Publications

On this weeks episode the team are talking all things hydrogen with Jigar Shah the President of Generate Capital and Co-host of the Energy Gang podcast. Jigar Shah has a well earned reputation as one of the most influential voices in the US clean energy market having pioneered no-money down solar with SunEdison and led the not for profit climate group the Carbon War Room. Since its founding in 2014 Generate Capital the company has provided $130 million of funds to a leading fuel cell provide Plug Power meanwhile in October 2019 Jigar declared hydrogen to be the ultimate clean electricity enabler. On the show we ask Jigar why he thinks Hydrogen is becoming interesting for investors today what business models he feels are exciting and offer the most attractive niches for hydrogen technology businesses whilst getting his side of the story on that time he met Chris at a conference…..All this and more on the show!

The podcast can be found on their website

A common sustainability issue arising in production systems is the efficient use of resources for providing goods or services. With the increased interest in a hydrogen (H2) economy the life-cycle environmental performance of H2 production has special significance for assisting in identifying opportunities to improve environmental performance and to guide challenging decisions and select between technology paths. Life cycle impact assessment methods are rapidly evolving to analyze multiple environmental impacts of the production of products or processes. This study marks the first step in developing process-based streamlined life cycle analysis (LCA) of several H2 production pathways combining life cycle impacts at the midpoint (17 problem-oriented) and endpoint (3 damage-oriented) levels using the state-of-the-art impact assessment method ReCiPe 2016. Steam reforming of natural gas coal gasification water electrolysis via proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEM) solid oxide electrolyzer cell (SOEC) biomass gasification and reforming and dark fermentation of lignocellulosic biomass were analyzed. An innovative aspect is developed in this study is an analysis of water consumption associated with H2 production pathways by life-cycle stage to provide a better understanding of the life cycle water-related impacts on human health and natural environment. For water-related scope Water scarcity footprint (WSF) quantified using Available Water Remaining (AWARE) method was applied as a stand-alone indicator. The paper discusses the strengths and weaknesses of each production pathway identify the drivers of environmental impact quantify midpoint environmental impact and its influence on the endpoint environmental performance. The findings of this study could serve as a useful theoretical reference and practical basis to decision-makers of potential environmental impacts of H2 production systems.

Hydrogen is a clean and environmentally friendly energy vector that can play an important role in meeting the world’s futureenergy needs. Therefore a comprehensive study of the potential for hydrogen production from solar energy could greatlyfacilitate the transition to a hydrogen economy. Because by knowing the exact amount of potential for solar hydrogenproduction the cost-effectiveness of its production can be compared with other methods of hydrogen production. Consideringthe above it can be seen that so far no comprehensive study has been done on finding the exact potential of solar hydrogenproduction in different stations of Iran and finding the most suitable station. Therefore in the present work for the first timeusing the HOMER and ArcGIS softwares the technical-economic study of solar hydrogen production at home-scale was done.The results showed that Jask station with a levelized cost of energy equal to $ 0.172 and annual production of 83.8 kg ofhydrogen is the best station and Darab station with a levelized cost of energy equal to $ 0.286 and annual production of 50.4 kgof hydrogen is the worst station. According to the results other suitable stations were Bushehr and Deyr and other unsuitablestations were Anzali and Khalkhal. Also in 102 under study stations 380 MW of solar electricity equivalent to 70.2 tons ofhydrogen was produced annually. Based on the geographic information system map it is clear that the southern half of Iranespecially the coasts of the Persian Gulf and the sea of Oman is suitable for hydrogen production and the northernnortheastern northwestern and one region in southern of Iran are unsuitable for hydrogen production. The authors of thisarticle hope that the results of the present work will help the energy policymakers to create strategic frameworks and a roadmapfor the production of solar hydrogen in Iran.

On this weeks show we discuss with Graham Cooley the CEO of ITM Power how his company has expanded from a research company on AIM in the early 2000’s to one of the largest electrolyser manufacturers in the world. On the show we also ask Graham to talk about how the hydrogen market has evolved where he sees the potential growth trajectory for the industry and how ITM sees its role within this space.

The podcast can be found on their website

This 2nd deliverable from WP4 gives an overview of relevant existing certification experience on-going standardization activities and field trials in the European Union and other countries regarding gas appliances using H2NG. It gives a picture of the today’s situation as many of the identified initiatives are ongoing and progressing continuously.

This episode of EAH is a chance for the team to catch up with one of our early guests on the show Graham Cooley - CEO of ITM Power. For the past twenty years ITM Power PLC has been designing and manufacturing electrolyser systems that generate hydrogen based on proton exchange membrane (PEM) technology. As the first hydrogen related company to be listed on the London Stock Exchange ITM are globally recognised experts in the field of electrolysis. In 2021 the company opened its first Gigafactory in Bessemer Park Sheffield: the world’s largest electrolyser production factory.

The podcast can be found on their website

On this week's episode of Everything About Hydrogen the team are catching up with Astrid Behaghel the Energy Transition expert on hydrogen for BNP Paribas. On the show the team discuss how BNP Paribas see the emerging role of hydrogen in the energy transition how the financing of hydrogen projects differs for newer hydrogen initiatives and why BNP Paribas joined the Hydrogen Council. We also dive into the question of what role can (or even should) Banks play in the evolution and development of the emerging hydrogen market and BNPs plans to expand its activities in this sector. All this and more!

The podcast can be found on their website

On this week's episode of Everything About Hydrogen the team are celebrating the show's one year anniversary with Randy MacEwen the CEO of Ballard Power Systems. On the show the team ask Randy to explain the stunning rise of hydrogen over the last 12-24 months how the use cases for hydrogen are evolving and how the growing capitalisation of listed businesses like Ballard is driving a change in the investor base across the hydrogen & fuel cell sector. We also dive into the future for Ballard where the challenges and focuses for the business lie while the team reflect on what has been a very intense year for the show and the hydrogen industry. All this and more!

The podcast can be found on their website

With little time left for humanity to reduce climate change to a tolerable level a highly scalable and rapidly deployable solution is needed that can be implemented by any country. Offshore wind energy in international waters is an underused resource and could even be harnessed by landlocked countries. In this paper the use of sailing wind turbines operating autonomously in high seas to harvest energy is proposed. The electrical energy that is generated by the wind turbine is converted to a renewable fuel and stored onboard. Later the fuel will be transferred to shore or to other destinations of use. The presented idea is explored at the system level where the basic subsystems necessary are identified and defined such as energy conversion and storage as well as propulsion subsystems. Moreover various operating possibilities are investigated including a comparison of different sailing strategies and fuels for storage. Existing ideas are also briefly addressed and an example concept is suggested as well. In this paper the proposed sailing renewable energy conversion system is explored at a higher level of abstraction. Following up on this conceptual study more detailed investigations are necessary to determine whether the development of such a sailing renewable energy conversion system is viable from an engineering economic and environmental point of view.

Blending hydrogen into the natural gas infrastructure is becoming a very promising practice to increase the exploitation of renewable energy sources which can be used to produce “green” hydrogen. Several research projects and field experiments are currently aimed at evaluating the risks associated with utilization of the gas blend in end-use devices such as the gas meters. In this paper the authors present the results of experiments aimed at assessing the effect of hydrogen injection in terms of the durability of domestic gas meters. To this end 105 gas meters of different measurement capabilities and manufacturers both brand-new and withdrawn from service were investigated in terms of accuracy drift after durability cycles of 5000 and 10000 h with H2NG mixtures and H2 concentrations of 10% and 15%. The obtained results show that there is no metrologically significant or statistically significant influence of hydrogen content on changes in gas meter indication errors after subjecting the meters to durability testing with a maximum of 15% H2 content over 10000 h. A metrologically significant influence of the long-term operation of the gas meters was confirmed but it should not be made dependent on the hydrogen content in the gas. No safety problems related to the loss of external tightness were observed for either the new or 10-year-old gas meters.