Applications & Pathways

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

This study proposed a strategy for selecting an optimal propulsion system of a liquefied hydrogen tanker. Four propulsion system options were conceivable depending on whether the hydrogen BOG (boil-off gas) from the cryogenic cargo tanks was used for fuel or not. These options were evaluated in terms of their economic technological and environmental feasibilities. The comparison scope included not only main machinery but also the BOG handling system with electric generators. Cost-benefit analysis life-cycle costing including carbon tax and an energy efficiency design index were used as measures to compare the four alternative systems. The analytic hierarchy process made scientific decision-making possible. This methodology provided the priority of each attribute through the use of pairwise comparison matrices. Consequently the propulsion system using LNG with hydrogen BOG recovery was determined to be the optimal alternative. This system was appropriate for the tanker that achieved the highest evaluation score.

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.

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.

Current developments of non-relativistic quantum mechanics appear to predict and reveal counter-intuitive dynamical effects of hydrogen in nanostructured materials that are of considerable importance for basic research as well as for technological applications. In this review the experimental focus is on H₂O and H molecules in carbon nanotubes and other nanocavities that have been experimentally investigated using the well-established technique of incoherent inelastic neutron scattering (INS). For instance the momentum and energy transfers as obtained from the commonly used standard data analysis techniques from a

(I) H₂ molecule in a C-nanotube resulting in a roto-translational motion along the nanotube axis seems to (1) either violate the standard conservation laws or (2) to attribute to the H molecule undergoing translation the effective mass a.m.u. (atomic mass units) instead of the expected 2 a.m.u. A similar striking anomalous effect has been found in the neutron-H scattering from the

(II) H₂O molecules in nano-channels of some solid materials in which O-H stretching vibrations along the channel axis are created.

The results of this scattering process seem to once again either violate the standard conservation laws or to attribute to the effective mass of the struck H₂ molecule as a.m.u. instead of the expected value of 1 a.m.u. We show that these counterintuitive observations from the INS studies have no conventional interpretation within the standard non-relativistic scattering theory. However they can be qualitatively interpreted “from first principles” within the framework of modern theories of

(III) time-symmetric quantum dynamics as provided by the weak values (WV) and two-state- vector formalism (TSVF)

and/or

(IV) quantum correlations especially quantum discord (QD) and quantum thermodynamics (QTD).

The theoretical analysis provides an intuitive understanding of the experimental results gives strong evidence that the nano-structured cavities do represent quantum systems which participate significantly in the dynamics of the neutron-H scattering and surprisingly shows that new physical information can be derived from the experimental data. This latter point may also have far-reaching consequences for technology and material sciences (e.g. fuel cells H storage materials etc.). Moreover novel insights into the short-lived quantum dynamics and/or quantum information theory can be gained.

A renewables-based energy transition promises to deliver vast socio-economic benefits to countries across Africa improving energy access creating jobs and boosting energy security. To realise these benefits African countries have an opportunity to leapfrog fossil fuel technologies to a more sustainable climate-friendly power strategy aligned with the Paris Agreement and low-carbon growth.<br/><br/>The Renewable Energy Transition in Africa jointly prepared by Germany's KfW Development Bank Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) explores how African countries can achieve universal energy access within the 2030 Agenda timeframe and identifies four areas of action:<br/><br/>Promote access to energy;<br/>De-risk and promoting private sector investments;<br/>Strengthen and modernise the grid;<br/>Support systemic innovation.<br/>The study also explores the transformational potential of the electricity sector in five Africa countries: Ghana Ivory Coast Morocco Rwanda and South Africa. Specifically developed by IRENA country case studies show the real-life applicability of power sector transformation and demonstrates how countries can:<br/><br/>Take advantage of the abundancy and competitiveness of renewables;<br/>Align ambitious renewable targets in energy and climate plans;<br/>Continue supporting the development of regional markets;<br/>Leverage renewables and distributed energy resources to achieve universal energy access;<br/>Develop tailored power sector transformation plans based on a systemic innovation approach;<br/>Build on policy frameworks for just and inclusive transitions.

The main goal of the project is to enable the wide adoption of H2NG (hydrogen in natural gas) blends by closing knowledge gaps regarding technical impacts on residential and commercial gas appliances. The project consortium will identify and recommend appropriate codes and standards that should be adapted to answer the needs and develop a strategy for addressing the challenges for new and existing appliances.<br/>This deliverable on market segmentation is part of work package 2 and provides a quantitative segmentation of the gas appliance market in terms of appliance population numbers. It therefore prepares the project partners to perform the subsequent selection of the most representative product types to be tested in the laboratories of the THyGA partners.<br/>The classification is developed to categorise appliances installed in the field based on available statistics calculation methods and estimations. As a result appliance populations are provided for each technology segment that draw a representative picture of the installed end-use appliances within the European Union in 2020.

In comparison with the power sector large scale decarbonisation of heat has received relatively little attention at the infrastructural scale despite its importance in the global CO2 emissions landscape. In this study we focus on the regional transition of a heating sector from natural gas-based infrastructure to H2 using mathematical optimisation. A discrete spatio-temporal description of the geographical region of Great Britain was used in addition to a detailed description of all network elements for illustrating the key factors in the design of nation-wide H2 and CO2 infrastructure. We have found that the synergistic deployment of H2 production technologies such as autothermal reforming of methane and biomass gasification with CO2 abatement technologies such as carbon capture and storage (CCS) are critical in achieving cost-effective decarbonisation. We show that both large scale underground H2 storage and water electrolysis provide resilience and flexibility to the heating system competing on cost and deployment rates. The optimal regions for siting H2 production infrastructure are characterised by proximity to: (1) underground H2 storage (2) high demands for H2 (3) geological storage for CO2. Furthermore cost-effective transitions based on a methane reforming pathway may necessitate regional expansions in the supply of natural gas with profound implications for security of supply in nations that are already highly reliant potentially creating an infrastructure lock-in during the near term. We found that the total system cost comprising both investment and operational elements is mostly influenced by the natural gas price followed by biomass price and CapEx of underground caverns. Under a hybrid Regulated Asset Base (RAB) commercial framework with private enterprises delivering production infrastructure the total cost of heat supply over the infrastructure lifetime is estimated as 5.2–8.6 pence per kW h. Due to the higher cost relative to natural gas a Contract for Difference payment between d20 per MW h and d53 per MW h will be necessary for H2-derived heat to be competitive in the market.

As part of FCH-JU funded HyCoRA project running from 2014 to 2017 28 gaseous and 13 particulate samples were collected from hydrogen refuelling stations in Europe. Samples were collected with commercial sampling instruments and analysis performed in compliance with prevailing fuel quality standards. Sampling was conducted with focus on diversity in feedstock as well as commissioning date of the HRS. Results indicate that the strategy for sampling was good. No evidence of impurity cross-over was observed. Parallel samples collected indicate some variation in analytical results. It was however found that fuel quality was generally good. Fourteen analytical results were in violation with the fuel tolerance limits. Therefore eight or 29% of the samples were in violation with the fuel quality requirements. Nitrogen oxygen and organics were the predominant impurities quantified. Particulate impurities were found to be within fuel quality specifications. No correlation between fuel quality and hydrogen feedstock or HRS commissioning date was found. Nitrogen to oxygen ratios gave no indication of samples being contaminated by air. A comparison of analytical results between two different laboratories were conducted. Some difference in analytical results were observed.

The global energy transition towards a carbon neutral society requires a profound transformation of electricity generation and consumption as well as of electric power systems. Hydrogen has an important potential to accelerate the process of scaling up clean and renewable energy however its integration in power systems remains little studied. This paper reviews the current progress and outlook of hydrogen technologies and their application in power systems for hydrogen production re-electrification and storage. The characteristics of electrolysers and fuel cells are demonstrated with experimental data and the deployments of hydrogen for energy storage power-to-gas co- and tri-generation and transportation are investigated using examples from worldwide projects. The current techno-economic status of these technologies and applications is presented in which cost efficiency and durability are identified as the main critical aspects. This is also confirmed by the results of a statistical analysis of the literature. Finally conclusions show that continuous efforts on performance improvements scale ramp-up technical prospects and political support are required to enable a cost-competitive hydrogen economy.