Publications

Stationary fuel cells can play a beneficial role in Europe's changing energy landscape. The energy systems across Europe face significant challenges as they evolve against the backdrop of an ambitious climate agenda. As energy systems integrate more and more generation capacity from intermittent renewables numerous challenges arise. Amongst others Europe's energy systems of the future require new concepts for complementary supply such as efficient distributed power generation from natural gas. At the same time significant investments to modernise the electricity grid infrastructure are needed. Long-term storage solutions become a growing priority to ensure permanent power supply e.g. power-to-gas. Moreover Europe puts greater emphasis on energy efficiency in order to save primary energy reduce fuel imports and increase energy security.

Against this background distributed generation from stationary fuel cells promises significant benefits. This study outlines a pathway for commercialising stationary fuel cells in Europe The present study outlines a pathway for commercialising stationary fuel cells in Europe. It produces a comprehensive account of the current and future market potential for fuel cell distributed energy generation in Europe benchmarks stationary fuel cell technologies against competing conventional technologies in a variety of use cases and assesses potential business models for commercialisation. Considering the results of the technological and commercial analysis the study pinpoints focus areas for further R&D to sustain innovation and provides recommendations for supportive policy frameworks.

The study has been sponsored by the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking. Compiled by Roland Berger Strategy Consultants it builds on an interactive approach involving a coalition of more than 30 companies public institutions and associations from the stakeholder community of the European stationary fuel cell industry.

Hydrogen (H₂) is one of the best candidates to replace current petroleum energy resources due to its rich abundance and clean combustion. However the storage of H₂presents a major challenge. There are two methods for storing H₂ fuel chemical and physical both of which have some advantages and disadvantages. In physical storage highly porous organic polymers are of particular interest since they are low cost easy to scale up metal-free and environmentally friendly.

In this review highly porous polymers for H₂ fuel storage are examined from five perspectives:

(a) brief comparison of H₂ storage in highly porous polymers and other storage media;

(b) theoretical considerations of the physical storage of H₂ molecules in porous polymers;

(c) H₂ storage in different classes of highly porous organic polymers;

(d) characterization of microporosity in these polymers; and

(e) future developments for highly porous organic polymers for H₂ fuel storage. These topics will provide an introductory overview of highly porous organic polymers in H₂ fuel storage.

Power-to-gas technology plays a key role in the success of the energy transformation. This paper addresses issues related to the legal and technical regulations specifying the rules for adding hydrogen to the natural gas network. The main issue reviewed is the effects of the addition of hydrogen to natural gas on the durability of diaphragm gas meters. The possibility of adding hydrogen to the gas network requires confirmation of whether within the expected hydrogen concentrations long-term operation of gas meters will be ensured without compromising their metrological properties and operational safety. Methods for testing the durability of gas meters applied at test benches and sample results of durability tests of gas meters are presented. Based on these results a metrological and statistical analysis was carried out to establish whether the addition of hydrogen affects the durability of gas meters over time. The most important conclusion resulting from the conducted study indicates that for the tested gas meter specimens there was no significant metrological difference between the obtained changes of errors of indications after testing the durability of gas meters with varying hydrogen content (from 0% to 15%).

A solid-state hydrogen storage material comprising ammonia borane (AB) and polyethylene oxide (PEO) has been produced by freeze-drying from aqueous solutions from 0% to 100% AB by mass. The phase mixing behaviour of AB and PEO has been investigated using X-ray diffraction which shows that a new ‘intermediate’ crystalline phase exists different from both AB and PEO as observed in our previous work (Nathanson et al. 2015). It is suggested that hydrogen bonding interactions between the ethereal oxygen atom (–O–) in the PEO backbone and the protic hydrogen atoms attached to the nitrogen atom (N–H) of AB molecules promote the formation of a reaction intermediate leading to lowered hydrogen release temperatures in the composites compared to neat AB. PEO also acts to significantly reduce the foaming of AB during hydrogen release. A temperature-composition phase diagram has been produced for the AB-PEO system to show the relationship between phase mixing and hydrogen release.

The expansion of wind and solar power is creating a growing need for power system flexibility. Dispatchable power plants with CO₂ capture and storage (CCS) offer flexibility with low CO₂ emissions but these plants become uneconomical at the low running hours implied by renewables-based power systems. To address this challenge the novel gas switching reforming (GSR) plant was recently proposed. GSR can alternate between electricity and hydrogen production from natural gas offering flexibility to the power system without reducing the utilization rate of the capital stock embodied in CCS infrastructure. This study assesses the interplay between GSR and variable renewables using a power system model which optimizes investment and hourly dispatch of 13 different technologies. Results show that GSR brings substantial benefits relative to conventional CCS. At a CO₂ price of V100/ton inclusion of GSR increases the optimal wind and solar share by 50% lowers total system costs by 8% and reduces system emissions from 45 to 4 kgCO₂/MWh. In addition GSR produces clean hydrogen equivalent to about 90% of total electricity demand which can be used to decarbonize transport and industry. GSR could therefore become a key enabling technology for a decarbonization effort led by wind and solar power.

Compressed hydrogen storage is currently widely used in fuel cell vehicles due to its simplicity in tank structure and refuelling process. For safety reason the final gas temperature in the hydrogen tank during vehicle refuelling must be maintained under a certain limit e.g. 85 °C. Many experiments have been performed to find the relations between the final gas temperature in the hydrogen tank and refueling conditions. The analytical solution of the hydrogen temperature in the tank can be obtained from the simplified thermodynamic model of a compressed hydrogen storage tank and it serves as function formula to fit experimental temperatures. From the analytical solution the final hydrogen temperature can be expressed as a weighted average form of initial temperature inflow temperature and ambient temperature inspired by the rule of mixtures. The weighted factors are related to other refuelling parameters such as initial mass initial pressure refuelling time refuelling mass rate average pressure ramp rate (APRR) final mass final pressure etc. The function formula coming from the analytical solution of the thermodynamic model is more meaningful physically and more efficient mathematically in fitting experimental temperatures. The simple uniform formula inspired by the concept of the rule of mixture and its weighted factors obtained from the analytical solution of lumped parameter thermodynamics model is representatively used to fit the experimental and simulated results in publication. Estimation of final hydrogen temperature from refuelling parameters based on the rule of mixtures is simple and practical for controlling the maximum temperature and for ensuring hydrogen safety during fast filling process.

HyNet North West (NW) is an innovative integrated low carbon hydrogen production distribution and carbon capture utilisation and storage (CCUS) project. It provides hydrogen distribution and CCUS infrastructure across Liverpool Manchester and parts of Cheshire in support of the Government’s Clean Growth Strategy (CGS) and achievement of the UK’s emissions reduction targets.<br/>Hydrogen will be produced from natural gas and sent via a new pipeline to a range of industrial sites for injection as a blend into the existing natural gas network and for use as a transport fuel. Resulting carbon dioxide (CO2) will be captured and together with CO2 from local industry which is already available sent by pipeline for storage offshore in the nearby Liverpool Bay gas fields. Key data for the Project are presented in Table ES1.

Among the several typologies of storage technologies mainly on different physical principles (mechanical electrical and chemical) hydrogen produced by power to gas (P2G) from renewable energy sources complies with chemical storage principle and is based on the conversion of electrical energy into chemical energy by means of the electrolysis of water which does not produce any toxic or climate-relevant emission. This paper aims to pinpoint the potential uses of renewable hydrogen storage systems in Europe analysing current and potential locations regulatory framework governments’ outlooks economic issues and available renewable energy amounts. The expert opinion survey already used in many research articles on different topics including energy has been selected as an effective method to produce realistic results. The obtained results highlight strategies and actions to optimize the storage of hydrogen produced by renewables to face varying electricity demand and generation-driven fluctuations reducing the negative effects of the increasing share of renewables in the energy mix of European Countries.

The study analyses the role of hydrogen in the National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs) and identifies and highlights opportunities for hydrogen technologies to contribute to effective and efficient achievement of the 2030 climate and energy targets of the EU and its Member States.<br/>The study focuses on the potential and opportunities of renewable hydrogen produced by electrolysers using renewable electricity and of low-carbon hydrogen produced by steam methane reforming combined with CCS. The opportunities for and impacts of hydrogen deployment are assessed and summarised in individual fiches per Member State.<br/>The study analyses to what extent policy measures and industrial initiatives are already being taken to facilitate large-scale implementation of hydrogen in the current and the next decades. The study concludes by determining the CO2 reduction potential beyond what is foreseen in the NECPs through hydrogen energy technologies estimating the reduction of fossil fuel imports and reliance the prospective cost and the value added and jobs created. National teams working on decarbonisation roadmaps and updates of the NECPs are welcome to consider the opportunities and benefits of hydrogen deployment identified in this study.

Hydrogen as a future energy carrier is receiving a significant amount of attention in Japan. From the viewpoint of safety risk evaluation is required in order to increase the number of hydrogen refuelling stations (HRSs) implemented in Japan. Collecting data about accidents in the past will provide a hint to understand the trend in the possibility of accidents occurrence by identifying its operation time However in new technology; accident rate estimation can have a high degree of uncertainty due to absence of major accident direct data in the late operational period. The uncertainty in the estimation is proportional to the data unavailability which increases over long operation period due to decrease in number of stations. In this paper a suitable time correlation model is adopted in the estimation to reflect lack (due to the limited operation period of HRS) or abundance of accident data which is not well supported by conventional approaches. The model adopted in this paper shows that the uncertainty in the estimation increases when the operation time is long owing to the decreasing data.

Plasmonic Ni nanoparticles were incorporated into LaFeO₃ photocathode (LFO-Ni) to excite the surface plasmon resonances (SPR) for enhanced light harvesting for enhancing the photoelectrochemical (PEC) hydrogen evolution reaction. The nanostructured LFO photocathode was prepared by spray pyrolysis method and Ni nanoparticles were incorporated on to the photocathode by spin coating technique. The LFO-Ni photocathode demonstrated strong optical absorption and higher current density where the untreated LFO film exhibited a maximum photocurrent of 0.036 mA/cm² at 0.6 V vs RHE and when incorporating 2.84 mmol Ni nanoparticles the photocurrent density reached a maximum of 0.066 mA/cm² at 0.6 V vs RHE due to the SPR effect. This subsequently led to enhanced hydrogen production where more than double (2.64 times) the amount of hydrogen was generated compared to the untreated LFO photocathode. Ni nanoparticles were modelled using Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) analysis and the results showed optimal particle size in the range of 70–100 nm for Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) enhancement.

Hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) plays a key role in generating clean and renewable energy. As the most effective HER electrocatalysts Pt group catalysts suffer from severe problems such as high price and scarcity. It is highly desirable to design and synthesize sustainable HER electrocatalysts to replace the Pt group catalysts. Due to their low cost high abundance and high activities cobalt-incorporated N-doped nanocarbon hybrids are promising candidate electrocatalysts for HER. In this report we demonstrated a robust and eco-friendly host-guest approach to fabricate metallic cobalt nanoparticles embedded in N-doped carbon fibers derived from natural silk fibers. Benefiting from the one-dimensional nanostructure the well-dispersed metallic cobalt nanoparticles and the N-doped thin graphitized carbon layer coating the best Co-based electrocatalyst manifests low overpotential (61 mV@10 mA/cm2) HER activity that is comparable with commercial 20% Pt/C and good stability in acid. Our findings provide a novel and unique route to explore high-performance noble-metal-free HER electrocatalysts.

This report summarises key themes emerging from the Energy Technologies Institute’s (ETI) project ‘Enabling efficient networks for low carbon futures’. The project aimed to explore the options for reforming the governance and regulatory arrangements to enable major changes to and investment in the UK’s energy network infrastructures. ETI commissioned four expert perspectives on the challenges and options facing the UK.

Hydrogen infrastructures are important for the commercialization of fuel cell vehicles. Hydrogen storage and transportation are significant topics because it is difficult to safely and effectively treat large amounts of hydrogen because of hydrogen hazards. An organic chemical hydride method keeps and provides hydrogen using hydrogenation and dehydrogenation chemical reactions with aromatic compounds. This method has advantages in that the conventional petrochemical products are used as a hydrogen carrier and petrochemicals are more easily treated than hydrogen because of low hazards. Hydrogen fueling stations are also crucial infrastructures for hydrogen supply. In Japan hybrid gasoline-hydrogen fuelling stations are needed for effective space utilization in urban areas. It is essential to address the safety issues of hybrid fueling stations for inherently safer station construction. We focused on a hybrid gasoline-hydrogen fuelling station with an on-site hydrogen production system using methylcyclohexane as an organic chemical hydride. The purpose of this study is to reveal unique hybrid risks in the station with a hazard identification study (HAZID study). As a result of the HAZID study we identified 314 accident scenarios involving gasoline and organic chemical hydride systems. In addition we suggested improvement safety measures for uniquely worst-case accident scenarios to prevent and mitigate the scenarios.

Governments around the world are leveraging unprecedented amounts of capital to respond to the pandemic and bailing out struggling industries. Trends in energy-related spending indicate that despite the green push the world’s largest economies have still favoured fossil energy over clean energy.<br/><br/>We evaluate energy-related spending in Canada in 2020 (since the onset of COVID-19) using data from the Energy Policy Tracker. Trends in Canada are then compared to flagship policies in key jurisdictions with recent progressive climate policy announcements including France Germany and the United Kingdom. The brief ends with broad recommendations on how Canada can better align its recovery funding with climate action and fossil fuel subsidy reform.<br/><br/>This brief is one of three International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) policy briefs in its Recovery Through Reform series which assesses how efforts to achieve a green recovery from COVID-19 in Canada rely on—and can contribute to—fossil fuel subsidy reform.

A key challenge for future clean power or hydrogen projects via gasification is the need to reduce the overall cost while achieving significant levels of CO2 capture. The current state of the art technology for capturing CO2 from sour syngas uses a physical solvent absorption process (acid gas removal–AGR) such as Selexol™ or Rectisol® to selectively separate H2S and CO2 from the H2. These two processes are expensive and require significant utility consumption during operation which only escalates with increasing levels of CO2 capture. Importantly Air Products has developed an alternative option that can achieve a higher level of CO2 capture than the conventional technologies at significantly lower capital and operating costs. Overall the system is expected to reduce the cost of CO2 capture by over 25%.<br/>Air Products developed this novel technology by leveraging years of experience in the design and operation of H2 pressure swing adsorption (PSA) systems in its numerous steam methane reformers. Commercial PSAs typically operate on clean syngas and thus need an upstream AGR unit to operate in a gasification process. Air Products recognized that a H2 PSA technology adapted to handle sour feedgas (Sour PSA) would enable a new and enhanced improvement to a gasification system. The complete Air Products CO2 Capture technology (CCT) for sour syngas consists of a Sour PSA unit followed by a low-BTU sour oxycombustion unit and finally a CO2 purification / compression system.

Sustainable secure and competitive energy supply and transport services are at the heart of the EU2020 strategy towards a low carbon and inclusive economy geared towards a reduction of 80% of CO2 emissions by 2050. This objective has been endorsed by the European Institutions and Member States. It is widely recognised that a technological shift and the deployment of new clean technologies are critical for a successful transition to such a new sustainable economy. Furthermore in addition to bringing a healthier environment and securing energy supply innovation will provide huge opportunities for the European economy.  However this paradigm shift will not be purely driven by the market. A strong and determined commitment of public institutions and the private sector together are necessary to support the European political ambition. The period 2014-2020 will be critical to ensure that the necessary investments are realized to support the EU2020 vision. In terms of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies significant investments are required for (a) transportation for scaling up the car fleet and building up of refuelling infrastructure needs (b) hydrogen production technologies to integrate renewable intermittent power sources to the electrical grid (wind and solar) (c) stationary fuel cell applications with large demonstration projects in several European cities and (d) identified early markets (material handling vehicles back-up power systems) to allow for volume developments and decrease of system-costs.<br/>This Report summarizes the sector’s financial ambition to reach Europe’s objectives in 2020.

Kinetic rate data for steam methane reforming (SMR) coupled with water gas shift (WGS) over an 18 wt. % NiO/α-Al₂O₃ catalyst are presented in the temperature range of 300–700 °C at 1 bar. The experiments were performed in a plug flow reactor under the conditions of diffusion limitations and away from the equilibrium conditions. The kinetic model was implemented in a one-dimensional heterogeneous mathematical model of catalytic packed bed reactor developed on gPROMS model builder 4.1.0®. The mathematical model of SMR process was simulated and the model was validated by comparing the results with the experimental values. The simulation results were in excellent agreement with the experimental results. The effect of various operating parameters such as temperature pressure and steam to carbon ratio on fuel and water conversion (%) H2 yield (wt. % of CH4) and H2 purity was modelled and compared with the equilibrium values.

On the occasion of its 10th Stakeholder forum the FCH JU published a unique and exclusive book. This book sets out the story behind both the FCH JU and fuel cell and hydrogen technology in Europe. It reviews the events leading to its creation and examines the achievements that have allowed Europe to take a leading role in fuel cell and hydrogen excellence. It also looks at what this investment in fuel cell technology will mean for the EU in the coming years

Fossil fuels have to be substituted by climate neutral fuels to contribute to CO₂ reduction in the future energy system. Pyrolysis of natural gas is a well-known technical process applied for production of e. g. carbon black.

In the future it might contribute to carbon dioxide-free hydrogen production. Production of hydrogen from natural gas pyrolysis has thus gained interest in research and energy technology in the near past. If the carbon by-product of this process can be used for material production or can be sequestrated the produced hydrogen has a low carbon footprint.

This article reviews literature on the state of the art of methane/ natural gas pyrolysis process developments and at-tempts to assess the technology readiness level (TRL).

Power-to-gas is a promising option for storing interment renewables nuclear baseload power and distributed energy and it is a novel concept for the transition to increased renewable content of current fuels with an ultimate goal of transition to a sustainable low-carbon future energy system that interconnects power transportation sectors and thermal energy demand all together. The aim of this paper is to introduce different Power-to-gas “pathways” including Power to Hydrogen Power to Natural Gas End-users Power to Renewable Content in Petroleum Fuel Power to Power Seasonal Energy Storage to Electricity Power to Zero Emission Transportation Power to Seasonal Storage for Transportation Power to Micro grid Power to Renewable Natural Gas (RNG) to Pipeline (“Methanation”) and Power to Renewable Natural Gas (RNG) to Seasonal Storage. In order to compare the different pathways the review of key technologies of Power-to-gas systems are studied and the qualitative efficiency and benefits of each pathway is investigated from the technical points of view. Moreover different Power-to-gas pathways are discussed as an energy policy option that can be implemented to transition towards a lower carbon economy for Ontario’s energy systems

The 2019 Programme Review Report presents the findings of a review into activities supported by the FCH 2 JU under the EU’s Seventh Framework Programme and Horizon 2020 by the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC ). It pays particular attention to the added value effectiveness and techno-economic efficiency of FCH 2 JU projects assigned to six review panels under two main pillars:<br/>Transport and Energy (TRANSPORT: a.trials and deployment of fuel cell applications and b.the next generation of products) (ENERGY: a.trials and deployment of fuel cell applications b.next generation of products and c.hydrogen for sectoral integration)<br/>Support for market uptake (cross-cutting activities such as standards and consumer awareness)<br/>This report covers all 81 projects that were ongoing for any time between April and October 2018 and assesses the strengths and accomplishments of each panel and areas that would benefit from further attention.

Britain stands on the cusp of a world-leading hydrogen revolution and one which we are almost uniquely positioned to take advantage of. With an extensive world-leading gas grid huge amounts of offshore wind resource and liquid energy markets there are few other places as well positioned as the UK to lead the international race to build a hydrogen economy. Published as part of Energy Networks Association’s Gas Goes Green programme Britain’s Hydrogen Network Plan will play a vital role in delivering the UK’s ambitions for hydrogen as set out in the Prime Minister’s Ten Point Plan For A Green Industrial Revolution.<br/>This Plan sets out how Britain’s gas network companies will enable 100% hydrogen to be transported for use in different sectors of the UK economy. It also identifies the wider actions needed to provide hydrogen production and storage showing how transitioning the gas networks to hydrogen will allow hydrogen to play a full role in achieving net zero in the hard to decarbonise sectors such as industry heavy transport and domestic heating saving an estimated 40 million tonnes of CO2 emissions every year. All five of Britain’s gas network companies responsible for owning and operating £24bn of critical national energy infrastructure are committing through this Plan to delivering this work. It forms a key part of their ambition to building the world’s first zero carbon gas grid here in the UK.<br/>Britain’s Hydrogen Network Plan is founded on four tenets that will underpin the role of Britain’s gas network infrastructure in a hydrogen economy. These tenets reflect the breadth and scale of the impact that the transformation of our gas networks will have. They will guide how gas network companies ensure people’s safety in a fast moving and changing energy system. They reflect how the companies will maintain security of supply to our homes and businesses as we move away from the natural gas that has been the bedrock of our energy system for half a century. They will support the public’s ability to choose the right technology so households and businesses can choose the low carbon technologies that are best suited to their needs. And they will deliver jobs and investment so the transition of our gas networks has a lasting and enduring economic impact in communities across the country.<br/>As we look to the future the exciting role that hydrogen has to play in delivering a net zero economy is becoming increasingly clear. We look forward to working closely with the customers we serve the Government and the wider energy industry to turn that ambition into reality.

Biomimetic sulfur-deficient indium sulfide (In_2.77S₄) was synthesized by a template-assisted hydrothermal method using leaves of Mimosa pudica as a template for the first time. The effect of this template in modifying the morphology of the semiconductor particles was determined by physicochemical characterization revealing an increase in surface area decrease in microsphere size and pore size and an increase in pore volume density in samples synthesized with the template. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis showed the presence of organic sulfur (Ssingle bondO/Ssingle bondC/Ssingle bondH) and sulfur oxide species (single bondSO₂ SO₃²− SO₄²−) at the surface of the indium sulfide in samples synthesized with the template. Biomimetic indium sulfide also showed significant amounts of Fe introduced as a contaminant present on the Mimosa pudica leaves. The presence of these sulfur and iron species favors the photocatalytic activity for hydrogen production by their acting as a sacrificial reagent and promoting water oxidation on the surface of the templated particles respectively. The photocatalytic hydrogen production rates over optimally-prepared biomimetic indium sulfide and indium sulfide synthesized without the organic template were 73 and 22 μmol g⁻¹ respectively indicating an improvement by a factor of three in the templated sample.

Metal hydride (MH) thermal sorption compression is an efficient and reliable method allowing a conversion of energy from heat into a compressed hydrogen gas. The most important component of such a thermal engine – the metal hydride material itself – should possess several material features in order to achieve an efficient performance in the hydrogen compression. Apart from the hydrogen storage characteristics important for every solid H storage material (e.g. gravimetric and volumetric efficiency of H storage hydrogen sorption kinetics and effective thermal conductivity) the thermodynamics of the metal–hydrogen systems is of primary importance resulting in a temperature dependence of the absorption/desorption pressures). Several specific features should be optimised to govern the performance of the MH-compressors including synchronisation of the pressure plateaus for multi-stage compressors reduction of slope of the isotherms and hysteresis increase of cycling stability and life time together with challenges in system design associated with volume expansion of the metal matrix during the hydrogenation.<br/>The present review summarises numerous papers and patent literature dealing with MH hydrogen compression technology. The review considers (a) fundamental aspects of materials development with a focus on structure and phase equilibria in the metal–hydrogen systems suitable for the hydrogen compression; and (b) applied aspects including their consideration from the applied thermodynamic viewpoint system design features and performances of the metal hydride compressors and major applications.

This policy statement provides:

An overview of our key priorities for the short to medium-term and then moves on to look at how we have continued to abide by the three key principles set out in Scotland's Energy Strategy published in 2017 in our policy design and delivery. Those principles are:

• a whole-system view;
• an inclusive energy transition; and
• a smarter local energy model.

An overview of how we have committed to ensuring a green economic recovery in respect of energy while remaining aligned to our net zero ambitions. We have set these out under the following themes to align with our wider green recovery narrative in the Programme for Government

• Skills and Jobs;
• Supporting Local Communities:
• Investment; and
• Innovation

along with some specific policy examples.



Separate sections have been included on Maximising Scotland's International Potential in the lead up to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) and on Consumers to reflect the challenging economic climate we currently face and to highlight the action being taken by the Scottish Government to ensure the cost of our energy transition does not fall unequally.



This statement provides an overview of our approach to supporting the energy sector in the lead up to COP26 and as we embark on a green economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. It summarises how our recent policy publications such as our Hydrogen Policy Statement Local Energy Policy Statement and Offshore Wind Policy Statement collectively support the delivery of the Climate Change Plan update along with the future findings from our currently live consultations including our draft Heat in Buildings Strategy our Call for Evidence on the future development of the Low Carbon Infrastructure Transition Programme (LCITP) and our consultation on Scottish skills requirements for energy efficiency.



While this statement sets out our comprehensive programme of work across the energy sector the current Energy Strategy (2017) remains in place until any further Energy Strategy refresh is adopted by Ministers. It is at the stage of refreshing Scotland's Energy Strategy where we will embark on a series of stakeholder engagements and carry out the relevant impact assessments to inform our thinking on future policy development.

In this work the aging effects on modelling and operation of a photovoltaic system with hydrogen storage in terms of energy production decrease and demand for additional hydrogen during 10 years of the system operation was analysed for the entire energy system for the first time. The analyses were performed with the support of experimental data for the renewable energy system composed of photovoltaic modules fuel cell electrolysers hydrogen storage and hydrogen backup.<br/>It has been found that the total degradation of the analysed system can be described by the proposed parameter – unit additional hydrogen consumption ratio. The results reveal a 33.2–36.2% increase of the unit fuel requirement from an external source after 10 years in reference to the initial condition. Degradation of the components can on the other hand be well described with the unit hydrogen consumption ratio by fuel cell for electricity or the unit electricity consumption ratio by electrolyser for hydrogen production which has been found to vary for the electrolyser in the range of 4.6–4.9% and for the fuel cell stack in the range of 13.4–15.1% during the 10 years of the system operation. The analyses indicate that this value depends on the load profile and PV module types and the system performance decline is non-linear."

Given the limited sources of fossil fuels mankind should find new ways to meet its energy demands. In this regard geothermal and solar energy are acknowledged as reliable safe promising and clean means for this purpose. In this research study a comparative analysis is applied on geothermal and solar-driven multi-generation systems for clean electricity and hydrogen production through energy and exergy assessments. The system consists of an organic Rankine cycle a proton electrolyte membrane electrolyzer and a thermoelectric generator subsystem. The Engineering Equation Solver software has been utilized in order to model the system and obtain the output contours sensitivity analysis and exergy destruction. The results were calculated considering the ambient temperature of Bandar Abbas city as a case study considering the geothermal system due to better performance in comparison to the solar system. According to the sensitivity analysis the turbine efficiency evaporator inlet temperature thermoelectric generator suitability criterion pump efficiency and evaporator inlet mass flow rate are the most influential parameters. Also the exergy analysis showed that the utmost system's exergy destruction is pertinent to the evaporator and the least is related to the pump. In addition the system produces 352816 kWh and 174.913 kg of electrical power and hydrogen during one year.

Density functional theory (DFT) calculations have been performed to investigate the hydrogen dissociation and diffusion on Mg (0001) surface with Ni incorporating at various locations. The results show that Ni atom is preferentially located inside Mg matrix rather than in/over the topmost surface. Further calculations reveal that Ni atom locating in/over the topmost Mg (0001) surface exhibits excellent catalytic effect on hydrogen dissociation with an energy barrier of less than 0.05 eV. In these cases the rate-limiting step has been converted from hydrogen dissociation to surface diffusion. In contrast Ni doping inside Mg bulk not only does little help to hydrogen dissociation but also exhibits detrimental effect on hydrogen diffusion. Therefore it is crucial to stabilize the Ni atom on the surface or in the topmost layer of Mg (0001) surface to maintain its catalytic effect. For all the case of Ni-incorporated Mg (0001) surfaces the hydrogen atom prefers firstly immigrate along the surface and then penetrate into the bulk. It is expected that the theoretical findings in the present study could offer fundamental guidance to future designing on efficient Mg-based hydrogen storage materials.

In this work the design of the hardware architecture to implement an algorithm for optimizing the Hydrogen Productivity Rate (HPR) in a Microbial Electrolysis Cell (MEC) is presented. The HPR in the MEC is maximized by the golden section search algorithm in conjunction with a super-twisting controller. The development of the digital architecture in the implementation step of the optimization algorithm was developed in the Very High Description Language (VHDL) and synthesized in a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA). Numerical simulations demonstrated the feasibility of the proposed optimization strategy embedded in an FPGA Cyclone II. Results showed that only.

The growing consumption of global energy has posed serious challenges to environmental protection and energy supplies. A promising solution is via introducing clean and sustainable energy sources including photoelectrochemical hydrogen fuel production. 2D materials such as transition metal trichalcogenphosphites (MPCh₃) are gaining more and more interest for their potential as photocatalysts. Crystals of transition metal selenophosphites namely MnPSe₃ FePSe₃ and ZnPSe₃ were tested as photocatalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). ZnPSe3 is the one that exhibited the lowest overpotential and the higher response to the light during photocurrent experiments in acidic media. For this reason among the crystals in this work it is the most promising for the photocatalyzed production of hydrogen.

Renewable methanol obtained from CO₂ and hydrogen provided from renewable energy was proposed to close the CO₂ loop. In industry methanol synthesis using the catalyst CuO/ZnO/Al₂O₃ occurs at a high pressure. We intend to make certain modification on the traditional catalyst to work at lower pressure maintaining high selectivity. Therefore three heterogeneous catalysts were synthesized by coprecipitation to improve the activity and the selectivity to methanol under mild conditions of temperature and pressure. Certain modifications on the traditional catalyst Cu/Zn/Al₂O₃ were employed such as the modification of the synthesis time and the addition of Pd as a dopant agent. The most efficient catalyst among those tested was a palladium-doped catalyst 5% Pd/Cu/Zn/Al₂O₃. This had a selectivity of 64% at 210 °C and 5 bar.

Research to date has identified cost and lack of support from stakeholders as two key barriers to the development of a carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) industry that is capable of effectively mitigating climate change. This paper responds to these challenges through systematic evaluation of the research and development process for the Acorn CCS project a project designed to develop a scalable full-chain CCS project on the north-east coast of the UK. Through assessment of Acorn's publicly-available outputs we identify strategies which may help to enhance the viability of early-stage CCS projects. Initial capital costs can be minimised by infrastructure re-use particularly pipelines and by re-use of data describing the subsurface acquired during oil and gas exploration activity. Also development of the project in separate stages of activity (e.g. different phases of infrastructure re-use and investment into new infrastructure) enables cost reduction for future build-out phases. Additionally engagement of regional-level policy makers may help to build stakeholder support by situating CCS within regional decarbonisation narratives. We argue that these insights may be translated to general objectives for any CCS project sharing similar characteristics such as legacy infrastructure industrial clusters and an involved stakeholder-base that is engaged with the fossil fuel industry.

This project provides evidence to identify the key innovation needs across the UK’s energy system to inform the prioritisation of public sector investment in low-carbon innovation including any future phases of the Department for Business Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Energy Innovation1 Programme. The BEIS Energy Innovation Programme aims to accelerate the commercialisation of innovative clean energy technologies and processes into the 2020s and 2030s. The current Programme with a budget of £505 million from 2015-2021 consists of six themes and invests in smart systems industry & CCS (Carbon Capture and Storage) the built environment nuclear renewables and support for energy entrepreneurs and green financing.



Vivid Economics was contracted to lead a consortium with technical expertise in each of the Energy Innovation Needs Assessment (EINA) priority areas. The programme relied on evidence from a programme of workshops with over 180 participants energy system modelling and detailed technical advice. Partners include the Carbon Trust E4tech Imperial College London and Fraser-Nash. The Energy Systems Catapult (ESC) provided analytical evidence using their Energy System Modelling Environment (ESME) to support an early pre-screening of technologies.



Innovations have been prioritised where there is a strong case for UK Government investment. The prioritisation in this report is based on evidence of the potential benefits to the UK via a lower cost energy system and larger export markets. We also consider whether there is a need for UK Government intervention in addition to private and international efforts.

 

A distinctive feature of this project is its focus on innovation that benefits the whole energy system. Internationally there are other efforts attempting to answer the question of where to target resources to maximise benefits from innovation2. In selecting priorities we identify innovations that can unlock value across electricity heat transport sectors and the rest of the economy.

In recent years photocatalytic technology driven by solar energy has been extensively investigated to ease energy crisis and environmental pollution. Nevertheless efficiency and stability of photocatalysts are still unsatisfactory. To address these issues design of advanced photocatalysts is important. Cadmium sulphide (CdS) nanomaterials are one of the promising photocatalysts. Among them hollow-structured CdS featured with enhanced light absorption ability large surface area abundant active sites for redox reactions and reduced diffusion distance of photogenerated carriers reveals a broad application prospect. Herein main synthetic strategies and formation mechanism of hollow CdS photocatalysts are summarized. Besides we comprehensively discuss the current development of hollow-structured CdS nanomaterials in photocatalytic applications including H₂ production CO₂ reduction and pollutant degradation. Finally brief conclusions and perspectives on the challenges and future directions for hollow CdS photocatalysts are proposed.

Hydrogen produced from renewable electricity will play an important role in deep decarbonisation of industry. However adding large electrolyser capacities to a low-carbon electricity system also increases the need for additional electricity generation from variable renewable energies. This will require hydrogen production to be variable unless other sources provide sufficient flexibility. Existing sources of flexibility in hydro-thermal systems are hydropower and thermal generation which are both associated with sustainability concerns. In this work we use a dispatch model for the case of Sweden to assess the power system operation with large-scale electrolysers assuming that additional wind power generation matches the electricity demand of hydrogen production on average. We evaluate different scenarios for restricting the flexibility of hydropower and thermal generation and include 29 different weather years to test the impact of variable weather regimes. We show that (a) in all scenarios electrolyser utilisation is above 60% on average (b) the inter-annual variability of hydrogen production is substantial if thermal power is not dispatched for electrolysis and (c) this problem is aggravated if hydropower flexibility is also restricted. Therefore either long-term storage of hydrogen or backup hydrogen sources may be necessary to guarantee continuous hydrogen flows. Large-scale dispatch of electrolysis capacity supported by wind power makes the system more stable if electrolysers ramp down in rare hours of extreme events with low renewable generation. The need for additional backup capacities in a fully renewable electricity system will thus be reduced if wind power and electrolyser operation are combined in the system.

Developing non-precious catalysts as Pt substitutes for electrochemical hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) with superior stability in acidic electrolyte is of critical importance for large-scale low-cost hydrogen production from water. Herein we report a CoCrFeNiAl high-entropy alloy (HEA) electrocatalyst with self-supported structure synthesized by mechanical alloying and spark plasma sintering (SPS) consolidation. The HEA after HF treatment and in situ electrochemical activation for 4000 cycles of cyclic voltammetry (HF-HEAa2) presents favourable activity with overpotential of 73 mV to reach a current density of 10 mA cm⁻² and a Tafel slope of 39.7 mV dec⁻¹. The alloy effect of Al/Cr with Co/Fe/Ni at atomic level high-temperature crystallization as well as consolidation by SPS endow CoCrFeNiAl HEA with high stability in 0.5 M H₂SO₄ solution. The superior performance of HF-HEAa2 is related with the presence of metal hydroxides/oxides groups on HEA.

The iron and steel industry relies significantly on primary energy and is one of the largest energy consumers in the manufacturing sector. Simultaneously numerous waste heat is lost and discharged directly into the environment in the process of steel production. Thus considering conservation of energy energy-efficient improvement should be a holistic target for iron and steel industry. The research gap is that almost all the review studies focus on the primary energy saving measures in iron and steel industry whereas few work summarize the secondary energy saving technologies together with former methods. The objective of this paper is to develop the concept of mass-thermal network optimization in iron and steel industry which unrolls a comprehensive map to consider current energy conservation technologies and low grade heat recovery technologies from an overall situation. By presenting an overarching energy consumption in the iron and steel industry energy saving potentials are presented to identify suitable technologies by using mass-thermal network optimization. Case studies and demonstration projects around the world are also summarized. The general guideline is figured out for the energy optimization in iron and steel industry while the improved mathematical models are regarded as the future challenge.

Hydrogen is a zero-carbon footprint energy source with high energy density that could be the basis of future energy systems. Membrane-based water electrolysis is one means by which to produce high-purity and sustainable hydrogen. It is important that the scientific community focus on developing electrolytic hydrogen systems which match available energy sources. In this review various types of water splitting technologies and membrane selection for electrolyzers are discussed. We highlight the basic principles recent studies and achievements in membrane-based electrolysis for hydrogen production. Previously the NafionTM membrane was the gold standard for PEM electrolyzers but today cheaper and more effective membranes are favored. In this paper CuCl–HCl electrolysis and its operating parameters are summarized. Additionally a summary is presented of hydrogen production by water splitting including a discussion of the advantages disadvantages and efficiencies of the relevant technologies. Nonetheless the development of cost-effective and efficient hydrogen production technologies requires a significant amount of study especially in terms of optimizing the operation parameters affecting the hydrogen output. Therefore herein we address the challenges prospects and future trends in this field of research and make critical suggestions regarding the implementation of comprehensive membrane-based electrolytic systems.

This study analyses public expectations attitudes and preferences to support and purchase eco-friendly fuel vehicles. The study used a telephone survey of a sample of residents in Greater Stavanger Norway. Two cluster analyses were conducted to group the individuals based on expectations and attitudes toward eco-friendly fuel vehicles. In addition two multivariate analyses were performed to explore the determinants of support and willingness to purchase eco-friendly fuel vehicles. The study found three components of expectation to support eco-friendly fuel vehicles namely cost comfort and safety. The analysis further found four components to explain attitudes to support eco-friendly fuel vehicles: personal norm pro-technology awareness of priority and environmental degradation. Multivariate analyses confirmed that age gender and the number of cars in the household are likely to influence public preferences to support and purchase eco-friendly fuel vehicles. The results reveal that individuals tend to support the eco-friendly vehicles when the technologies meet their expectations towards cost and safety but the cost expectation is the significant factor that results in the decision to purchase the eco-friendly vehicles. The study also found that the pro-technology attitude has influenced the propensity to support and purchase the eco-friendly fuel vehicles.

Variable renewable energy (VRE) is expected to play a major role in the decarbonization of the electricity sector. However decarbonization via VRE requires a fleet of flexible dispatchable plants with low CO2 emissions to supply clean power during times with limited wind and sunlight. These plants will need to operate at reduced capacity factors with frequent ramps in electricity output posing techno-economic challenges. This study therefore presents an economic assessment of a new near-zero emission power plant designed for this purpose. The gas switching reforming combined cycle (GSR-CC) plant can produce electricity during times of low VRE output and hydrogen during times of high VRE output. This product flexibility allows the plant to operate continuously even when high VRE output makes electricity production uneconomical. Although the CO2 avoidance cost of the GSR-CC plant (€61/ton) was similar to the benchmark post-combustion CO2 capture plant under baseload operation GSR-CC clearly outperformed the benchmark in a more realistic scenario where continued VRE expansion forces power plants into mid-load operation (45% capacity factor). In this scenario GSR-CC promises a 5 %-point higher annualized investment return than the post-combustion benchmark. GSR-CC therefore appears to be a promising concept for a future scenario with high VRE market share and CO2 prices provided that a large market for clean hydrogen is established.

The time-range of applicability of various energy-storage technologies are limited by self-discharge and other inevitable losses. While batteries and hydrogen are useful for storage in a time-span ranging from hours to several days or even weeks for seasonal or multi-seasonal storage only some traditional and quite costly methods can be used (like pumped-storage plants Compressed Air Energy Storage or energy tower). In this paper we aim to show that while the efficiency of energy recovery of Power-to-Methane technology is lower than for several other methods due to the low self-discharge and negligible standby losses it can be a suitable and cost-effective solution for seasonal and multi-seasonal energy storage.

In the current study the effect of hydrogen atoms on the intergranular failure of α-iron is examined by a molecular dynamics (MD) simulation. The effect of hydrogen embrittlement on the grain boundary (GB) is investigated by diffusing hydrogen atoms into the grain boundaries using a bicrystal body-centered cubic (BCC) model and then deforming the model with a uniaxial tension. The Debye Waller factors are applied to illustrate the volume change of GBs and the simulation results suggest that the trapped hydrogen atoms in GBs can therefore increase the excess volume of GBs thus enhancing intergranular failure. When a constant displacement loading is applied to the bicrystal model the increased strain energy can barely be released via dislocation emission when H is present. The hydrogen pinning effect occurs in the current dislocation slip system <111>{112}. The hydrogen atoms facilitate cracking via a decrease of the free surface energy and enhance the phase transition via an increase in the local pressure. Hence the failure mechanism is prone to intergranular failure so as to release excessive pressure and energy near GBs. This study provides a mechanistic framework of intergranular failure and a theoretical model is then developed to predict the intergranular cracking rate

Titanium dioxide (TiO₂ ) has been widely investigated for photocatalytic H₂ evolution and photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting since 1972. However its wide bandgap (3.0–3.2 eV) limits the optical absorption of TiO₂ for sufficient utilization of solar energy. Blackening TiO₂ has been proposed as an effective strategy to enhance its solar absorption and thus the photocatalytic and PEC activities and aroused widespread research interest. In this article we reviewed the recent progress of black TiO₂ for photocatalytic H₂ evolution and PEC water splitting along with detailed introduction to its unique structural features optical property charge carrier transfer property and related theoretical calculations. As summarized in this review article black TiO₂ could be a promising candidate for photoelectrocatalytic hydrogen generation via water splitting and continuous efforts are deserved for improving its solar hydrogen efficiency.

The future energy system is widely expected to show increasing levels of integration across differing energy carriers. Electricity hydrogen methane and heat systems may become increasingly interdependent due to coupling through conversion and hybrid energy technologies. Market parties network operators policy makers and regulators require tools to capture implications of possible techno-economic and institutional developments in one system for the operation of others. In this article we provide an integrated electricity hydrogen and methane systems modelling framework focusing on interdependencies between them. The proposed integrated electricity and (renewable) gas system model is a market equilibrium model with hourly price and volume interactions considering ramp rates of conventional units variability of intermittent renewables conversion transport as well as storage of electricity hydrogen and methane. The integrated model is formulated as a linear program under the assumption of perfect competition. As proof-of-concept the model has been applied to a test case consisting of 34 electricity nodes 19 hydrogen nodes and 22 methane nodes reflecting the regional governance scenario in the Dutch Infrastructure Outlook 2050 study. The case study also includes different sensitivity analyses with regard to variable renewable capacity energy demand and biomass prices to illustrate model response to perturbations of its main drivers. This article demonstrates that the interweaving of electricity hydrogen and methane systems can provide the required flexibility in the future energy system.

In the research the corrosion and mechanical properties as well as susceptibility to hydrogen embrittlement of two casing pipe steels were investigated in order to assess their serviceability in corrosive and hydrogenating environments under operation in oil and gas wells. Two carbon steels with different microstructures were tested: the medium carbon steel (MCS) with bainitic microstructure and the medium-high carbon steel (MHCS) with ferrite–pearlite microstructure. The results showed that the corrosion resistance of the MHCS in CO2-containing acid chloride solution simulating formation water was significantly lower than that of the MCS which was associated with microstructure features. The higher strength MCS with the dispersed microstructure was less susceptible to hydrogen embrittlement under preliminary electrolytic hydrogenation than the lower strength MHCS with the coarse-grained microstructure. To estimate the embrittlement of steels the method of the FEM load simulation of the specimens with cracks was used. The constitutive relations of the true stress–strain of the tested steels were defined. The stress and strain dependences in the crack tip were calculated. It was found that the MHCS was characterized by the lower plasticity on the stage of the neck formation of the specimen and the lower fracture toughness than the other one. The obtained results demonstrating the limitations of the usage of casing pipes made of the MHCS with the coarse-grained ferrite/pearlite microstructure in corrosive and hydrogenating environments were discussed.

The Hydrogen Taskforce welcomes the opportunity to submit evidence to the Business Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee’s inquiry into decarbonising heat in homes. It is the Taskforce’s view that:

• Decarbonising heat is one of the biggest challenges that the UK faces in meeting Net Zero and several solutions will be required;
• Hydrogen can play a valuable role in reducing the cost of decarbonising heat. Its high energy density enables it to be stored cost effectively at scale providing system resilience;
• Hydrogen heating can be implemented at minimal disruption to the consumer;
• The UK holds world-class advantages in hydrogen production distribution and application; and
• Other economies are moving ahead in the development of this sector and the UK must respond.

In March 2020 the Taskforce has defined a set of policy recommendations for Government which are designed to ensure that hydrogen can scale to meet the future demands of a net zero energy system: • Development of a cross departmental UK Hydrogen Strategy within UK Government;• Commit £1bn of capex funding over the next spending review period to hydrogen production storage and distribution projects;• Develop a financial support scheme for the production of hydrogen in blending industry power and transport.• Amend Gas Safety Management Regulations (GSMR) to enable hydrogen blending and take the next steps towards 100% hydrogen heating through supporting public trials and mandating 100% hydrogen-ready boilers by 2025; and• Commit to the support of 100 Hydrogen Refuelling Stations (HRS) by 2025 to support the rollout of hydrogen transport.





You can download the whole document from the Hydrogen Taskforce website here

A main scientific and technical challenge facing the implementation of new and sustainable energy sources is the development and improvement of materials and components. In order to provide commercial viability of these applications an intensive research in material-hydrogen (H) interaction is required. This work provides an overview of recently developed in-situ and in-operando H-charging methods and their applicability to investigate mechanical properties H-absorption characteristics and H embrittlement (HE) susceptibility of a wide range of materials employed in H-related technologies such as subsea oil and gas applications nuclear fusion and fuel cells.

This review gives a worldwide overview on Power-to-Gas projects producing hydrogen or renewable substitute natural gas focusing projects in central Europe. It deepens and completes the content of previous reviews by including hitherto unreviewed projects and by combining project names with details such as plant location. It is based on data from 153 completed recent and planned projects since 1988 which were evaluated with regards to plant allocation installed power development plant size shares and amounts of hydrogen or substitute natural gas producing examinations and product utilization phases. Cost development for electrolysis and carbon dioxide methanation was analyzed and a projection until 2030 is given with an outlook to 2050.<br/>The results show substantial cost reductions for electrolysis as well as for methanation during the recent years and a further price decline to less than 500 euro per kilowatt electric power input for both technologies until 2050 is estimated if cost projection follows the current trend. Most of the projects examined are located in Germany Denmark the United States of America and Canada. Following an exponential global trend to increase installed power today's Power-to-Gas applications are operated at about 39 megawatt. Hydrogen and substitute natural gas were investigated on equal terms concerning the number of projects.

In this work we studied the mechanical and thermal stability of ~100 nm Pd thin films magnetron sputter deposited on a bare oxidized Si(100) wafer a sputtered Titanium (Ti) intermediate layer and a spin-coated Polyimide (PI) intermediate layer. The dependence of the film stability on the film morphology and the film-substrate interaction was investigated. It was shown that a columnar morphology with elongated voids at part of the grain boundaries is resistant to embrittlement induced by the hydride formation (α↔β phase transitions). For compact film morphology depending on the rigidity of the intermediate layer and the adherence to the substrate complete transformation (Pd-PI-SiO₂/Si) or partly suppression (Pd-Ti-SiO₂/Si) of the α to β-phase was observed. In the case of Pd without intermediate layer (Pd-SiO₂/Si) buckling delamination occurred. The damage and deformation mechanisms could be understood by the analysis of the stresses and dislocation (defects) behavior near grain boundaries and the film-substrate interface. From diffraction line-broadening combined with microscopy analysis we showed that in Pd thin films stresses relax at critical stress values via different relaxation pathways depending on film-microstructure and film-substrate interaction. On the basis of the in-situ hydriding experiments it was concluded that a Pd film on a flexible PI intermediate layer exhibits free-standing film-like behavior besides being strongly clamped on a stiff SiO₂/Si substrate.