Policy & Socio-Economics

Hydrogen is widely considered as the energy carrier of the future but the rather high energy losses for its production are often neglected. The major current hydrogen production technology is steam methane reforming of fossil gas but there is a growing interest in producing hydrogen sustainably from water using electrolysis. This article examines four main hydrogen production chains and two transportation options (pipeline and ship) from North Africa to Europe analyzing the costs and environmental impacts of each. The core objective is to determine the most promising hydrogen provision method and location from an economic and ecological point of view including the required transport. An important finding of this analysis is that both options importing green hydrogen and producing it in Europe may be relevant for a decarbonized energy system. The emphasis should be on green hydrogen to achieve carbon emission reductions. If blue hydrogen is also considered attention should be paid to the often-neglected methane emissions upstream.

Hydrogen Economy and Cyclic Economy are advocated together with the use of perennial (solar wind hydro geo-power SWHG) and renewable (biomass) energy sources for defossilizing anthropic activities and mitigating climate change. Each option has intrinsic limits that prevent a stand-alone success in reaching the target. Humans have recycled goods (metals water paper and now plastics) to a different extent since very long time. Recycling carbon (which is already performed at the industrial level in the form of CO2 utilization and with recycling paper and plastics) is a key point for the future. The conversion of CO2 into chemicals and materials is carried out since the late 1800s (Solvay process) and is today performed at scale of 230 Mt/y. It is time to implement on a scale of several Gt/y the conversion of CO2 into energy products possibly mimicking Nature which does not use hydrogen. In the short term a few conditions must be met to make operative on a large scale the production of fuels from recycled-C namely the availability of low-cost: i. abundant pure concentrated streams of CO2 ii. non-fossil primary energy sources and iii. non-fossil-hydrogen. The large-scale production of hydrogen by Methane Steam Reforming with CO2 capture (Blue-H2) seems to be a realistic and sustainable solution. Green-H2 could in principle be produced on a large scale through the electrolysis of water powered by perennial primary sources but hurdles such as the availability of materials for the construction of long-living robust electrochemical cells (membranes electrodes) must be abated for a substantial scale-up with respect to existing capacity. The actual political situation makes difficult to rely on external supplies. Supposed that cheap hydrogen will be available its direct use in energy production can be confronted with the indirect use that implies the hydrogenation of CO2 into fuels (E-fuels) an almost ready technology. The two strategies have both pros and cons and can be integrated. E-Fuels can also represent an option for storing the energy of intermittent sources. In the medium-long term the direct co-processing of CO2 and water via co-electrolysis may avoid the production/transport/ use of hydrogen. In the long term coprocessing of CO2 and H2O to fuels via photochemical or photoelectrochemical processes can become a strategic technology.

Hydrogen is a versatile energy carrier which can be produced from variety of feedstocks stored and transported in various forms for multi-functional end-uses in transportation energy and manufacturing sectors. Several regional national and supra-national climate policy frameworks emphasize the need value and importance of Fuel cell and Hydrogen (FCH) technologies for deep and sector-wide decarbonization. Despite these multi-faceted advantages familiar and proven FCH technologies such as alkaline electrolysis and proton-exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) often face economic technical and societal barriers to mass-market adoption. There is no single unified standardized and globally harmonized normative definition of costs. Nevertheless the discussion and debates surrounding plausible candidates and/or constituents integral for assessing the economics and value proposition of status-quo as well as developmental FCH technologies are steadily increasing—Life Cycle Costing (LCC) being one of them if not the most important outcome of such exercises.<br/>To that end this review article seeks to improve our collective understanding of LCC of FCH technologies by scrutinizing close to a few hundred publications drawn from representative databases—SCOPUS and Web of Science encompassing several tens of technologies for production and select transportation storage and end-user utilization cases. This comprehensive review forms part of and serves as the basis for the Clean Hydrogen Partnership funded SH2E project whose ultimate goal is the methodical development a formal set of principles and guardrails for evaluating the economic environmental and social impacts of FCH technologies. Additionally the SH2E projects will also facilitate the proper comparison of different FCH technologies whilst reconciling range of technologies methodologies modelling assumptions and parameterization found in existing literature.

Hydrogen energy technologies are forecasted to play a critical supporting role in global decarbonisation efforts as reflected by the growth of national hydrogen energy strategies in recent years. Notably the UK government published its Hydrogen Strategy in August 2021 to support decarbonisation targets and energy security ambitions. While establishing techno-economic feasibility for hydrogen energy systems is a prerequisite of the prospective transition social acceptability is also needed to support visions for the ‘hydrogen economy’. However to date societal factors are yet to be embedded into policy prescriptions. Securing social acceptance is especially critical in the context of ‘hydrogen homes’ which entails replacing natural gas boilers and hobs with low-carbon hydrogen appliances. Reflecting the nascency of hydrogen heating and cooking technologies the dynamics of social acceptance are yet to be explored in a comprehensive way. Similarly public perceptions of the hydrogen economy and emerging national strategies remain poorly understood. Given the paucity of conceptual and empirical insights this study develops an integrated acceptance framework and tests its predictive power using partial least squares structural equation modelling. Results highlight the importance of risk perceptions trust dynamics and emotions in shaping consumer perceptions. Foremost prospects for deploying hydrogen homes at scale may rest with coupling renewable-based hydrogen production to local environmental and socio-economic benefits. Policy prescriptions should embed societal factors into the technological pursuit of large-scale sustainable energy solutions to support socially acceptable transition pathways.

This manuscript explores the role of green hydrogen produced through ethanol reforming in accelerating Brazil’s transition to a low-carbon economic framework. Despite ongoing efforts to lessen carbon dependence Brazil’s reliance on biofuels and other renewable energy sources remains inadequate for fully achieving its decarbonization objectives. Green hydrogen presents a vital opportunity to boost energy sustainability especially in sectors that are challenging to decarbonize such as industry and transportation. By analyzing Brazil’s input–output (I-O) table using data from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) this study evaluates the macroeconomic potential of green hydrogen focusing on GDP growth and employment generation. Furthermore the research explores green hydrogen systems’ economic feasibility and potential impact on future energy policies offering valuable insights for stakeholders and decision-makers. In addition this investigation highlights Brazil’s abundant renewable resources and identifies the infrastructural investments necessary to support a green hydrogen economy. The findings aim to strengthen Brazil’s national decarbonization strategy and serve as a model for other developing nations transitioning to clean energy.

Converting renewable electricity via water electrolysis into green hydrogen and hydrogen-based products will shape a global trade in power-to-x (PtX) products. The European Union's renewable hydrogen import target of 10 million tonnes by 2030 reflects the urgent need for PtX imports by sea to early high-demand countries like Germany. This study evaluates the cost efficiency and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of four hydrogen carrier ship import options considering a reconversion to H2 at the import terminal for a final delivery to offtakers via a H2 pipeline network in 2030. This includes ammonia a liquid organic hydrogen carrier (LOHC) system based on benzyltoluene (BT) and a novel CO2/e-methane and CO2/e-methanol cycle where CO2 is captured at the reconversion plant and then shipped back to the PtX production site in a nearly closed carbon loop. The GHG emission accounting includes well-to-wake emissions of the marine fuels and direct emissions of the carbon capture plant. Two GW-scale case studies reveal the impact of a short and long-distance route from Tunisia and Australia to Germany whereas the specific PtX carriers are either fuelled by its PtX cargo as a renewable marine fuel or by conventional heavy fuel oil (HFO). Ammonia outperforms the other PtX routes as the total hydrogen supply cost range between 5.07 and 7.69 for Australia (low: NH3 HFO high: LOHC HFO) and 4.78–6.21 € per kg H2 for Tunisia (low: NH3 HFO high: CH4 HFO) respectively. The ammonia routes achieve thereby GHG intensities of 31 % and 86 % below the EU threshold of 3.4 kg CO2(e) per kg H2 for renewable hydrogen. LOHC though unless switching to low-emission fuels and the CO2/e-methanol cycle exceed the GHG threshold at shipping distances of 12300 and 16600 km. The hydrogen supply efficiencies vary between 57.9 and 78.8 %LHV (low: CH4 PtX-fuelled high: NH3 HFO) with a PtX marine fuel consumption of up to 15 % LHV for the Australian methanol route whereas high uncertainties remain for the ammonia and methanol reconversion plant efficiencies. The CO2 cyle enables a cost-efficient CO2 supply easing the near-term shortage of climate-neutral CO2 sources at the cost of high GHG emissions for long-distance routes.

This work investigates how to balance the electricity supply and demand in a carbon-neutral northern Europe. Applying a cost-minimizing electricity system model including options to invest in eleven different flexibility measures and cost-efficient combinations of strategies to manage variations were identified. The results of the model were post-processed using a novel method to map the net load before and after flexibility measures were applied to reveal the contribution of each flexibility measure. The net load was mapped in the space spanned by the amplitude duration and number of occurrences. The mapping shows that depending on cost structure flexibility measures contribute to reduce the net load in three different ways; (1) by reducing variations with a long duration but low amplitude (2) by reducing variations with a high amplitude but short duration and low occurrence or (3) by reducing variations with a high amplitude short duration and high occurrence. It was found that cost-efficient variation management was achieved by combining wind and solar power and by combining strategies (1–3) to manage the variations. The cost-efficient combination of strategies depends on electricity system context where electricity trade flexible hydrogen and heat production (1) manage the majority of the variations in regions with good conditions for wind power while stationary batteries (3) were the main contributors in regions with good conditions for solar power.

Hydrogen (H2) as an energy carrier may play a role in various hard-to-abate subsectors but to maximize emission reductions supplied hydrogen must be reliable low-emission and low-cost. Here we build a model that enables direct comparison of the cost of producing net-zero hourly-reliable hydrogen from various pathways. To reach net-zero targets we assume upstream and residual facility emissions are mitigated using negative emission technologies. For the United States (California Texas and New York) model results indicate nextdecade hybrid electricity-based solutions are lower cost ($2.02-$2.88/kg) than fossil-based pathways with natural gas leakage greater than 4% ($2.73-$5.94/ kg). These results also apply to regions outside of the U.S. with a similar climate and electric grid. However when omitting the net-zero emission constraint and considering the U.S. regulatory environment electricity-based production only achieves cost-competitiveness with fossil-based pathways if embodied emissions of electricity inputs are not counted under U.S. Tax Code Section 45V guidance.

Hydrogen is envisioned to become a fundamental energy vector for the decarbonization of energy systems. Two key factors that will define the success of hydrogen are its sustainability and competitiveness with alternative solutions. One of the many challenges for the proliferation of hydrogen is the creation of a sustainable supply chain. In this study a methodology aimed at assessing the economic feasibility of holistic hydrogen supply chains is developed. Based on the designed methodology a tool which calculates the levelized cost of hydrogen for the different stages of its supply chain: production transmission & distribution storage and conversion is proposed. Each stage is evaluated individually combining relevant technical and economic notions such as learning curves and scaling factors. Subsequently the findings from each stage are combined to assess the entire supply chain as a whole. The tool is then applied to evaluate case studies of various supply chains including large-scale remote and small-scale distributed green hydrogen supply chains as well as conventional steam methane reforming coupled with carbon capture and storage technologies. The results show that both green hydrogen supply chains and conventional methods can achieve a competitive LCOH of around €4/kg in 2030. However the key contribution of this study is the development of the tool which provides a foundation for a comprehensive evaluation of hydrogen supply chains that can be continuously improved through the inputs of additional users and further research on one or more of the interconnected stages.

A key building block of the European Green Deal is the development of a hydrogen commodity market which requires a suitable hydrogen market design and the timely introduction of related policy measures. Using exploratory interviews with five expert groups we contribute to this novel research field by outlining the core market design criteria and proposing suitable regulations for the future European hydrogen market. We identify detailed recommendations along three core market design focus areas: Market development policy measures infrastructure regulations as well as hydrogen and certificate trading. Our findings provide an across-industry view of current policy-related key challenges in the hydrogen commodity market development and mitigation approaches. We therefore support policymakers within the EU in the ongoing detailing of their regulatory hydrogen and green energy packages. Further we promote hydrogen market development by assisting current and future industry players in finding a common understanding of the future hydrogen market design.