carbon prices would be insufficient to counteract relocation incentives. This calls for policymakers in industrialized countries to systematically consider the possibility of green relocation when designing decarbonization and industrial competitiveness strategies.

Crude oil accounts for approximately 40% of global energy consumption and the refining sector is a major contributor to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions particularly through the production of hard-to-abate fuels such as aviation fuel and fuel oil. This study disaggregates the refinery into its key process units to identify decarbonization opportunities along the entire production chain. Units are categorized into combustion-based processes— including crude and vacuum distillation hydrogen production coking and fluid catalytic cracking—and non-combustion processes which exhibit lower emission intensities. The analysis reveals that GHG emissions can be reduced by up to 60% with currently available technologies without requiring major structural changes. Electrification residual heat recovery renewable hydrogen for desulfurization and process optimization through digital twins are identified as priority measures many of which are also economically viable in the short term. However achieving full decarbonization and alignment with net-zero targets will require the deployment of carbon capture technologies. These results highlight the significant potential for emission reduction in refineries and reinforce their strategic role in enabling the transition toward low-carbon fuels.

Transitioning to renewable energy is vital to achieving decarbonization at the global level but energy storage is still a major challenge. This review discusses the role of energy storage in the energy transition and the blue economy focusing on technological development challenges and directions. Effective storage is vital for balancing intermittent renewable energy sources like wind solar and marine energy with the power grid. The development of battery technologies hydrogen storage pumped hydro storage and emerging technologies like sodium-ion and metal-air batteries is discussed for their potential for large-scale deployment. Shortages in critical raw materials environmental impact energy loss and costs are some of the challenges to large-scale deployment. The blue economy promises opportunities for offshore energy storage notably through ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) and compressed air energy storage (CAES). Moreover the capacity of datadriven optimization and artificial intelligence to enhance storage efficiency is discussed. Policy interventions and economic incentives are necessary to spur the development and deployment of sustainable energy storage technology. Education and workforce training are also important in cultivating future researchers engineers and policymakers with the ability to drive energy innovation. Merging sustainability training with an interdisciplinary approach can potentially establish an efficient workforce that is capable of addressing energy issues. Future work needs to focus on higher energy density efficiency recyclability and cost-effectiveness of the storage technologies without sacrificing their environmental sustainability. The study underlines the need for converging technological economic and educational approaches to enable a sustainable and resilient energy future.

This study assesses the feasibility and profitability of marine hybrid clusters combining wave energy converters (WECs) and offshore wind turbines (OWTs) to power households and marine aquaculture. Researchers analyzed two coastal sites: La Serena Chile with high and consistent wave energy resources and Ensenada Mexico with moderate and more variable wave power. Two WEC technologies Wave Dragon (WD) and Pelamis (PEL) were evaluated alongside lithium-ion battery storage and green hydrogen production for surplus energy storage. Results show that La Serena’s high wave power (26.05 kW/m) requires less hybridization than Ensenada’s (13.88 kW/m). The WD device in La Serena achieved the highest energy production while PEL arrays in Ensenada were more effective. The PEL-OWT cluster proved the most cost-effective in Ensenada whereas the WD-OWT performed better in La Serena. Supplying electricity for seaweed aquaculture particularly in La Serena proves more profitable than for households. Ensenada’s clusters generate more surplus electricity suitable for the electricity market or hydrogen conversion. This study emphasizes the importance of tailoring emerging WEC systems to local conditions optimizing hybridization strategies and integrating consolidated industries such as aquaculture to enhance both economic and environmental benefits.