Sweden

ITM Power is a leading electrolyser manufacturer and is a globally recognised expert in hydrogen technologies. In this episode Graham Cooley Chief Executive Officer at ITM Power and John Williams Head of Hydrogen Expertise Cluster at AFRY Management Consulting join us to discuss ITM’s recent announcements. This includes raising £250 million to scale up its electrolyser manufacturing capacity to 5GW per annum by 2024 and forming a partnership with Linde to halve electrolyser manufacturing costs within five years. The episode also explores the UK hydrogen strategy how blue hydrogen compares with green hydrogen the role of electrolysers in hydrogen production and providing flexibility to power grids.

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As Sweden takes its first steps towards a hydrogen-based economy a strategic approach to infrastructure development for both storage and delivery becomes necessary. Although compressed hydrogen is currently the state-of-the-art its low volumetric density and associated high capital costs pose challenges to widespread societal deployment of hydrogen. In order to avoid technological lock-in alternatives storage technologies including chemical hydrides e.g. methanol ammonia methane and LOHC must also be explored. These alternatives offer higher hydrogen densities safer handling and compatibility with existing infrastructure. However each hydride has unique chemical and physical properties requires distinct feedstock and conversion processes and interacts with the energy system in different ways all of which influences their suitability for various applications. Therefore a comprehensive evaluation of these alternative hydrogen storage technologies as carried out in this article is vital to allow for informed investment decisions and pave the way towards a successful and sustainable hydrogen economy.

The main problem confronting the world is human-caused climate change which is intrinsically linked to the need for energy both now and in the future. Renewable (green) energy has been proposed as a future solution and many renewable energy technologies have been developed for different purposes. However progress toward net zero carbon emissions by 2050 and the role of renewable energy in 2050 are not well known. This paper reviews different renewable energy technologies developed by different researchers and their potential and challenges to date and it derives lessons for world and especially African policymakers. According to recent research results the mean global capabilities for solar wind biogas geothermal hydrogen and ocean power are 325 W 900 W 300 W 434 W 150 W and 2.75 MWh respectively and their capacities for generating electricity are 1.5 KWh 1182.5 KWh 1.7 KWh 1.5 KWh 1.55 KWh and 3.6 MWh respectively. Securing global energy leads to strong hope for meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) such as those for hunger health education gender equality climate change and sustainable development. Therefore renewable energy can be a considerable contributor to future fuels.

The oil refinery industry is one of the major energy users and responsible for a large proportion of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This sector is facing multiple sustainability-related transformation pressures forcing the industry to adapt to changing market conditions. The transition to a low-carbon economy will require oil refineries to adopt decarbonisation technologies like advanced biofuels green hydrogen and carbon capture and storage (CCS). However the development and implementation of these technologies is not a straightforward process and may be inhibited by lock-in and path dependency. This paper draws on expert interviews and combines the Technological Innovation Systems (TIS) and Multi-level Perspective (MLP) frameworks to examining the niche level development of three emerging technologies in the context of deep decarbonisation of refinery. This research finds that the development of the three decarbonisation technologies shares some of the challenges and opportunities and exhibits technology interdependency to some extent. Among the three TISs advanced biofuel is the most mature in terms of knowledge base actor-network legislation framework and market function. Green hydrogen and CCS encounter stronger momentum than before and can benefit from possible synergies across various sectors. However the analysis also reveals the lack of market formation mainly due to the lack of policy instruments for niche markets. Here policy recommendations for accelerating deep decarbonisation of the oil refinery industry are discussed. Finally we contribute to the sustainability transitions literature by exploring the dynamics of emerging TISs for industrial decarbonisation.

Sweden with its abundant access to low-cost fossil-free electricity is well-positioned to become a significant hydrogen exporter. This study presents a techno-economic analysis of different hydrogen carriers—compressed hydrogen methanol ammonia and liquid organic hydrogen carriers (LOHC)—for export applications. Using the Northern Green Crane Project as a reference for scale the analysis focuses on cost optimization for hydrogen production storage and transportation. A linear programming model is developed to optimize capacities and operational strategies for each carrier ensuring a fair basis for comparison. Results indicate that LOHC and ammonia are competitive with compressed hydrogen showing particular promise for larger-scale long-distance deliveries. These findings offer valuable insights for policymakers and industry stakeholders developing Sweden’s hydrogen export strategies.

Hydrogen’s promise as a transformative energy solution has been consistently unfulfilled. This perspective article suggests that the primary barrier is not necessarily technological but a systemic failure to apply holistic systems thinking and genuine interdisciplinary collaboration. Through historical analysis and contemporary case studies we argue that only by integrating technical economic policy and social expertise within a holistic systems framework across the entire value chain can hydrogen overcome its boom-and-bust cycles and become a foundational component of the low-carbon energy future.

Coal replacement with hydrogen is a strategy for reducing carbon emissions from high-temperature industrial processes. Hydrogen lancing is a direct way for introducing hydrogen to existing coal-fired kilns. This work investigates the effects of hydrogen lancing on nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions and ignition behaviour in a pilotscale furnace that employs a 30 % coal replacement with hydrogen lancing. The investigation encompasses the impacts of lancing distance angling and velocity. Advanced measurement techniques including spectrometry and monochromatic digital cameras characterise the flame and assess emissions. The results indicate that the 30 % coal replacement by hydrogen lancing enhances combustion and reduces the emissions of carbon monoxides (CO). The flame characteristics vary with the location of the hydrogen injection generally becoming more-intense than during coal combustion. NOx emissions during lancing are similar or up to double the emissions observed for pure coal combustion depending on the lancing configuration. Increasing the distance between the hydrogen lance and coal burner increases NOx emissions.

This study investigates the interactive dynamics of directly injected (DI) hydrogen and methane jets with wall and neighboring jets in a non-reactive environment focusing on the influence of wave-shaped piston geometry. Experiments were conducted in a high-pressure optical chamber using a custom 2-hole DI injector with Schlieren imaging employed to capture the temporal evolution of jet structures for varying injection durations and injection pressure ratios. Comparative analyses between conventional flat and wave-shaped wall geometries reveals that the wave geometry significantly alters post-impingement jet behavior particularly enhancing jet guidance toward the center and promoting early detachment from the wall. For both hydrogen and methane jets impinging on the wave wall exhibited accelerated formation of a central flow structure akin to the radial mixing zone (RMZ) observed in reactive diesel combustion. This effect was most pronounced after end of injection where the trailing edge of the impinged jets in the wave geometry detached earlier and exhibited inward momentum forming U-shaped flow patterns indicative of efficient mixing. Quantitative jet area analysis further showed that the wave geometry confined and redirected the jets more effectively than the flat wall especially for hydrogen at shorter injection durations. These results demonstrate that the wave-piston concept originally developed for soot reduction in diesel engines also enhances jet-jet and jet-wall interaction efficiency in gaseous DI systems by promoting structured recirculation. Moreover these results suggest that wave-based piston geometries can substantially influence fuel-air mixing dynamics even in the absence of combustion providing a foundation for optimizing combustion chamber designs for low-carbon and high-diffusive gaseous fuels.

Hydrogen is a promising fuel for future aviation due to its CO2-free combustion. In addition its excellent cooling properties as it is heated from cryogenic conditions to the appropriate combustion temperatures provides a multitude of opportunities. This paper investigates the heat transfer potential of stator surfaces in a modern high-speed low-pressure compressor by incorporating cooling channels within the stator vane surfaces where hydrogen is allowed to flow and cool the engine core air. Computational Fluid Dynamics simulations were carried out to assess the aerothermal performance of this cooled compressor and were compared to heat transfer correlations. A core air temperature drop of 9.5 K was observed for this cooling channel design while being relatively insensitive to the thermal conductivity of the vane and cooling channel wall thickness. The thermal resistance was dominated by the air-side convective heat transfer and more surface area on the air-side would therefore be required in order to increase overall heat flow. While good agreement with established heat transfer correlations was found for both turbulent and transitional flow the correlation for the transitional case yielded decent accuracy only as long as the flow remains attached and while transition was dominated by the bypass mode. A system level analysis indicated a limited but favorable impact at engine performance level amounting to a specific fuel consumption improvement of up to 0.8% in cruise and an estimated reduction of 3.6% in cruise NOx. The results clearly show that although it is possible to achieve high heat transfer rate per unit area in compressor vanes the impact on cycle performance is constrained by the limited available wetted area in the low-pressure compressor.

Limiting global warming to 1.5 ◦C is crucial to prevent the worst effects of climate change. This entails also the decarbonization of the aviation sector which is considered to be a “hard-to-abate” sector and thus requires special attention regarding its sustainability transition. However transition pathways to a potentially climateneutral aviation sector are unclear with different stakeholders having diverse imaginations of the sector's future. This paper aims to analyze socio-technical imaginaries of climate-neutral aviation as different perceptions of various stakeholders on this issue have not been sufficiently explored so far. In that sense this work contributes to the current scientific debate on socio-technical imaginaries of energy transitions for the first time studying the case of the aviation sector. Drawing on six decarbonization reports composed by different interest groups (e.g. industry academia and environmental associations) three imaginaries were explored following the process of a thematic analysis: rethinking travel and behavioral change (travel innovation) radical modernization and technological progress (fleet innovation) and transition to alternative fuels and renewable energy sources (fuel innovation). The results reveal how different and partly conflicting socio-technical imaginaries are co-produced and how the emergence and enforceability of these imaginaries is influenced by the situatedness of their creators indicating that the sustainability transition of aviation also raises political issues. Essentially as socio-technical imaginaries act as a driver for change policymakers should acknowledge the existence of alternative and counter-hegemonic visions created by actors from civil society settings to take an inclusive and equitable approach to implementing pathways towards climate-neutral aviation.