Policy & Socio-Economics

In this study we investigated the cost-effectiveness of four alternatives: Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) methanol green hydrogen and green ammonia for the case of top 20 most frequently calling ships to Irish ports in 2019 through the Net Present Value (NPV) methodology incorporating the benefits incurred through saved external carbon tax and conventional fuel costs. LNG had the highest NPV (€6166 million) followed by methanol (€1705 million) and green hydrogen (€319 million). Green ammonia utilisation (as a hydrogen carrier) looks inviable due to higher operational costs resulting from its excessive consumption (i.e. losses) during the cracking and purifying processes and its lower net calorific value. Green hydrogen remains the best option to meet future decarbonisation targets although a further reduction in its current fuel price (by 60%) or a significant increment in the proposed carbon tax rate (by 275%) will be required to improve its cost-competitiveness over LNG and methanol.

Countries are under increasing pressure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as an act upon the Paris Agreement. The essential emission reductions can be achieved by environmentally friendly solutions in particular the introduction of low carbon or carbon-free fuels. This study presents a comparative life cycle assessment of various energy carriers namely; liquefied natural gas methanol dimethyl ether liquid hydrogen and liquid ammonia that are produced from natural gas or renewables to investigate greenhouse gas emissions generated from the complete life cycle of energy carriers accounting for the leaks as well as boil-off gas occurring during storage and transportation. The entire fuel life cycle is considered consisting of production storage transportation via an ocean tanker to different distances and finally utilization in an internal combustion engine of a road vehicle. The results show that using natural gas as a feedstock total greenhouse gas emissions during production ocean transportation (over 20000 nmi) by a heavy fuel oil-fueled ocean tanker and utilization in an internal combustion engine are 73.96 95.73 93.76 50.83 and 100.54 g CO2 eq. MJ1 for liquified natural gas methanol dimethyl ether liquid hydrogen and liquid ammonia respectively. Liquid hydrogen produced from solar electrolysis is the cleanest energy carrier (42.50 g CO2 eq. MJ1 fuel). Moreover when liquid ammonia is produced via photovoltaic-based electrolysis (60.76 g CO2 eq. MJ1 fuel) it becomes cleaner than liquified natural gas. Although producing methanol and dimethyl ether from biomass results in a large reduction in total greenhouse gas emissions compared to conventional methanol and dimethyl ether production with a value of 73.96 g CO2 eq. per MJ liquified natural gas still represents a cleaner option than methanol and dimethyl ether considering the full life cycle.

A 10-minute tour of hydrogen industry technology and terminology for those who are new to the sector or who would simply like a quick review of the basics behind this burgeoning energy source.

Podcast can be found on their website

The clean hydrogen in the prioritized value chain platform could provide energy incentives and reduce environmental impacts. In the current study strengths weaknesses opportunities and threats (SWOT) analysis has been successfully applied to the clean hydrogen value chain in different sectors to determine Japan’s clean hydrogen value chain’s strengths weaknesses opportunities and threats as a case study. Japan was chosen as a case study since we believe that it is the only pioneer country in that chain with a national strategy investments and current projects which make it unique in this way. The analyses include evaluations of clean energy development power supply chains regional energy planning and renewable energy development including the internal and external elements that may influence the growth of the hydrogen economy in Japan. The ability of Japan to produce and use large quantities of clean hydrogen at a price that is competitive with fossil fuels is critical to the country’s future success. The implementation of an efficient carbon tax and carbon pricing is also necessary for cost parity. There will be an increasing demand for global policy coordination and inter-industry cooperation. The results obtained from this research will be a suitable model for other countries to be aware of the strengths weaknesses opportunities and threats in this field in order to make proper decisions according to their infrastructures potentials economies and socio-political states in that field.

In June 2021 the United States (US) Department of Energy (DOE) hosted the first-ever Hydrogen Shot Summit which lasted for two days. More than 3000 stockholders around the world were convened at the summit to discuss how low-cost clean hydrogen production would be a huge step towards solving climate change. Hydrogen is a dynamic fuel that can be used across all industrial sectors to lower the carbon intensity. By 2030 the summit hopes to have developed a means to reduce the current cost of clean hydrogen by 80%; i.e. to USD 1 per kilogram. Because of the importance of clean hydrogen towards carbon neutrality the overall DOE budget for Fiscal Year 2021 is USD 35.4 billion and the total budget for DOE hydrogen activities in Fiscal Year 2021 is USD 285 million representing 0.81% of the total DOE budget for 2021. The DOE hydrogen budget of 2021 is estimated to increase to USD 400 million in Fiscal Year 2022. The global hydrogen market is growing and the US is playing an active role in ensuring its growth. Depending on the electricity source used the electrolysis of hydrogen can have no greenhouse gas emissions. When assessing the advantages and economic viability of hydrogen production by electrolysis it is important to take into account the source of the necessary electricity as well as emissions resulting from electricity generation. In this study to evaluate the levelized cost of nuclear hydrogen production the International Atomic Energy Agency Hydrogen Economic Evaluation Program is used to model four types of LWRs: Exelon’s Nine Mile Point Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) in New York; Palo Verde NPP in Arizona; Davis-Besse NPP in Ohio; and Prairie Island NPP in Minnesota. Each of these LWRs has a different method of hydrogen production. The results show that the total cost of hydrogen production for Exelon’s Nine Mile Point NPP Palo Verde NPP Davis-Besse NPP and Prairie Island NPP was 4.85 ± 0.66 4.77 ± 1.36 3.09 ± 1.19 and 0.69 ± 0.03 USD/kg respectively. These findings show that among the nuclear reactors the cost of nuclear hydrogen production using Exelon’s Nine Mile Point NPP reactor is the highest whereas the cost of nuclear hydrogen production using the Prairie Island NPP reactor is the lowest.

The transition of residential communities to renewable energy sources is one of the first steps for the decarbonization of the energy sector the reduction of CO2 emissions and the mitigation of global climate change. This study provides information for the development of a microgrid supplied by wind and solar energy which meets the hourly energy demand of a community of 10000 houses in the North Texas region; hydrogen is used as the energy storage medium. The results are presented for two cases: (a) when the renewable energy sources supply only the electricity demand of the community and (b) when these sources provide the electricity as well as the heating needs (for space heating and hot water) of the community. The results show that such a community can be decarbonized with combinations of wind and solar installations. The energy storage requirements are between 2.7 m3 per household and 2.2 m3 per household. There is significant dissipation in the storage–regeneration processes—close to 30% of the current annual electricity demand. The entire decarbonization (electricity and heat) of this community will result in approximately 87500 tons of CO2 emissions avoidance.

This study is aimed at a succinct review of practical impacts of grid integration of renewable energy systems on effectiveness of power networks as well as often employed state-of-the-art solution strategies. The renewable energy resources focused on include solar energy wind energy biomass energy and geothermal energy as well as renewable hydrogen/fuel cells which although not classified purely as renewable resources are a famous energy carrier vital for future energy sustainability. Although several world energy outlooks have suggested that the renewable resources available worldwide are sufficient to satisfy global energy needs in multiples of thousands the different challenges often associated with practical exploitation have made this assertion an illusion to date. Thus more research efforts are required to synthesize the nature of these challenges as well as viable solution strategies hence the need for this review study. First brief overviews are provided for each of the studied renewable energy sources. Next challenges and solution strategies associated with each of them at generation phase are discussed with reference to power grid integration. Thereafter challenges and common solution strategies at the grid/electrical interface are discussed for each of the renewable resources. Finally expert opinions are provided comprising a number of aphorisms deducible from the review study which reveal knowledge gaps in the field and potential roadmap for future research. In particular these opinions include the essential roles that renewable hydrogen will play in future energy systems; the need for multi-sectoral coupling specifically by promoting electric vehicle usage and integration with renewable-based power grids; the need for cheaper energy storage devices attainable possibly by using abandoned electric vehicle batteries for electrical storage and by further development of advanced thermal energy storage systems (overviews of state-of-the-art thermal and electrochemical energy storage are also provided); amongst others.

Existing studies of financing efficiency concentrate on capital structure and a single external environment or internal management characteristic. Few of the studies include the internal and external financing environments at the same time for hydrogen energy industry financing efficiency. This paper used the data envelopment analysis (DEA) model and the Malmquist index to measure the financing efficiency of 70 hydrogen energy listed enterprises in China from 2014 to 2020 from both static and dynamic perspectives. Then a tobit model was constructed to explore the influence of external environment and internal factors on the financing efficiency. The contributions of this paper are studying the internal and external financing environments and integrating financing cost efficiency and capital allocation efficiency into the financing efficiency of hydrogen energy enterprises. The results show that firstly the financing efficiency of China’s hydrogen energy listed enterprises showed an upward trend during the years 2014–2020. Secondly China’s hydrogen energy enterprises mainly gather in the eastern coastal areas and their financing efficiency is more than that in western areas. Thirdly the regional economic development level enterprise scale financing structure capital utilization efficiency and profitability have significant effects on the financing efficiency. These results can promote the achievement of “carbon neutrality” in China.

To accelerate clean energy transition China has explored the potential of hydrogen as an energy carrier since 2001. Until 2020 49 national hydrogen policies were enacted. This paper explores the relevance of these policies to the development of the hydrogen industry and energy transition in China. We examine the reasons impacts and challenges of Chinese national hydrogen policies through the conceptual framework of Thomas Dye’s policy analysis method and the European Training Foundation’s policy analysis guide. This research provides an ex‐post analysis for previous policies and an ex‐ante analysis for future options. We argue that the energy supply revolution and energy technology revolution highlight the importance of hydrogen development in China. Particularly the pressure of the automobile industry transition leads to experimentation concerning the application of hydrogen in the transportation sector. This paper also reveals that hydro‐ gen policy development coincides with an increase in resource input and has positive spill over effects. Furthermore we note that two challenges have impeded progress: a lack of regulations for the industry threshold and holistic planning. To address these challenges the Chinese government can design a national hydrogen roadmap and work closely with other countries through the Belt and Road Initiative.

In recent years the need to reduce environmental impacts and increase flexibility in the energy sector has led to increased penetration of renewable energy sources and the shift from concentrated to decentralized generation. A fuel cell is an instrument that produces electricity by chemical reaction. Fuel cells are a promising technology for ultimate energy conversion and energy generation. We see that this system is integrated where we find that the wind and photovoltaic energy system is complementary between them because not all days are sunny windy or night so we see that this system has higher reliability to provide continuous generation. At low load hours PV and electrolysis units produce extra power. After being compressed hydrogen is stored in tanks. The purpose of this study is to separate the Bahr AL-Najaf Area from the main power grid and make it an independent network by itself. The PEM fuel cells were analyzed and designed and it were found that one layer is equal to 570.96 Watt at 0.61 volts and 1.04 A/Cm2 . The number of layers in one stack is designed to be equal to 13 layers so that the total power of one stack is equal to 7422.48 Watt. That is the number of stacks required to generate the required energy from the fuel cells is equal to 203 stk. This study provided an analysis of the hybrid system to cover the electricity demand in the Bahr AL-Najaf region of 1.5 MW the attained hybrid power system TNPC cost was about 9573208 USD whereas the capital cost and energy cost (COE) were about 7750000 USD and 0.169 USD/kWh respectively for one year.