Policy & Socio-Economics
Mapping Australia's Hydrogen Future and release of the Hydrogen Economic Fairways Tool
Apr 2021
Publication
Hydrogen can be used for a variety of domestic and industrial purposes such as heating and cooking (as a replacement for natural gas) transportation (replacing petrol and diesel) and energy storage (by converting intermittent renewable energy into hydrogen). The key benefit of using hydrogen is that it is a clean fuel that emits only water vapour and heat when combusted.
To support implementation of the National Hydrogen Strategy Geoscience Australia in collaboration with Monash University are releasing the Hydrogen Economic Fairways Tool (HEFT). HEFT is a free online tool designed to support decision making by policymakers and investors on the location of new infrastructure and development of hydrogen hubs in Australia. It considers both hydrogen produced from renewable energy and from fossil fuels with carbon capture and storage.
This seminar demonstrates HEFT’s capabilities its potential to attract worldwide investment into Australia’s hydrogen industry and what’s up next for hydrogen at Geoscience Australia.
You can use the Hydrogen Economic Fairways Tool (HEFT) on the Website of the Australian government at the link here
To support implementation of the National Hydrogen Strategy Geoscience Australia in collaboration with Monash University are releasing the Hydrogen Economic Fairways Tool (HEFT). HEFT is a free online tool designed to support decision making by policymakers and investors on the location of new infrastructure and development of hydrogen hubs in Australia. It considers both hydrogen produced from renewable energy and from fossil fuels with carbon capture and storage.
This seminar demonstrates HEFT’s capabilities its potential to attract worldwide investment into Australia’s hydrogen industry and what’s up next for hydrogen at Geoscience Australia.
You can use the Hydrogen Economic Fairways Tool (HEFT) on the Website of the Australian government at the link here
The Hydrogen Energy Infrastructure Development in Japan
Nov 2018
Publication
The actual start of the full-scale hydrogen energy infrastructure operations is scheduled to 2020 in Japan. The scope of factors and policy for the hydrogen infrastructure development in Japan is made. The paper provides observation for the major undergoing and already done projects for each link within hydrogen infrastructure chain – from production to end-user applications. Implications for the Russian energy policy are provided.
Energy System Modelling of Carbon-Neutral Hydrogen as an Enabler of Sectoral Integration within a Decarbonization Pathway
Jul 2019
Publication
This paper explores the alternative roles hydrogen can play in the future European Union (EU) energy system within the transition towards a carbon-neutral EU economy by 2050 following the latest policy developments after the COP21 agreement in Paris in 2015. Hydrogen could serve as an end-use fuel a feedstock to produce carbon-neutral hydrocarbons and a carrier of chemical storage of electricity. We apply a model-based energy system analysis to assess the advantages and drawbacks of these three roles of hydrogen in a decarbonized energy system. To this end the paper quantifies projections of the energy system using an enhanced version of the PRIMES energy system model up to 2050 to explore the best elements of each role under various assumptions about deployment and maturity of hydrogen-related technologies. Hydrogen is an enabler of sectoral integration of supply and demand of energy and hence an important pillar in the carbon-neutral energy system. The results show that the energy system has benefits both in terms of CO2 emission reductions and total system costs if hydrogen technology reaches high technology readiness levels and economies of scale. Reaching maturity requires a significant investment which depends on the positive anticipation of market development. The choice of policy options facilitating visibility by investors is the focus of the modelling in this paper.
Future Electricity Series Part 2 - Power from Renewables
Sep 2013
Publication
The independent cross-party report highlights a ‘sensible middle ground’ in the renewables debate and calls for more effort in building cross-party consensus. It finds that the UK has only just begun to harness low carbon renewable resources bigger than North Sea oil and gas and argues that the Government could do more to narrow the scope of debate about the technology mix beyond 2020. It argues that it should work with industry and academia first to establish ‘low regrets’ levels of technology deployment and second to ensure that policies are in place to incentivise investments such as supply chain investment needed to deliver these low regrets actions.
This approach would help provide the longer term clarity that could secure supply chain investments giving the UK a head-start in the global race. The report finds that these investments could be missed delayed or more expensive if there is insufficient confidence about long term demand for key technologies such as offshore wind. Work by Government to help incentivise these investments would increase the likelihood that technology cost reductions are achieved and help mitigate against high costs if new nuclear or carbon capture and storage development fail or are delayed.
On affordability the report finds that there are ‘hidden’ benefits that the UK could see from investing more in renewables through electricity bills between now and 2020. These include: avoiding bill increases driven by fossil fuels; making electricity bills more predictable; and providing an economic boost. The extra money paid to support renewables and other low carbon generation such as nuclear power could be more than offset by energy efficiency savings although Government needs to do more to show how these savings will arise.
On sustainability the report tackles myths about the carbon emitted in manufacturing renewable technologies or in backing up varying technologies such as wind solar wave and tidal. It finds that even when considering these factors renewables are still amongst the most low carbon options. The report also looks at the sustainability of electricity from biomass. Bioenergy overall could provide up to ten per cent of energy and reduce the cost of cutting carbon by £44 billion per year in 2050. The Government’s new biomass policies are a pragmatic response to concerns about the sustainability of biomass power which balances protecting the environment building public confidence and enabling the sector to grow.
On security of supply the inquiry argues that debate should focus on the whole electricity system and that individual technologies should be considered in the context of how they add to or reduce system risks. Considered like this renewables reduce some risks such as fuel supply risks which caused concern last winter and add to others such as system balancing risks. System balancing risks from varying renewables (wind solar wave and tidal technologies) are manageable using a number of existing and developing technologies.
The independent report chaired by former Energy Minister Charles Hendry MP and Shadow Energy Minister Baroness Worthington was compiled between May and September 2013 and was sponsored by Siemens and DONG Energy. It is part of a year-long independent and cross party inquiry into the UK power sector the Future Electricity Series sponsored by the Institution of Gas Engineers and Managers.
Link to Launch Video
This approach would help provide the longer term clarity that could secure supply chain investments giving the UK a head-start in the global race. The report finds that these investments could be missed delayed or more expensive if there is insufficient confidence about long term demand for key technologies such as offshore wind. Work by Government to help incentivise these investments would increase the likelihood that technology cost reductions are achieved and help mitigate against high costs if new nuclear or carbon capture and storage development fail or are delayed.
On affordability the report finds that there are ‘hidden’ benefits that the UK could see from investing more in renewables through electricity bills between now and 2020. These include: avoiding bill increases driven by fossil fuels; making electricity bills more predictable; and providing an economic boost. The extra money paid to support renewables and other low carbon generation such as nuclear power could be more than offset by energy efficiency savings although Government needs to do more to show how these savings will arise.
On sustainability the report tackles myths about the carbon emitted in manufacturing renewable technologies or in backing up varying technologies such as wind solar wave and tidal. It finds that even when considering these factors renewables are still amongst the most low carbon options. The report also looks at the sustainability of electricity from biomass. Bioenergy overall could provide up to ten per cent of energy and reduce the cost of cutting carbon by £44 billion per year in 2050. The Government’s new biomass policies are a pragmatic response to concerns about the sustainability of biomass power which balances protecting the environment building public confidence and enabling the sector to grow.
On security of supply the inquiry argues that debate should focus on the whole electricity system and that individual technologies should be considered in the context of how they add to or reduce system risks. Considered like this renewables reduce some risks such as fuel supply risks which caused concern last winter and add to others such as system balancing risks. System balancing risks from varying renewables (wind solar wave and tidal technologies) are manageable using a number of existing and developing technologies.
The independent report chaired by former Energy Minister Charles Hendry MP and Shadow Energy Minister Baroness Worthington was compiled between May and September 2013 and was sponsored by Siemens and DONG Energy. It is part of a year-long independent and cross party inquiry into the UK power sector the Future Electricity Series sponsored by the Institution of Gas Engineers and Managers.
Link to Launch Video
A Critique on the UK's Net Zero Strategy
Dec 2022
Publication
Before the Covid-19 pandemic UK passed net-zero emission law legislation to become the first major economy in the world to end its contribution to global warming by 2050. Following the UK’s legislation to reach net-zero emissions a long-term strategy for transition to a net-zero target was published in 2021. The strategy is a technology-led and with a top-down approach. The intention is to reach the target over the next three decades. The document targets seven sectors to reduce emissions and include a wide range of policies and innovations for decarbonization. This paper aims to accomplish a much needed review of the strategy in heat and buildings part and cover the key related areas in future buildings standard heat pumps and use of hydrogen as elaborated in the strategy. For that purpose this research reviews key themes in the policy challenges recent advancement and future possibilities. It provides an insight on the overall development toward sustainability and decarbonization of built environment in the UK by 2050. A foresight model Future Wheels is also used to visualize the findings from the review and provide a clear picture of the potential impact of the policy.
Integrating System and Operator Perspectives for the Evaluation of Power-to-Gas Plants in the Future German Energy System
Feb 2022
Publication
In which way and in which sectors will renewable energy be integrated in the German Energy System by 2030 2040 and 2050? How can the resulting energy system be characterised following a −95% greenhouse gas emission reduction scenario? Which role will hydrogen play? To address these research questions techno-economic energy system modelling was performed. Evaluation of the resulting operation of energy technologies was carried out from a system and a business point of view. Special consideration of gas technologies such as hydrogen production transport and storage was taken as a large-scale and long-term energy storage option and key enabler for the decarbonisation of the non-electric sectors. The broad set of results gives insight into the entangled interactions of the future energy technology portfolio and its operation within a coupled energy system. Amongst other energy demands CO2 emissions hydrogen production and future power plant capacities are presented. One main conclusion is that integrating the first elements of a large-scale hydrogen infrastructure into the German energy system already by 2030 is necessary for ensuring the supply of upscaling demands across all sectors. Within the regulatory regime of 2020 it seems that this decision may come too late which jeopardises the achievement of transition targets within the horizon 2050.
Australian Hydrogen Hubs Study
Nov 2019
Publication
Arup have conducted interviews with targeted industry and government stakeholders to gather data and perspectives to support the development of this study. Arup have also utilised private and publicly available data sources building on recent work undertaken by Geoscience Australia and Deloitte and the comprehensive stakeholder engagement process to inform our research. This study considers the supply chain and infrastructure requirements to support the development of export and domestic hubs. The study aims to provide a succinct “Hydrogen Hubs” report for presentation to the hydrogen working group.
The hydrogen supply chain infrastructure required to produce hydrogen for export and domestic hubs was identified along with feedback from the stakeholder engagement process. These infrastructure requirements can be used to determine the factors for assessing export and domestic hub opportunities. Hydrogen production pathways transportation mechanisms and uses were also further evaluated to identify how hubs can be used to balance supply and demand of hydrogen.
A preliminary list of current or anticipated locations has been developed through desktop research Arup project knowledge and the stakeholder consultation process. Over 30 potential hydrogen export locations have been identified in Australia through desktop research and the stakeholder survey and consultation process. In addition to establishing export hubs the creation of domestic demand hubs will be essential to the development of an Australian hydrogen economy. It is for this reason that a list of criteria has been developed for stakeholders to consider in the siting and design of hydrogen hubs. The key considerations explored are based on demand supply chain infrastructure and investment and policy areas.
Based on these considerations a list of criteria were developed to assess the viability of export and domestic hydrogen hubs. Criteria relevant to assessing the suitability of export and domestic hubs include:
A framework that includes the assessment criteria has been developed to aid decision making rather than recommending specific locations that would be most appropriate for a hub. This is because there are so many dynamic factors that go into selecting a location of a hydrogen hub that it is not appropriate to be overly prescriptive or prevent stakeholders from selecting the best location themselves or from the market making decisions based on its own research and knowledge. The developed framework rather provides information and support to enable these decision-making processes.
The hydrogen supply chain infrastructure required to produce hydrogen for export and domestic hubs was identified along with feedback from the stakeholder engagement process. These infrastructure requirements can be used to determine the factors for assessing export and domestic hub opportunities. Hydrogen production pathways transportation mechanisms and uses were also further evaluated to identify how hubs can be used to balance supply and demand of hydrogen.
A preliminary list of current or anticipated locations has been developed through desktop research Arup project knowledge and the stakeholder consultation process. Over 30 potential hydrogen export locations have been identified in Australia through desktop research and the stakeholder survey and consultation process. In addition to establishing export hubs the creation of domestic demand hubs will be essential to the development of an Australian hydrogen economy. It is for this reason that a list of criteria has been developed for stakeholders to consider in the siting and design of hydrogen hubs. The key considerations explored are based on demand supply chain infrastructure and investment and policy areas.
Based on these considerations a list of criteria were developed to assess the viability of export and domestic hydrogen hubs. Criteria relevant to assessing the suitability of export and domestic hubs include:
- Health and safety provisions;
- Environmental considerations;
- Economic and social considerations;
- Land availability with appropriate zoning and buffer distances & ownership (new terminals storage solar PV industries etc.);•
- Availability of gas pipeline infrastructure;
- Availability of electricity grid connectivity backup energy supply or co-location of renewables;
- Road & rail infrastructure (site access);
- Community and environmental concerns and weather. Social licence consideration;
- Berths (berthing depth ship storage loading facilities existing LNG and/or petroleum infrastructure etc.);
- Port potential (current capacity & occupancy expandability & scalability);
- Availability of or potential for skilled workers (construction & operation);
- Availability of or potential for water (recycled & desalinated);
- Opportunity for co-location with industrial ammonia production and future industrial opportunities;
- Interest (projects priority ports state development areas politics etc.);
- Shipping distance to target market (Japan & South Korea);
- Availability of demand-based infrastructure (i.e. refuelling stations).
A framework that includes the assessment criteria has been developed to aid decision making rather than recommending specific locations that would be most appropriate for a hub. This is because there are so many dynamic factors that go into selecting a location of a hydrogen hub that it is not appropriate to be overly prescriptive or prevent stakeholders from selecting the best location themselves or from the market making decisions based on its own research and knowledge. The developed framework rather provides information and support to enable these decision-making processes.
Technologies and Policies to Decarbonize Global Industry: Review and Assessment of Mitigation Drivers Through 2070
Mar 2020
Publication
Jeffrey Rissman,
Chris Bataille,
Eric Masanet,
Nate Aden,
William R. Morrow III,
Nan Zhou,
Neal Elliott,
Rebecca Dell,
Niko Heeren,
Brigitta Huckestein,
Joe Cresko,
Sabbie A. Miller,
Joyashree Roy,
Paul Fennell,
Betty Cremmins,
Thomas Koch Blank,
David Hone,
Ellen D. Williams,
Stephane de la Rue du Can,
Bill Sisson,
Mike Williams,
John Katzenberger,
Dallas Burtraw,
Girish Sethi,
He Ping,
David Danielson,
Hongyou Lu,
Tom Lorber,
Jens Dinkel and
Jonas Helseth
Fully decarbonizing global industry is essential to achieving climate stabilization and reaching net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050–2070 is necessary to limit global warming to 2 °C. This paper assembles and evaluates technical and policy interventions both on the supply side and on the demand side. It identifies measures that employed together can achieve net zero industrial emissions in the required timeframe. Key supply-side technologies include energy efficiency (especially at the system level) carbon capture electrification and zero-carbon hydrogen as a heat source and chemical feedstock. There are also promising technologies specific to each of the three top-emitting industries: cement iron & steel and chemicals & plastics. These include cement admixtures and alternative chemistries several technological routes for zero-carbon steelmaking and novel chemical catalysts and separation technologies. Crucial demand-side approaches include material-efficient design reductions in material waste substituting low-carbon for high-carbon materials and circular economy interventions (such as improving product longevity reusability ease of refurbishment and recyclability). Strategic well-designed policy can accelerate innovation and provide incentives for technology deployment. High-value policies include carbon pricing with border adjustments or other price signals; robust government support for research development and deployment; and energy efficiency or emissions standards. These core policies should be supported by labeling and government procurement of low-carbon products data collection and disclosure requirements and recycling incentives. In implementing these policies care must be taken to ensure a just transition for displaced workers and affected communities. Similarly decarbonization must complement the human and economic development of low- and middle-income countries.
Hydrogen Energy Vision 2060: Hydrogen as Energy Carrier in Malaysian Primary Energy Mix – Developing P2G Case
Mar 2021
Publication
The transition of Malaysia from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources provides significant challenges and opportunities for various energy sectors. Incorporation of H2 in the primary energy mix requires a deal of complexity in its relation to production transportation and end-use. The Sarawak State Government in Malaysia implemented a hydrogen energy roadmap for the year 2005–2030 on the state-level but despite the great enthusiasm and full support given by the government the development of hydrogen technology is still far from its goals. This is due to several factors that hinder its progress including (1) inability of hydrogen to be integrated with current primary energy infrastructure (2) limited technology resources to produce sustainable hydrogen and (3) lack of technical expertise in the field of hydrogen. In this paper a potential national roadmap and milestones are presented based on the power-to-gas (P2G) approach combined with its implications on the national natural gas (NG) pipeline network. Besides that the long-term and short-term strategies and implementation mechanisms are discussed in detail. Furthermore complete research schemes are formulated to be inline with the presented vision to further enhance technology development and implementation.
Making the Hydrogen Economy Possible: Accelerating Clean Hydrogen in an Electrified Economy
Apr 2021
Publication
In its new report Making the Hydrogen Economy Possible: Accelerating clean hydrogen in an electrified economy the ETC outlines the role of clean hydrogen in achieving a highly electrified net-zero economy. The report sets out how a combination of private-sector collaboration and policy support can drive the initial ramp up of clean hydrogen production and use to reach 50 million tonnes by 2030.<br/>Clean hydrogen will play a complementary role to decarbonise sectors where direct electrification is likely to be technologically very challenging or prohibitively expensive such as in steel production and long-distance shipping. The report highlights how critical rapid ramp-up of production and use in the 2020s is to unlock cost reductions and to make mid-century growth targets achievable.<br/>This report is part of the ETC’s wider Making Mission Possible Series – a series of reports outlining how to scale up clean energy provision within the next 30 years to meet the needs of a net-zero greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) economy by mid-century. The reports in the series analyse and set out specific actions required in the next decade to put this net-zero by 2050 target within reach.
Net Zero after Covid: Behavioural Principles for Building Back Better
Dec 2020
Publication
Alongside our Sixth Carbon Budget Advice the Climate Change Committee (CCC) are publishing a paper from Professor Nick Chater the Committee’s behavioural science specialist. This paper considers three behavioural principles that explain how people have adapted so rapidly and how we might “build back better” as we emerge from the pandemic with a particular focus on meeting the challenge of dramatically reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions over the coming decades. The principles are:
- The power law of practice: People organizations and whole industries learn to adapt to new ways of working following a surprisingly predictable pattern. This can help predict where adaptation to new ways of living and working is likely to succeed or fail.
- The status quo effect: People and organizations tend to prefer the current status quo but can often adjust rapidly to prefer a new status quo. However we tend to systematically underestimate such effects and therefore can sometimes resist changes that in retrospect we may ultimately prefer.
- Unwritten rules: Our social behaviour is guided by implicit guidelines about what is “appropriate” which can be somewhat independent of our personal values. Changing these implicit rules alongside changes in regulation and the law is crucial to adapting to new circumstances—and the pandemic has shown that rapid change is possible though sometimes resisted (e.g. new norms about mask wearing and social distancing).
Heat and Buildings Strategy
Oct 2021
Publication
The heat and buildings strategy sets out the government’s plan to significantly cut carbon emissions from the UK’s 30 million homes and workplaces in a simple low-cost and green way whilst ensuring this remains affordable and fair for households across the country. Like the transition to electric vehicles this will be a gradual transition which will start by incentivizing consumers and driving down costs.<br/>There are about 30 million buildings in the UK. Heating these buildings contributes to almost a quarter of all UK emissions. Addressing the carbon emissions produced in heating and powering our homes workplaces and public buildings can not only save money on energy bills and improve lives but can support up to 240000 skilled green jobs by 2035 boosting the economic recovery levelling up across the country and ensuring we build back better.<br/>The heat and buildings strategy builds on the commitments made in Clean growth: transforming heating our Energy white paper and the Prime Minister’s 10 point plan. This strategy aims to provide a clear direction of travel for the 2020s set out the strategic decisions that need to be taken this decade and demonstrate how we plan to meet our carbon targets and remain on track for net zero by 2050.
Hydrogen for a Net Zero GB An Integrated Energy Market Perspective
Jul 2020
Publication
Our new independent report finds that hydrogen can play an important role in UK’s ambitious decarbonisation plan and boost its global industrial competitiveness.
Key insights from this new analysis include:
Key insights from this new analysis include:
- New independent report from Aurora Energy Research shows that hydrogen can meet up to half of Great Britain’s (GB) final energy demand by 2050 providing an important pathway to reaching UK’s ambitious Net Zero targets.
- The report concludes that both blue hydrogen (produced from natural gas after reforming to remove carbon content) and green hydrogen (produced by using power to electrolyse water) are expected to play an important role providing up to 480TWh of hydrogen or c.45% of GB’s final energy demand by 2050.
- All Net Zero scenarios require substantial growth in low-carbon generation such as renewables and nuclear. Large-scale hydrogen adoption could help to integrate renewables into the power system by reducing the power sector requirement for flexibility during peak winter months and boosting revenues for clean power generators by c. £3bn per year by 2050.
- The rollout of hydrogen could accelerate green growth and enable the development of globally competitive low-carbon industrial clusters while utilising UK’s competitive advantage on carbon capture.
- In facilitating the identification of a cost-effective hydrogen pathway there are some low-regret options for Government to explore including the stimulation of hydrogen demand in key sectors the deployment of CCS in strategic locations and the standardisation of networks. These initiatives could form an important part of the UK Government’s post-COVID stimulus plan.
The Green Hydrogen Puzzle: Towards a German Policy Framework for Industry
Nov 2021
Publication
Green hydrogen will play a key role in building a climate-neutral energy-intensive industry as key technologies for defossilising the production of steel and basic chemicals depend on it. Thus policy-making needs to support the creation of a market for green hydrogen and its use in industry. However it is unclear how appropriate policies should be designed and a number of challenges need to be addressed. Based on an analysis of the ongoing German debate on hydrogen policies this paper analyses how policy-making for green hydrogen development may support industry defossilisation. For the assessment of policy instruments a simplified multi-criteria analysis (MCA) is used with an innovative approach that derives criteria from specific challenges. Four challenges and seven relevant policy instruments are identified. The results of the MCA reveal the potential of each of the selected instruments to address the challenges. The paper furthermore outlines how instruments might be combined in a policy package that supports industry defossilisation creates synergies and avoids trade-offs. The paper’s impact may reach beyond the German case as the challenges are not specific to the country. The results are relevant for policy-makers in other countries with energy-intensive industries aiming to set the course towards a hydrogen future.
Life Cycle Assessment Integration into Energy System Models: An Application for Power-to-Methane in the EU
Nov 2019
Publication
As the EU energy system transitions to low carbon the technology choices should consider a broader set of criteria. The use of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) prevents burden shift across life cycle stages or impact categories while the use of Energy System Models (ESM) allows evaluating alternative policies capacity evolution and covering all the sectors. This study does an ex-post LCA analysis of results from JRC-EU-TIMES and estimates the environmental impact indicators across 18 categories in scenarios that achieve 80–95% CO2 emission reduction by 2050. Results indicate that indirect CO2 emissions can be as large as direct ones for an 80% CO2 reduction target and up to three times as large for 95% CO2 reduction. Impact across most categories decreases by 20–40% as the CO2 emission target becomes stricter. However toxicity related impacts can become 35–100% higher. The integrated framework was also used to evaluate the Power-to-Methane (PtM) system to relate the electricity mix and various CO2 sources to the PtM environmental impact. To be more attractive than natural gas the climate change impact of the electricity used for PtM should be 123–181 gCO2eq/kWh when the CO2 comes from air or biogenic sources and 4–62 gCO2eq/kWh if the CO2 is from fossil fuels. PtM can have an impact up to 10 times larger for impact categories other than climate change. A system without PtM results in ~4% higher climate change impact and 9% higher fossil depletion while having 5–15% lower impact for most of the other categories. This is based on a scenario where 9 parameters favor PtM deployment and establishes the upper bound of the environmental impact PtM can have. Further studies should work towards integrating LCA feedback into ESM and standardizing the methodology.
The Role of Hydrogen in the Transition from a Petroleum Economy to a Low-carbon Society
Jun 2021
Publication
A radical decarbonization pathway for the Norwegian society towards 2050 is presented. The paper focuses on the role of hydrogen in the transition when present Norwegian petroleum export is gradually phased out. The study is in line with EU initiatives to secure cooperation opportunities with neighbouring countries to establish an international hydrogen market. Three analytical perspectives are combined. The first uses energy models to investigate the role of hydrogen in an energy and power market perspective without considering hydrogen export. The second uses an economic equilibrium model to examine the potential role of hydrogen export in value creation. The third analysis is a socio-technical case study on the drivers and barriers for hydrogen production in Norway. Main conclusions are that access to renewable power and hydrogen are prerequisites for decarbonization of transport and industrial sectors in Norway and that hydrogen is a key to maintain a high level of economic activity. Structural changes in the economy impacts of new technologies and key enablers and barriers in this transition are discussed.
Economic Feasibility of Green Hydrogen Production by Water Electrolysis Using Wind and Geothermal Energy Resources in Asal-Ghoubbet Rift (Republic of Djibouti): A Comparative Evaluation
Dec 2021
Publication
The Republic of Djibouti has untapped potential in terms of renewable energy resources such as geothermal wind and solar energy. This study examines the economic feasibility of green hydrogen production by water electrolysis using wind and geothermal energy resources in the Asal–Ghoubbet Rift (AG Rift) Republic of Djibouti. It is the first study in Africa that compares the cost per kg of green hydrogen produced by wind and geothermal energy from a single site. The unit cost of electricity produced by the wind turbine (0.042 $/kWh) is more competitive than that of a dry steam geothermal plant (0.086 $/kWh). The cost of producing hydrogen with a suitable electrolyzer powered by wind energy ranges from $0.672/kg H2 to $1.063/kg H2 while that produced by the high-temperature electrolyzer (HTE) powered by geothermal energy ranges from $3.31/kg H2 to $4.78/kg H2 . Thus the AG Rift area can produce electricity and green hydrogen at low-cost using wind energy compared to geothermal energy. The amount of carbon dioxide (CO2 ) emissions reduced by using a “Yinhe GX113-2.5MW” wind turbine and a single flash geothermal power plant instead of fuel-oil generators is 2061.6 tons CO2/MW/year and 2184.8 tons CO2/MW/year respectively.
The Role of Electrification and Hydrogen in Breaking the Biomass Bottleneck of the Renewable Energy System – A Study on the Danish Energy System
Jun 2020
Publication
The aim of this study is to identify the technical solution space for future fully renewable energy systems that stays within a sustainable biomass demand. In the transition towards non-fossil energy and material systems biomass is an attractive source of carbon for those demands that also in the non-fossil systems depend on high density carbon containing fuels and feedstocks. However extensive land use is already a sustainability challenge and an increase in future demands threat to exceed global sustainable biomass potentials which according to an international expert consensus is around 10 – 30 GJ/person/year in 2050. Our analytical review of 16 scenarios from 8 independent studies of fully renewable energy system designs and synthesis of 9 generic system designs reveals the significance of the role of electrification and hydrogen integration for building a fully renewable energy system which respects the global biomass limitations. The biomass demand of different fully renewable energy system designs was found to lie in the range of 0 GJ/person/year for highly integrated electrified pure electro-fuel scenarios with up to 25 GJ/person/year of hydrogen to above 200 GJ/person/year for poorly integrated full bioenergy scenarios with no electrification or hydrogen integration. It was found that a high degree of system electrification and hydrogen integration of at least 15 GJ/person/year is required to stay within sustainable biomass limits.
Hydrogen for Australia’s Future
Aug 2018
Publication
The Hydrogen Strategy Group chaired by Australia’s Chief Scientist Dr Alan Finkel has today released a briefing paper on the potential domestic and export opportunities of a hydrogen industry in Australia.
Like natural gas hydrogen can be used to heat buildings and power vehicles. Unlike natural gas or petrol when hydrogen is burned there are no CO2 emissions. The only by-products are water vapour and heat.
Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe not freely available as a gas on Earth but bound into many common substances including water and fossil fuels.
Hydrogen was first formally presented as a credible alternative energy source in the early 1970s but never proved competitive at scale as an energy source – until now. We find that the worldwide demand for hydrogen is set to increase substantially over coming decades driven by Japan’s decision to put imported hydrogen at the heart of its economy. Production costs are falling technologies are progressing and the push for non-nuclear low-emissions fuels is building momentum. We conclude that Australia is remarkably well-positioned to benefit from the growth of hydrogen industries and markets.
Like natural gas hydrogen can be used to heat buildings and power vehicles. Unlike natural gas or petrol when hydrogen is burned there are no CO2 emissions. The only by-products are water vapour and heat.
Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe not freely available as a gas on Earth but bound into many common substances including water and fossil fuels.
Hydrogen was first formally presented as a credible alternative energy source in the early 1970s but never proved competitive at scale as an energy source – until now. We find that the worldwide demand for hydrogen is set to increase substantially over coming decades driven by Japan’s decision to put imported hydrogen at the heart of its economy. Production costs are falling technologies are progressing and the push for non-nuclear low-emissions fuels is building momentum. We conclude that Australia is remarkably well-positioned to benefit from the growth of hydrogen industries and markets.
Economic Value of Flexible Hydrogen-based Polygeneration Energy Systems
Jan 2016
Publication
Polygeneration energy systems (PES) have the potential to provide a flexible high-efficiency and low-emissions alternative for power generation and chemical synthesis from fossil fuels. This study aims to assess the economic value of fossil-fuel PES which rely on hydrogen as an intermediate product. Our analysis focuses on a representative PES configuration that uses coal as the primary energy input and produces electricity and fertilizer as end-products. We derive a series of propositions that assess the cost competitiveness of the modeled PES under both static and flexible operation modes. The result is a set of metrics that quantify the levelized cost of hydrogen the unit profit-margin of PES and the real option values of ‘diversification’ and ‘flexibility’ embedded in PES. These metrics are subsequently applied to assess the economics of Hydrogen Energy California (HECA) a PES currently under development in California. Under our technical and economic assumptions HECA’s levelized cost of hydrogen is estimated at 1.373 $/kgh. The profitability of HECA as a static PES increases in the share of hydrogen converted to fertilizer rather than electricity. However when configured as a flexible PES HECA almost breaks even on a pre-tax basis. Diversification and flexibility are valuable for HECA when polygeneration is compared to static monogeneration of electricity but these two real options have no value when comparing polygeneration to static monogeneration of fertilizers.
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