Publications

The energy transition is pushing towards a considerable diffusion of local energy communities based on renewable energy systems and coupled with energy storage systems or energy vectors to provide independence from fossil fuels and limit carbon emissions. Indeed the variable and intermittent nature of renewables make them inadequate to satisfy the end-users’ electricity demand throughout the whole day; thus the study of energy storage systems considering their seasonal storage behaviour (e.g. energy-power coupling selfdischarge loss and minimum state of charge) is fundamental to guarantee the proper energy coverage. This work aims at identifying the off-grid operation of a local energy community powered by a 220 kW small-scale hydropower plant in the center of Italy using either a battery energy storage system or a hydrogen one with the Calliope framework. Results show that whereas the hydrogen storage system is composed of a 137 kW electrolyser a 41 kW fuel cell and a storage of 5247 kgH2 a battery system storage system would have a capacity of 280 MWh. Even though the battery storage has a better round-trip efficiency its self-discharge loss and minimum state of charge limitation involve a discharging phase with a steeper slope thus requiring considerable economic investments because of the high energy-to-power ratio.

The demand for clean and sustainable energy solutions is escalating as the global population grows and economies develop. Fossil fuels which currently dominate the energy sector contribute to greenhouse gas emissions and environmental degradation. In response to these challenges hydrogen storage technologies have emerged as a promising avenue for achieving energy sustainability. This review provides an overview of recent advancements in hydrogen storage materials and technologies emphasizing the importance of efficient storage for maximizing hydrogen’s potential. The review highlights physical storage methods such as compressed hydrogen (reaching pressures of up to 70 MPa) and material-based approaches utilizing metal hydrides and carboncontaining substances. It also explores design considerations computational chemistry high-throughput screening and machine-learning techniques employed in developing efficient hydrogen storage materials. This comprehensive analysis showcases the potential of hydrogen storage in addressing energy demands reducing greenhouse gas emissions and driving clean energy innovation.

This work aims to investigate the time-resolved cost of electrolytic hydrogen in a future climate-neutral electricity system with high shares of variable renewable electricity generation in which hydrogen is used in the industry and transport sectors as well as for time-shifting electricity generation. The work applies a techno-economic optimization model which incorporates both exogenous (industry and transport) and endogenous (time-shifting of electricity generation) hydrogen demands to elucidate the parameters that affect the cost of hydrogen. The results highlight that several parameters influence the cost of hydrogen. The strongest influential parameter is the cost of electricity. Also important are cost-optimal dimensioning of the electrolyzer and hydrogen storage capacities as these capacities during certain periods limit hydrogen production thereby setting the marginal cost of hydrogen. Another decisive factor is the nature of the hydrogen demand whereby flexibility in the hydrogen demand can reduce the cost of supplying hydrogen given that the demand can be shifted in time. In addition the modeling shows that time-shifting electricity generation via hydrogen production with subsequent reconversion back to electricity plays an important in the climate-neutral electricity system investigated decreasing the average electricity cost by 2%–16%. Furthermore as expected the results show that the cost of hydrogen from an off-grid island-mode-operated industry is more expensive than the cost of hydrogen from all scenarios with a fully interconnected electricity system.

The Italian National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP) includes among other measures investments in hydrogen vehicle refuelling stations intending to promote the use of fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) for long-haul freight transport. This paper evaluates the impact that this action could have on CO2 emissions and fuel consumption focusing on a case study of the Campania region. The proposed approach which can also be transferred to other geographical contexts requires the implementation of a freight road transport simulation model; this model is based on the construction of a supply model the estimation of road freight demand and an assignment procedure for computing traffic flows. This study covers the period from 2025 to 2040 according to the forecasts of the NRRP and some assumptions on the action effects; moreover it is assumed that hydrogen is entirely produced from renewable sources (green hydrogen). The key findings from three different scenarios show that savings between 423832 and 778538 tonnes of CO2 and between 144 and 264 million litres of diesel could be obtained.

The existing combustion-centered energy mix in Malaysia has shown that replacing fossil fuels with zero-carbon alternative fuels could be a better approach to achieve the reduction of the carbon footprint of the power generation industry. In this study the potential of zero-carbon alternative fuels generated from renewable sources such as green hydrogen and green ammonia was addressed in terms of the production transport storage and utilization in Malaysia’s thermal power plants. The updated developments associated to green hydrogen and green ammonia across the globe have also been reviewed to support the existing potential in Malaysia. Though green hydrogen and green ammonia are hardly commercialized in Malaysia for the time being numerous potentialities have been identified in utilizing these fuels to achieve the zero-carbon power generation market in Malaysia. The vast and strategic location of natural gas network in Malaysia has the potential to deliver green hydrogen with minimal retrofitting required. Moreover there are active participation of Malaysia’s academic institutions in the development of water electrolysis that is the core process to convert the electricity from renewables plant into hydrogen. Malaysia also has the capacity to use its abundance of depleted gas reservoirs for the storage of green hydrogen. A large number of GT plants in Malaysia would definitely have the potential to utilize hydrogen co-firing with natural gas to minimize the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) released. The significant number of ammonia production plants in Malaysia could provide a surplus of ammonia to be used as an alternative fuel for power plants. With regard to the energy policy in Malaysia positive acceptance of the implementation of renewable energy has been shown with the introduction of various energy policies aimed at promoting the incorporation of renewables into the energy mix. However there is still inadequate support for the implementation of alternative zero-carbon fuels in Malaysia.

Renewable and low carbon hydrogen is both an energy carrier able to produce other fuels and downstream products such as the e-fuels or e-ammonia and a decarbonised gas produced through renewable electricity. It has the potential to decarbonise hard to abate sectors which are difficult to directly electrify and play a crucial role in achieving net zero emissions target in 2050. The European Commission has recently outlined the policy context and necessary actions for the development and deployment of renewable and low carbon hydrogen within the 2030 time horizon with the Hydrogen Strategy for a Climate Neutral Europe Communication (the Hydrogen Strategy). The REPowerEU Communication4 has further addressed the joint EU and Member State actions needed in the context of the crisis triggered by the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and the necessity to phase out dependence on Russian supplies. The EC has strengthened the policy narrative around hydrogen and increased objectives for a pan European framework accelerating and upscaling the production of RES and low-carbon hydrogen. The main objectives and actions of the REPowerEU Plan which build on the Hydrogen Strategy are the deployment of several tens of GW of electrolyser capacity and the production and imports of 10 Mt and 10 Mt respectively of renewable hydrogen by 2030. Currently the most mature and promising green hydrogen production technology is water electrolysis. The main technologies5 considered in this report are: Alkaline electrolysis Polymer Exchange Membrane (PEM) electrolysis Solid Oxide electrolysis and Anion Exchange Membrane electrolysers (AEM).

Effective global decarbonization will require an array of solutions across a portfolio of low-carbon resources. One such solution is developing clean hydrogen. This unique fuel has the potential to minimize climate change impacts helping decarbonize hard-to-abate sectors such as heavy industry and global transport while also promoting energy security sustainable growth and job creation. The authors estimate suggest that hydrogen needs to grow seven-fold to support the global energy transition eventually accounting for ten percent of total energy consumption by 2050. A scaleup of this magnitude will increase demand for materials such as aluminum copper iridium nickel platinum vanadium and zinc to support hydrogen technologies - renewable electricity technologies and the electrolyzers for renewable hydrogen carbon storage for low-carbon hydrogen or fuel cells using hydrogen to power transport. This report a joint product of the World Bank and the Hydrogen Council examines these three critical areas. Using new data on the material intensities of key technologies the report estimates the amount of critical minerals needed to scale clean hydrogen. In addition it shows how incorporating sustainable practices and policies for mining and processing materials can help minimize environmental impacts. Key among these approaches is the use of recycled materials innovations in design in order to reduce material intensities and adoption of policies from the Climate Smart Mining (CSM) Framework to reduce impacts to greenhouse gas emissions and water footprint.

As a case study on sustainable energy use in educational institutions this study examines the design and integration of a solar–hydrogen storage system within the energy management framework of Kangwon National University’s Samcheok Campus. This paper provides an extensive analysis of the architecture and integrated design of such a system which is necessary given the increasing focus on renewable energy sources and the requirement for effective energy management. This study starts with a survey of the literature on hydrogen storage techniques solar energy storage technologies and current university energy management systems. In order to pinpoint areas in need of improvement and chances for progress it also looks at earlier research on solar–hydrogen storage systems. This study’s methodology describes the system architecture which includes fuel cell integration electrolysis for hydrogen production solar energy harvesting hydrogen storage and an energy management system customized for the needs of the university. This research explores the energy consumption characteristics of the Samcheok Campus of Kangwon National University and provides recommendations for the scalability and scale of the suggested system by designing three architecture systems of microgrids with EMS Optimization for solar–hydrogen hybrid solar–hydrogen and energy storage. To guarantee effective and safe functioning control strategies and safety considerations are also covered. Prototype creation testing and validation are all part of the implementation process which ends with a thorough case study of the solar–hydrogen storage system’s integration into the university’s energy grid. The effectiveness of the system its effect on campus energy consumption patterns its financial sustainability and comparisons with conventional energy management systems are all assessed in the findings and discussion section. Problems that arise during implementation are addressed along with suggested fixes and directions for further research—such as scalability issues and technology developments—are indicated. This study sheds important light on the viability and efficiency of solar–hydrogen storage systems in academic environments particularly with regard to accomplishing sustainable energy objectives.

Over the past few years the rapid growth of air traffic and the associated increase in emissions have created a need for sustainable aviation. Motivated by these challenges this paper explores how a 50-passenger regional aircraft can be hybridized to fly with the lowest possible emissions in 2040. In particular the use of liquid hydrogen in this aircraft is an innovative power source that promises to reduce CO2 and NOx emissions to zero. Combined with a fuel-cell system the energy obtained from the liquid hydrogen can be used efficiently. To realize a feasible concept in the near future considering the aspects of performance and security the system must be hybridized. In terms of maximized aircraft sustainability this paper analyses the flight phases and ground phases resulting in an aircraft design with a significant reduction in operating costs. Promising technologies such as a wingtip propeller and electric green taxiing are discussed in this paper and their potential impacts on the future of aviation are highlighted. In essence the hybridization of regional aircraft is promising and feasible by 2040; however more research is needed in the areas of fuel-cell technology thermal management and hydrogen production and storage.

We consider a profit-maximizing renewable energy producer operating in a rural area with limited electricity distribution capacity to the grid. While maximizing profits the energy producer is responsible for the electricity supply of a local community that aims to be self-sufficient. Energy storage is required to deal with the energy productions' uncertain and intermittent character. A promising new solution is to use strategic hydrogen reserves. This provides a long-term storage option to deal with seasonal mismatches in energy production and the local community's demand. Using a Markov decision process we provide a model that determines optimal daily decisions on how much energy to store as hydrogen and buy or sell from the power grid. We explicitly consider the seasonality and uncertainty of production demand and electricity prices. We show that ignoring seasonal demand and production patterns is suboptimal and that introducing hydrogen storage transforms loss-making operations into profitable ones. Extensive numerical experiments show that the distribution capacity should not be too small to prevent local grid congestion. A higher storage capacity increases the number of buying actions from the grid thereby causing more congestion which is problematic for the grid operator. We conclude that a profit-maximizing hydrogen storage operation alone is not an alternative to grid expansion to solve congestion which is essential knowledge for policy-makers and grid operators.