Production & Supply Chain

Hydrogen is often viewed as an important energy carrier in a future decarbonized world. Currently most hydrogen is produced by steam reforming of methane in natural gas (“gray hydrogen”) with high carbon dioxide emissions. Increasingly many propose using carbon capture and storage to reduce these emissions producing so-called “blue hydrogen” frequently promoted as low emissions. We undertake the first effort in a peer-reviewed paper to examine the lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions of blue hydrogen accounting for emissions of both carbon dioxide and unburned fugitive methane. Far from being low carbon greenhouse gas emissions from the production of blue hydrogen are quite high particularly due to the release of fugitive methane. For our default assumptions (3.5% emission rate of methane from natural gas and a 20-year global warming potential) total carbon dioxide equivalent emissions for blue hydrogen are only 9%-12% less than for gray hydrogen. While carbon dioxide emissions are lower fugitive methane emissions for blue hydrogen are higher than for gray hydrogen because of an increased use of natural gas to power the carbon capture. Perhaps surprisingly the greenhouse gas footprint of blue hydrogen is more than 20% greater than burning natural gas or coal for heat and some 60% greater than burning diesel oil for heat again with our default assumptions. In a sensitivity analysis in which the methane emission rate from natural gas is reduced to a low value of 1.54% greenhouse gas emissions from blue hydrogen are still greater than from simply burning natural gas and are only 18%-25% less than for gray hydrogen. Our analysis assumes that captured carbon dioxide can be stored indefinitely an optimistic and unproven assumption. Even if true though the use of blue hydrogen appears difficult to justify on climate ground

The purpose of the hydrogen molecule market analysis is to track changes in the structure of hydrogen supply and demand in Europe. This report is mainly focused on presenting the current landscape - that will allow for future year-on-year comparisons in order to assess the progress Europe is making with regards to deployment of clean hydrogen production capacities as well as development of demand for clean hydrogen from emerging new hydrogen applications in the mobility sector or in industry. The following report summarizes the hydrogen molecule market landscape and contains data about hydrogen production and consumption in the EEA countries (EU countries together with Switzerland Norway Iceland and Liechtenstein). Hydrogen production capacity is presented by country and by technology whereas the hydrogen consumption data is presented by country and by end-use sector. The analysis undertaken for this report was completed using data available at the end of 2019. Hydrogen market (on both the demand and supply side) is dominated by ammonia and refining industries with three countries (DE NL PL) responsible for almost half hydrogen consumption. Today hydrogen is overwhelmingly produced by reforming of fossil fuels (mostly natural gas). Clean hydrogen production capacities are insignificant with blue hydrogen capacities at below 1% and green hydrogen production capacity below 0.1% of total.

Hydrogen as a clean fuel and a new energy source can be produced by various methods. One of these common and economical methods of hydrogen production is hydrocarbon vapor modification. This research studies hydrogen production using a propane steam reforming process inside a high temperature heat exchanger. The application of this high temperature heat exchanger in the path of the power supply line is a fuel cell stack unit to supply the required hydrogen of the device. The heat exchanger consists of a set of cylindrical tubes housed inside a packed-bed called a reformer. The energy required to perform the reaction is supplied through these tubes in which high temperature gas is injected and the heat exchanger is insulated to prevent energy loss. The results show that at maximum temperature and velocity of hot gases (900 K and 1.5 m s−1 ) complete consumption of propane can be observed before the outlet of the reformer. Also in the mentioned conditions the maximum hydrogen production (above 92%) is obtained. The best permeability under which the system can perform best is 1×10−9 m2.

Hydrogen (H2) has attained significant benefits as an energy carrier due to its gross calorific value (GCV) and inherently clean operation. Thus hydrogen as a fuel can lead to global sustainability. Conventional H2 production is predominantly through fossil fuels and electrolysis is now identified to be most promising for H2 generation. This review describes the recent state of the art and challenges on ultra-pure H2 production through methanol electrolysis that incorporate polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM). It also discusses about the methanol electrochemical reforming catalysts as well as the impact of this process via PEM. The efficiency of H2 production depends on the different components of the PEM fuel cells which are bipolar plates current collector and membrane electrode assembly. The efficiency also changes with the nature and type of the fuel fuel/oxygen ratio pressure temperature humidity cell potential and interfacial electronic level interaction between the redox levels of electrolyte and band gap edges of the semiconductor membranes. Diverse operating conditions such as concentration of methanol cell temperature catalyst loading membrane thickness and cell voltage that affect the performance are critically addressed. Comparison of various methanol electrolyzer systems are performed to validate the significance of methanol economy to match the future sustainable energy demands.

Interest in the low-cost production of clean hydrogen is growing. Anion exchange membrane water electrolyzers (AEMWEs) are considered one of the most promising sustainable hydrogen production technologies because of their ability to split water using platinum group metal-free catalysts less expensive anode flow fields and bipolar plates. Critical to the realization of AEMWEs is understanding the durability-limiting factors that restrict the long-term use of these devices. This article presents both durability-limiting factors and mitigation strategies for AEMWEs under three operation modes i.e. pure water-fed (no liquid electrolyte) concentrated KOH-fed and 1 wt% K₂CO₃-fed operating at a differential pressure of 100 psi. We examine extended-term behaviors of AEMWEs at the single-cell level and connect their behavior with the electrochemical chemical and mechanical instability of single-cell components. Finally we discuss the pros and cons of AEMWEs under these operation modes and provide direction for long-lasting AEMWEs with highly efficient hydrogen production capabilities.

Among the processes for producing hydrogen and oxygen from water via the use of solar energy water splitting has the advantage of being carried out in onestep. According to thermodynamics this process exhibits conversions of practical interest at very high temperatures and needs efficient separation systems in order to separate the reaction products hydrogen and oxygen. In this conceptual work the behaviour of a membrane reactor that uses two membranes perm-selective to hydrogen and oxygen is investigated in the temperature range 2000–2500 °C of interest for coupling this device with solar receivers. The effect of the reaction pressure has been evaluated at 0.5 and 1 bar while the permeate pressure has been fixed at 100 Pa. As a first result the use of the membrane perm-selective to oxygen in addition to the hydrogen one has improved significantly the reaction conversion that for instance at 0.5 bar and 2000 °C moves from 9.8% up to 18.8%. Based on these critical data a preliminary design of a membrane reactor consisting of a Ta tubular membrane separating the hydrogen and a hafnia camera separating the oxygen is presented: optimaloperating temperature of the reactor results in being around 2500 °C a value making impracticable its coupling with solar receivers even in view of an optimistic development of this technology. The study has verified that at 2000 °C with a water feed flow rate of 1000 kg h−1 about 200 and 100 m3 h−1 of hydrogen and oxygen are produced. In this case a surface of the hafnia membrane of the order of hundreds m2 is required: the design of such a membrane device may be feasible when considering special reactor configurations.

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.

In the transition from fossil to renewable energy the energy system should become clean while remaining reliable and affordable. Because of the intermittent nature of both renewable energy production and energy demand an integrated system approach is required that includes energy conversion and storage. We propose a concept for a neighbourhood where locally produced renewable energy is partly converted and stored in the form of heat and hydrogen accompanied by rainwater collection storage purification and use (Power-to-H3). A model is developed to create an energy balance and perform a techno-economic analysis including an analysis of the avoided costs within the concept. The results show that a solar park of 8.7 MWp combined with rainwater collection and solar panels on roofs can supply 900 houses over the year with heat (20 TJ) via an underground heat storage system as well as with almost half of their water demand (36000m3) and 540 hydrogen electric vehicles can be supplied with hydrogen (90 tonnes). The production costs for both hydrogen (8.7 €/kg) and heat (26 €/GJ) are below the current end user selling price in the Netherlands (10 €/kg and 34 €/GJ) making the system affordable. When taking avoided costs into account the prices could decrease with 20–26% while at the same time avoiding 3600 tonnes of CO₂ a year. These results make clear that it is possible to provide a neighbourhood with all these different utilities completely based on solar power and rainwater in a reliable affordable and clean way.

Storing renewable energy in chemicals like hydrogen can bring various benefits like high energy density seasonal storability possible cost reduction of the final product and the potential to let renewable power penetrate other markets and to overcome their intermittent availability. In the last year’s production of this gas from renewable energy sources via electrolysis has grown its reputation as one feasible solution to satisfy future zero-emission energy demand. To extend the exploitation of Renewable Energy Source (RES) small-scale conversion plants seem to be an interesting option. In view of a possible widespread adoption of these types of plants the authors intend to present the experimental characterization of a small-scale hydrogen production and storage plant. The considered experimental plant is based on an alkaline electrolyser and an air-driven hydrogen compression and storage system. The results show that the hydrogen production-specific consumption is on average 77 kWh/kgH2 . The hydrogen compressor energy requirement is on average 15 kWh/kgH2 (data referred to the driving compressed air). The value is higher than data found in literature (4.4–9.3 kWh/kgH2 ) but the difference can be attributed to the small size of the considered compressor and the choice to limit the compression stages.

Advanced porous separators with thin selective skin layers to reduce the hydrogen permeation are developed for applications in alkaline water electrolysis. A thin skin layer based on crosslinked polyvinyl alcohol (cPVA) is fabricated on a porous substrate by a facile and scalable ultrasonic spray coating process. As the number of ultrasonic spraying cycles increases the resulting separator demonstrates a decrease in the large-diameter pore fraction an increase in the bubble-point pressure and a reduction in the hydrogen permeability without a significant increase in the areal resistance. As a result the optimized separator with a cPVA skin layer combines a low ionic resistance of 0.267 Ω cm2 a high bubble point pressure of 2.71 bar and a low hydrogen permeability of 1.12 × 10− 11 mol cm− 2 s − 1 bar− 1 . The electrolytic cell assembled with cPVAZ-30 achieves current densities of 861 mA cm− 2 and 1890 mA cm− 2 at 2.0 V and 2.6 V respectively in a 30 wt% KOH electrolyte solution at 80 ◦C.

Population growth and the expansion of industries have increased energy demand and the use of fossil fuels as an energy source resulting in release of greenhouse gases (GHG) and increased air pollution. Countries are therefore looking for alternatives to fossil fuels for energy generation. Using hydrogen as an energy carrier is one of the most promising alternatives to replace fossil fuels in electricity generation. It is therefore essential to know how hydrogen is produced. Hydrogen can be produced by splitting the water molecules in an electrolyser using the abondand water resources which are covering around ⅔ of the Earth's surface. Electrolysers however require high-quality water with conductivity in the range of 0.1–1 μS/cm. In January 2018 there were 184 offshore oil and gas rigs in the North Sea which may be excellent sites for hydrogen production from seawater. The hydrogen production process reported in this paper is based on a proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyser with an input flow rate of 300 L/h. A financially optimal system for producing demineralized water from seawater with conductivity in the range of 0.1–1 μS/cm as the input for electrolyser by WAVE (Water Application Value Engine) design software was studied. The costs of producing hydrogen using the optimised system was calculated to be US$3.51/kg H2. The best option for low-cost power generation using renewable resources such as photovoltaic (PV) devices wind turbines as well as electricity from the grid was assessed considering the location of the case considered. All calculations were based on assumption of existing cable from the grid to the offshore meaning that the cost of cables and distribution infrastructure were not considered. Models were created using HOMER Pro (Hybrid Optimisation of Multiple Energy Resources) software to optimise the microgrids and the distributed energy resources under the assumption of a nominal discount rate inflation rate project lifetime and CO2 tax in Norway. Eight different scenarios were examined using HOMER Pro and the main findings being as follows:<br/>The cost of producing water with quality required by the electrolyser is low compared with the cost of electricity for operation of the electrolyser and therefore has little effect on the total cost of hydrogen production (less than 1%).<br/>The optimal solution was shown to be electricity from the grid which has the lowest levelised cost of energy (LCOE) of the options considered. The hydrogen production cost using electricity from the grid was about US$ 5/kg H2.<br/>Grid based electricity resulted in the lowest hydrogen production cost even when costs for CO2 emissions in Norway that will start to apply in 2025 was considered being approximately US$7.7/kg H2.<br/>From economical point of view wind energy was found to be a more economical than solar.

Hydrogen technologies have received increased attention in research and development to foster the shift towards carbon-neutral energy systems. Depending on the specific production techniques transportation concepts and application areas hydrogen supply chains (HSCs) can be anything from part of the energy transition problem to part of the solution: Even more than battery-driven electric mobility hydrogen is a polyvalent technology and can be used in very different contexts with specific positive or negative sustainability impacts. Thus a detailed sustainability evaluation is crucial for decision making in the context of hydrogen technology and its diverse application fields. This article provides a comprehensive structured literature review in the context of HSCs along the triple bottom line dimensions of environmental economic and social sustainability analyzing a total of 288 research papers. As a result we identify research gaps mostly regarding social sustainability and the supply chain stages of hydrogen distribution and usage. We suggest further research to concentrate on these gaps thus strengthening our understanding of comprehensive sustainability evaluations for HSCs especially in social sustainability evaluation. In addition we provide an additional approach for discussion by adding literature review results from neighboring fields highlighting the joint challenges and insights regarding sustainability evaluation.

Industrial hydrogen production via alkaline water electrolysis (AEL) is a mature hydrogen production method. One argument in favor of AEL when supplied with renewable energy is its environmental superiority against conventional fossil-based hydrogen production. However today electricity from the national grid is widely utilized for industrial applications of AEL. Also the ban on asbestos membranes led to a change in performance patterns making a detailed assessment necessary. This study presents a comparative Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) using the GaBi software (version 6.115 thinkstep Leinfelden-Echterdingen Germany) revealing inventory data and environmental impacts for industrial hydrogen production by latest AELs (6 MW Zirfon membranes) in three different countries (Austria Germany and Spain) with corresponding grid mixes. The results confirm the dependence of most environmental effects from the operation phase and specifically the site-dependent electricity mix. Construction of system components and the replacement of cell stacks make a minor contribution. At present considering the three countries AEL can be operated in the most environmentally friendly fashion in Austria. Concerning the construction of AEL plants the materials nickel and polytetrafluoroethylene in particular used for cell manufacturing revealed significant contributions to the environmental burden.

Hydrogen is a clean fuel for transportation and energy storage. It has several attractive features including a higher energy content by weight use in fuel cells that produces only water as a by-product storage in small and large quantities by various methods and established transportation and infrastructures. A hydrogen economy consists of three steps i.e. hydrogen production storage and applications. All three steps involved in a hydrogen economy can be divided into catalytic and non-catalytic approaches. For catalytic processes the efficiency highly depends on the type and physico-chemical characteristics of the catalysts. Therefore for the improvement of these catalytic processes the development of highly efficient and stable catalysts is highly required.

In the future hydrogen (H2) will play a significant role in the sustainable supply of energy and raw materials to various sectors. Therefore the electrolysis of water required for industrial‐ scale H2 production represents a key component in the generation of renewable electricity. Within the scope of fundamental research work on cell components for polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) electrolyzers and application‐oriented living labs an MW electrolysis system was used to further improve industrial‐scale electrolysis technology in terms of its basic structure and systems‐ related integration. The planning of this work as well as the analytical and technical approaches taken along with the essential results of research and development are presented herein. The focus of this study is the test facility for a megawatt PEM electrolysis stack with the presentation of the design processing and assembly of the main components of the facility and stack.

The production of “green hydrogen” is currently one of the hottest topics in the field of renewable energy systems research. Hydrogen storage is also becoming more and more attractive as a flexible solution to mitigate the power fluctuations of solar energy systems. The most promising technology for electricity-to-hydrogen conversion and vice versa is the reversible solid-oxide cell (SOC). This device is still very expensive but it exhibits excellent performance under dynamic operating conditions compared to the competing devices. This work presents the dynamic simulation of a prototypal renewable plant combining a 50 kW photovoltaic (PV) field with a 50 kW solid-oxide electrolyzer cell (SOEC) and a compressed hydrogen tank. The electricity is used to meet the energy demand of a dwelling located in the area of Campi Flegrei (Naples). The SOC efficiency is simulated by developing a mathematical model in MATLAB®. The model also calculates the cell operating temperature as a function of the input current. Once the optimal values of the operating parameters of the SOC are calculated the model is integrated in the transient system simulation tool (TRNSYS) for dynamic analysis. Furthermore this work presents a parametric analysis of the hydrogen storage system (HSS). The results of the energy and environmental analyses show that the proposed system can reach a primary energy saving by 70% and an amount of saved CO2 of 28 tons/year. Some possible future market scenarios are considered for the economic analysis. In the most realistic case the optimal configuration shows a simple pay back lower than 10 years and a profit index of 46%.

In the future the world may have large stranded resources of low-cost wind and solar electricity. Renewable electricity production does not match demand and production is far from major cities. The coupling of nuclear energy with renewables may enable full utilization of nuclear and renewable facilities to meet local electricity demands and export pipeline hydrogen for liquid fuels fertilizer and metals production. Renewables would produce electricity at full capacity in large quantities. The base-load nuclear plants would match electricity production with demand by varying the steam used for electricity versus hydrogen production. High-temperature electrolysis (HTE) would produce hydrogen from water using (a) steam from nuclear plants and (b) electricity from nuclear plants and renewables. During times of peak electricity demand the HTE cells would operate in reverse fuel cell mode to produce power substituting for gas turbines that are used for very few hours per year and that thus have very high electricity costs. The important net hydrogen production would be shipped by pipeline to customers. Local hydrogen storage would enable full utilization of long-distance pipeline capacity with variable production. The electricity and hydrogen production were simulated with real load and wind data to understand under what conditions such systems are economic. The parametric case study uses a wind-nuclear system in North Dakota with hydrogen exported to the Chicago refinery market. North Dakota has some of the best wind conditions in the United States and thus potentially low-cost wind. The methodology allows assessments with different economic and technical assumptions - including what electrolyzer characteristics are most important for economic viability.

Gasification of municipal solid waste (MSW) with subsequent utilization of syngas in gas engines/turbines and solid oxide fuel cells can substantially increase the power generation of waste-to-energy facilities and optimize the utilization of wastes as a sustainable energy resources. However purification of syngas to remove multiple impurities such as particulates tar HCl alkali chlorides and sulfur species is required. This study investigates the feasibility of high temperature purification of syngas from MSW gasification with the focus on catalytic tar reforming and desulfurization. Syngas produced from a downdraft fixed-bed gasifier is purified by a multi-stage system. The system comprises of a fluidized-bed catalytic tar reformer a filter for particulates and a fixed-bed reactor for dechlorination and then desulfurization with overall downward cascading of the operating temperatures throughout the system. Novel nano-structured nickel catalyst supported on alumina and regenerable Ni-Zn desulfurization sorbent loaded on honeycomb are synthesized. Complementary sampling and analysis methods are applied to quantify the impurities and determine their distribution at different stages. Experimental and thermodynamic modeling results are compared to determine the kinetic constraints in the integrated system. The hot purification system demonstrates up to 90% of tar and sulfur removal efficiency increased total syngas yield (14%) and improved cold gas efficiency (12%). The treated syngas is potentially applicable in gas engines/turbines and solid oxide fuel cells based on the dew points and concentration limits of the remaining tar compounds. Reforming of raw syngas by nickel catalyst for over 20 h on stream shows strong resistance to deactivation. Desulfurization of syngas from MSW gasification containing significantly higher proportion of carbonyl sulfide than hydrogen sulfide traces of tar and hydrogen chloride demonstrates high performance of Ni-Zn sorbents.

The WGS reaction is an exothermic reaction between carbon monoxide and steam to form carbon dioxide and hydrogen. This reaction which has been used industrially for more than 100 years has recently received a great deal of attention from researchers as one of the ways to produce environmentally acceptable hydrogen from fossil fuels in large quantities. For the application of this reaction on an industrial scale the key is choosing the optimal catalysts that can ensure high CO conversion and have a long lifetime under industrial conditions. Therefore new types of catalysts are being developed that meet these requirements better than the Fe- and Cu-based catalysts commonly used in the past. The WGSR on a commercial nickel-based catalyst and a laboratory-prepared copper and cobalt-based catalyst was tested in a laboratory apparatus set up at the University of Chemistry and Technology Prague. The best performance of the laboratory-prepared catalyst was observed for the catalyst with a Cu content of 14.8 wt% and activated in a hydrogen atmosphere. The laboratory-prepared Co-based catalyst showed good WGSR activity in the temperature range of 200–450 ◦C although this was always inferior to that of the Cu-based catalyst. When subjected to the feed gas containing 0.4 mole% H2S the Co-based catalyst showed good resistance to sulphur poisoning. Therefore Co-based catalysts can be considered good sulphur-tolerant intermediate temperature WGSR catalysts.

Hydrogen fuel production from methane cracking is a cleaner process compared to steam methane reforming due to zero greenhouse gas emissions. Carbon black that is co-produced is valuable and can be marketed to other industries. As this is a high-temperature process using solar energy can further improve its sustainability. In this study an integrated solar methane cracking system is proposed and the efficient utilization of the hydrogen and carbon products is explored. The carbon by-product is used in a direct carbon fuel cell and oxy- combustion. These processes eliminate the need for carbon capture technologies as they produce pure CO2 exhaust streams. The CO2 produced from the systems is used for enhanced oil recovery to produce crude oil. The produced turquoise hydrogen is liquified to make it suitable for exportation. The process is simulated on Aspen Plus® and its energy and exergy efficiencies are evaluated by carrying out a detailed thermodynamic analysis. A reservoir simulation is used to study the amount of oil that can be produced using the captured CO2. The overall system is studied for oil production over 20 years and energy and exergy of efficiencies 42.18% and 40.18% respectively were found. Enhanced oil recovery improves the recovery rate from 24.8% to 64.3%.

Political and scientific discussions on changing German energy supply mix and challenges of such energy transition are already well established. At the supply level energy storage seems to be the biggest challenge ahead for such transition. Hydrogen could be one of the solutions for future energy transition if it is produced using renewable energy resources. In order to analyze the future role of hydrogen its economic performance analysis is inevitable. This has been done in this research for a case study site in Cologne. The potential of hydrogen production with the use of solar electricity powered electrolyzers (alkaline and proton exchange membrane (PEM)) has been analyzed. Both grid connected and off grid modes of solar hydrogen production are considered. Economic performance results are presented for six scenarios. Hydrogen produced with the grid connected solar photovoltaics system coupled with alkaline electrolyzers was found the cheapest with the levelized cost of hydrogen (LCOH) at 6.23 V/kg. These costs are comparable with the current hydrogen price at commercial refueling station in Cologne. On the other hand the LCOH of off grid systems with both alkaline and PEM electrolyzers is expensive as expected the most expensive LCOH among six scenarios reached to 57.61 V/kg.

Decarbonizing the planet is one of the major goals that countries around the world have set for 2050 to mitigate the effects of climate change. To achieve these goals green hydrogen that can be produced from the electrolysis of water is an important key solution to tackle global decarbonization. Consequently in recent years there is an increase in interest towards green hydrogen production through the electrolysis process for large-scale implementation of renewable energy based power plants and other industrial and transportation applications. The main objective of this study was to provide a comprehensive review of various green hydrogen production technologies especially on water electrolysis. In this review various water electrolysis technologies and their techno-commercial prospects including hydrogen production cost along with recent developments in electrode materials and their challenges were summarized. Further some of the most successful results also were described. Moreover this review aims to identify the gaps in water electrolysis research and development towards the techno-commercial perspective. In addition some of the commercial electrolyzer performances and their limitations also were described along with possible solutions for cost-effective hydrogen production Finally we outlined our ideas and possible solutions for driving cost-effective green hydrogen production for commercial applications. This information will provide future research directions and a road map for the development/implementation of commercially viable green hydrogen projects.

When the renewable energy is used the challenge is match the supply of intermittent energy with the demand for energy therefore the energy storage solutions should be used. This paper is dedicated to hydrogen accumulation from wind sources. The case study investigates the conceptual system that uses intermitted renewable energy resources to produce hydrogen (power-to-gas concept) and fuel (power-to-liquid concept). For this specific case study hydrogen is produced from surplus electricity generated by wind power plant trough electrolysis process and fuel is obtained by upgrading biogas to biomethane using hydrogen. System dynamic model is created for this conceptual system. The developed system dynamics model has been used to simulate 2 different scenarios. The results show that in both scenarios the point at which the all electricity needs of Latvia are covered is obtained. Moreover the methodology of system dynamics used in this paper is white-box model that allows to apply the developed model to other case studies and/or to modify model based on the newest data. The developed model can be used for both scientific research and policy makers to better understand the dynamic relation within the system and the response of system to changes in both internal and external factors.

Green hydrogen will be an essential part of the future 100% sustainable energy and industry system. Up to one-third of the required solar and wind electricity would eventually be used for water electrolysis to produce hydrogen increasing the cumulative electrolyzer capacity to about 17 TWel by 2050. The key method applied in this research is a learning curve approach for the key technologies i.e. solar photovoltaics (PV) and water electrolyzers and levelized cost of hydrogen (LCOH). Sensitivities for the hydrogen demand and various input parameters are considered. Electrolyzer capital expenditure (CAPEX) for a large utility-scale system is expected to decrease from the current 400 €/kWel to 240 €/kWel by 2030 and to 80 €/kWel by 2050. With the continuing solar PV cost decrease this will lead to an LCOH decrease from the current 31–81 €/ MWhH2LHV (1.0–2.7 €/kgH2) to 20–54 €/MWhH2LHV (0.7–1.8 €/kgH2) by 2030 and 10–27 €/MWhH2LHV (0.3–0.9 €/kgH2) by 2050 depending on the location. The share of PV electricity cost in the LCOH will increase from the current 63% to 74% by 2050.

Colombia a privileged country in terms of diversity availability of natural resources and geographical location has set a roadmap for hydrogen as part of the energy transition plan proposed in 2021. To reduce its emissions in the mid-term and foster its economy hydrogen production should be green and blue with specific targets set for 2030 for the hydrogen costs and produced quantities. This work compares the state-of-the-art production of blue and green hydrogen and how Colombia is doing in each pathway. A deeper analysis considers the advantages of Colombia’s natural resources the possible paths the government could follow and the feedstock’s geographical location for hydrogen production and transportation. Then one discusses what may be the next steps in terms of policies and developments to succeed in implementing the plan. Overall it is concluded that green hydrogen could be the faster more sustainable and more efficient method to implement in Colombia. However blue hydrogen could play an essential role if oil and gas companies assess the advantages of carbon dioxide utilization and promote its deployment.

Solid oxide electrolysis cells (SOECs) have great application prospects because of their excellent performance but the long-term applications of the stacks are restricted by the structural degradation under the high-temperature conditions. Therefore an SOEC degradation model is developed and embedded in a process model of the high-temperature steam electrolysis (HTSE) system to investigate the influence of the stack degradation at the system level. The sensitivity analysis and optimization were carried out to study the influence factors of the stack degradation and system hydrogen production efficiency and search for the optimal operating conditions to improve the hydrogen production efficiency and mitigate the stack degradation. The analysis results show that the high temperature and large current density can accelerate the stack degradation but improve the hydrogen production efficiency while the high temperature gradually becomes unfavorable in the late stage. The low air-to-fuel feed ratio is beneficial to both the degradation rate and hydrogen production efficiency. The results show that the optimization method can improve the hydrogen production efficiency and inhibit the stack degradation effectively. Moreover part of the hydrogen production efficiency has to be sacrificed in order to obtain a lower stack degradation rate.

The rapid adoption of hydrogen as an eco-friendly energy source has necessitated the development of intelligent power management systems capable of efficiently utilizing hydrogen resources. However guaranteeing the security and integrity of hydrogen-related data has become a significant challenge. This paper proposes a pioneering approach to ensure secure hydrogen data analysis by integrating blockchain technology enhancing trust transparency and privacy in handling hydrogen-related information. Combining blockchain with intelligent power management systems makes the efficient utilization of hydrogen resources feasible. Using smart contracts and distributed ledger technology facilitates secure data analysis (SDA) real-time monitoring prediction and optimization of hydrogen-based power systems. The effectiveness and performance of the proposed approach are demonstrated through comprehensive case studies and simulations. Notably our prediction models including ABiLSTM ALSTM and ARNN consistently delivered high accuracy with MAE values of approximately 0.154 0.151 and 0.151 respectively enhancing the security and efficiency of hydrogen consumption forecasts. The blockchain-based solution offers enhanced security integrity and privacy for hydrogen data analysis thus advancing clean and sustainable energy systems. Additionally the research identifies existing challenges and outlines future directions for further enhancing the proposed system. This study adds to the growing body of research on blockchain applications in the energy sector specifically on secure hydrogen data analysis and intelligent power management systems.

CO2 emissions associated with hydrogen production can be reduced replacing steam methane reforming with electrolysis using renewable electricity with a trade-off of increasing energy consumption water consumption and cost. In this research a linear programming optimization model of a hydrogen production system that considers simultaneously energy consumption water consumption CO2 emissions and cost on a cradle-to-gate basis was developed. The model was used to evaluate the impact of CO2 intensity on the optimum design of a hydrogen production system for Japan considering different stakeholders’ priorities. Hydrogen is produced using steam methane reforming and electrolysis. Electricity sources include grid wind solar photovoltaic geothermal and hydro. Independent of the stakeholders’ priorities steam methane reforming dominates hydrogen production for cradle-to-gate CO2 intensities larger than 9 kg CO2/kg H2 while electrolysis using renewable electricity dominates for lower cradle-to-gate CO2 intensities. Reducing the cradle-to-gate CO2 intensity increases energy consumption water consumption and specific cost of hydrogen production. For a cradle-to-gate CO2 intensity of 0 kg CO2/kg H2 the specific cost of hydrogen production varies between 8.81 and 13.6 USD/kg H2; higher than the specific cost of hydrogen production targeted by the Japanese government in 2030 of 30 JPY/Nm3 3.19 USD/kg H2.

This paper focuses on developing a fast-solving open-source model for dynamic power-to-X plant techno-economic analysis and analysing the method bias that occurs when using other state-of-the-art power-to-X cost calculation methods. The model is a least-cost optimisation of investments and operation-costs taking as input techno-economic data varying power profiles and hourly grid prices. The fuel analysed is ammonia synthesised from electrolytic hydrogen produced with electricity from photovoltaics wind turbines or the grid. Various weather profiles and electrolyser technologies are compared. The calculated costs are compared with those derived using methods and assumptions prevailing in most literature. Optimisation results show that a semi-islanded set-up is the cheapest option and can reduce the costs up to 23% compared to off-grid systems but leads to e-fuels GHG emissions similar to fossil fuels with today’s electricity blend. For off-grid systems estimating costs using solar or wind levelized cost of electricity and capacity factors to derive operating hours leads to costs overestimation up to 30%. The cheapest off-grid configuration reaches production costs of 842 e/t3 . For comparison the "grey" ammonia price was 250 e/t3 in January 2021 and 1500 e/t3 in April 2022 (Western Europe). The optimal power mix is found to always include photovoltaic with 1-axis tracking and sometimes different types of onshore wind turbines at the same site. For systems fully grid connected approximating a highly fluctuating electricity price by a yearly average and assuming a constant operation leads to a small cost.

Every wind turbine is subject to fluctuations in power generation depending on climatic conditions. When electricity supply exceeds demand wind turbines are forced to implement curtailment causing a reduction in generation efficiency and commercial loss to turbine owners. Since the frequency and amount of curtailment of wind turbines increases as the amount of renewable energy become higher on Jeju Island in South Korea Jeju is configuring a Power to Gas (P2G) water electrolysis system that will be connected to an existing wind farm to use the “wasted energy”. In this study economic analysis was performed by calculating the production cost of green hydrogen and sensitivity analysis evaluated the variance in hydrogen cost depending on several influential factors. Approaches to lower hydrogen costs are necessary for the following reasons. The operating company needs a periodical update of hydrogen sale prices by reflecting a change in the system margin price (SMP) with the highest sensitivity to hydrogen cost. Technical development to reduce hydrogen costs in order to reduce power consumption for producing hydrogen and a decrease in annual reduction rate for the efficiency of water electrolysis is recommended. Discussions and research regarding government policy can be followed to lower the hydrogen cost.

The use of hydrogen produced from renewable energy enables the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions pursued in different international strategies. The use of power purchase agreements (PPAs) to supply renewable electricity to hydrogen production plants is an approach that can improve the feasibility of projects. This paper presents a model applicable to hydrogen projects regarding the technical and economic perspective and applies it to the Spanish case where pioneering projects are taking place via photovoltaic PPAs. The results show that PPAs are an enabling mechanism for sustaining green hydrogen projects.

Ammonia is a pollutant present in wastewater and is also a valuable carbon-free hydrogen carrier. Stripping recovery and anodic oxidation of ammonia to produce hydrogen via electrolysis is gaining momentum as a technology yet the development of an inexpensive stable catalytic material is imperative to reduce cost. Here we report on a new nickel copper (NiCu) catalyst electrodeposited onto a high surface area nickel felt (NF) as an anode for ammonia electrolysis. Cyclic voltammetry demonstrated that the catalyst/substrate combination reached the highest current density (200 mA cm2 at 20 C) achieved for a non-noble metal catalyst. A NiCu/NF electrode was tested in an anion exchange membrane electrolyser for 50 h; it showed good stability and high Faradaic efficiency for ammonia oxidation (88%) and hydrogen production (99%). We demonstrate that this novel electrode catalyst/substrate material combination can oxidise ammonia in a scaled system and hydrogen can be produced as a valuable by-product at industrial-level current densities and cell voltages lower than that for water electrolysis.

Green hydrogen has been identified as a critical enabler in the global transition to sustainable energy and decarbonized society but it is still not economically competitive compared to fossil-fuel-based hydrogen. To overcome this limitation we propose to couple photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting with the hydrogenation of chemicals. Here we evaluate the potential of coproducing hydrogen and methyl succinic acid (MSA) by coupling the hydrogenation of itaconic acid (IA) inside a PEC water splitting device. A negative net energy balance is predicted to be achieved when the device generates only hydrogen but energy breakeven can already be achieved when a small ratio (~2%) of the generated hydrogen is used in situ for IA-to-MSA conversion. Moreover the simulated coupled device produces MSA with much lower cumulative energy demand than conventional hydrogenation. Overall the coupled hydrogenation concept offers an attractive approach to increase the viability of PEC water splitting while at the same time decarbonizing valuable chemical production.

Hydrogen plays a leading role in achieving a future with net zero greenhouse gas emissions. The present challenge is producing green hydrogen to cover the fuel demands of transportation and industry to gain independence from fossil fuels. This review’s goal is to critically demonstrate the existing methods of biomass treatment and assess their ability to scale up. Biomass is an excellent hydrogen carrier and biomass-derived processes are the main target for hydrogen production as they provide an innovative pathway to green hydrogen production. Comparing the existing processes thermochemical treatment is found to be far more evolved than biological or electrochemical treatment especially with regard to scaling prospects.

The ever-increasing world energy demand drives the need for new and sustainable renewable fuel to mitigate problems associated with greenhouse gas emissions such as climate change. This helps in the development toward decarbonisation. Thus in recent years hydrogen has been seen as a promising candidate in global renewable energy agendas where the production of biohydrogen gains more attention compared with fossil-based hydrogen. In this review biohydrogen production using organic waste materials through fermentation biophotolysis microbial electrolysis cell and gasification are discussed and analysed from a technological perspective. The main focus herein is to summarise and criticise through bibliometric analysis and put forward the guidelines for the potential future routes of biohydrogen production from biomass and especially organic waste materials. This research review claims that substantial efforts currently and in the future should focus on biohydrogen production from integrated technology of processes of (i) dark and photofermentation (ii) microbial electrolysis cell (MEC) and (iii) gasification of combined different biowastes. Furthermore bibliometric mapping shows that hydrogen production from biomethanol and the modelling process are growing areas in the biohydrogen research that lead to zero-carbon energy soon.

The aim of the present work is the analysis of a solar‐driven unit that is located on the non‐interconnected island of Kythnos Greece that can produce electricity and green hydrogen. More specifically solar energy is exploited by parabolic trough collectors and the produced heat is stored in a thermal energy storage tank. Additionally an organic Rankine unit is incorporated to generate electricity which contributes to covering the island’s demand in a clean and renewable way. When the power cannot be absorbed by the local grid it can be provided to a water electrolyzer; therefore the excess electricity is stored in the form of hydrogen. The produced hydrogen amount is compressed afterward stored in tanks and then finally can be utilized as a fuel to meet other important needs such as powering vehicles or ferries. The installation is simulated parametrically and optimized on dynamic conditions in terms of energy exergy and finance. According to the results considering a base electrical load of 75 kW the annual energy and exergy efficiencies are found at 14.52% and 15.48% respectively while the payback period of the system is deter‐ mined at 6.73 years and the net present value is equal to EUR 1073384.

Multi-energy systems that combine different energy sources and carriers to improve the overall technical economic and environmental performance can boost the energy transition. In this paper we posit an innovative multi-energy system for green hydrogen production that achieves negative carbon emissions by combining bio-fuel membraneintegrated steam reforming and renewable electricity electrolysis. The system produces green hydrogen and carbon dioxide both at high purity. We use thermo-chemical models to determine the system performance and optimal working parameters. Specifically we focus on its ability to achieve negative carbon emissions. The results show that in optimal operating conditions the system can capture up to 14.1 g of CO2 per MJ of stored hydrogen and achieves up to 70% storage efficiency. Therefore we prove that a multi-energy system may reach the same efficiency of an average electrolyzer while implementing carbon capture. In the same optimal operating conditions the system converts 7.8 kg of biogas in 1 kg of hydrogen using 3.2 kg of oxygen coming from the production of 6.4 kg of hydrogen through the electrolyzer. With such ratios we estimate that the conversion of all the biogas produced in Europe with our system could result in the installation of additional dedicated 800 GWp - 1280 GWp of photovoltaic power or of 266 GWp - 532 GWp of wind power without affecting the distribution grid and covering yearly the 45% of the worldwide hydrogen demand while removing from the atmosphere more than 2% of the European carbon dioxide emissions.

Recently interest in developing H2 strategies with carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies has surged. Considering that this paper reviews recent literature on blue H2 a potential low-carbon short-term solution during the H2 transition period. Three key aspects were the focus of this paper. First it presents the processes used for blue H2 production. Second it presents a detailed comparison between blue H2 and natural gas as fuels and energy carriers. The third aspect focuses on CO2 sequestration in depleted natural gas reservoirs an essential step for implementing blue H2. Globally ~ 75% of H2 is produced using steam methane reforming which requires CCS to obtain blue H2. Currently blue H2 needs to compete with other advancing technologies such as green H2 solar power battery storage etc. Compared to natural gas and liquefied natural gas blue H2 gas results in lower CO2 emissions since CCS is applied. However transporting liquefied and compressed blue H2 entails higher energy economic and environmental costs. CCS must be appropriately implemented to produce blue H2 successfully. Due to their established capacity to trap hydrocarbons over geologic time scales depleted natural gas reservoirs are regarded as a viable option for CCS. Such a conclusion is supported by several simulation studies and field projects in many countries. Additionally there is much field experience and knowledge on the injection and production performance of natural gas reservoirs. Therefore using the existing site infrastructure converting these formations into storage reservoirs is undemanding.

Water electrolysis using solid oxide electrolysis cells is a promising method for hydrogen production because it is highly efficient clean and scalable. Recently a lot of researches focusing on development of high-power stack system have been introduced. However there are very few studies of economic analysis for this promising system. Consequently this study proposed 20-kW-scale high-power solid oxide electrolysis cells system config urations then conducted economic analysis. Especially the economic context was in South Korea. For com parison a low-power system with similar design was used as a reference; the levelized cost of hydrogen of each system was calculated based on the revenue requirement method. Furthermore a sensitivity analysis was also performed to identify how the economic variables affect the hydrogen production cost in a specific context. The results show that a high-power system is superior to a low-power system from an economic perspective. The stack cost is the dominant component of the capital cost but the electricity cost is the factor that contributes the most to the hydrogen cost. In the first case study it was found that if a high-power system can be installed inside a nuclear power plant the cost of hydrogen produced can reach $3.65/kg when the electricity cost is 3.28¢/kWh and the stack cost is assumed to be $574/kW. The second case study indicated that the hydrogen cost can decrease by 24% if the system is scaled up to a 2-MW scale.

Green hydrogen produced by water electrolysis is one of the most promising technologies to realize the efficient utilization of intermittent renewable energy and the decarbonizing future. Among various electrolysis technologies the emerging anion-exchange membrane water electrolysis (AEMWE) shows the most potential for producing green hydrogen at a competitive price. In this review we demonstrate a comprehensive introduction to AEMWE including the advanced electrode design the lab-scaled testing system establishment and the electrochemical performance evaluation. Specifically recent progress in developing high activity transition metal-based powder electrocatalysts and self-supporting electrodes for AEMWE is summarized. To improve the synergistic transfer behaviors between electron charge water and gas inside the gas diffusion electrode (GDE) two optimizing strategies are concluded by regulating the pore structure and interfacial chemistry. Moreover we provide a detailed guideline for establishing the AEMWE testing system and selecting the electrolyzer components. The influences of the membrane electrode assembly (MEA) technologies and operation conditions on cell performance are also discussed. Besides diverse electrochemical methods to evaluate the activity and stability implement the failure analyses and realize the in-situ characterizations are elaborated. In end some perspectives about the optimization of interfacial environment and cost assessments have been proposed for the development of advanced and durable AEMWE.

Much has been learned about natural hydrogen (H2) seepages and accumulation but present knowledge of hydrogen behavior in the crust is so limited that it is not yet possible to consider exploitation of this resources. Hydrogen targeting requires a shift in the long-standing paradigms that drive oil and gas exploration. This paper describes the foundation of an integrated source-to-sink view of the hydrogen cycle and propose preliminary practical guidelines for hydrogen exploration.

This research proposes designing and implementing a system to produce hydrogen utilizing the thermal energy from the exhaust gases in a natural gas engine. For the construction of the system a thermoelectric generator was used to convert the thermal energy from the exhaust gases into electrical power and an electrolyzer bank to produce hydrogen. The system was evaluated using a natural gas engine which operated at a constant speed (2400 rpm) and six load conditions (20 % 40 % 60 % 80 % and 100 %). The effect of hydrogen on the engine was evaluated with fuel mixtures (NG + 10 % HEF and NG + 15 % HEF). The results demonstrate that the NG + 10 % HEF and NG + 15 % HEF mixtures allow for a decrease of 1.84 % and 2.33 % in BSFC and an increase of 1.88 % and 2.38 % in BTE. Through the NG + 15 % HEF mixture the engine achieved an energy efficiency of 34.15 % and an exergetic efficiency of 32.84 %. Additionally the NG + 15 % HEF mixture reduces annual CO CO2 and HC emissions by 9.52 % 15.48 % and 13.39 % respectively. The addition of hydrogen positively impacts the engine’s economic cost allowing for a decrease of 1.56 % in the cost of useful work and a reduction of 3.32 % in the cost of exergy loss. In general the proposed system for hydrogen production represents an alternative for utilizing the residual energy from exhaust gases resulting in better performance parameters reduced annual pollutant emissions and lower economic costs.

New hypotheses for reusing platforms reaching their end-of-life have been investigated in several works discussing the potential conversions of these infrastructures from recreational tourism to fish farming. In this perspective paper we discuss the conversion options that could be of interest in the context of the current energy transition with reference to the off-shore Italian scenario. The study was developed in support of the development of a national strategy aimed at favoring a circular economy and the reuse of existing infrastructure for the implementation of the energy transition. Thus the investigated options include the onboard production of renewable energy hydrogen production from seawater through electrolyzers CO2 capture and valorization and platform reuse for underground fluid storage in depleted reservoirs once produced through platforms. Case histories are developed with reference to a typical fictitious platform in the Adriatic Sea Italy to provide an engineering-based approach to these different conversion options. The coupling of the platform with the underground storage to set the optimal operational conditions is managed through the forecast of the reservoir performance with advanced numerical models able to simulate the complexity of the phenomena occurring in the presence of coupled hydrodynamic geomechanical geochemical thermal and biological processes. The results of our study are very encouraging because they reveal that no technical environmental or safety issues prevent the conversion of offshore platforms into valuable infrastructure contributing to achieving the energy transition targets as long as the selection of the conversion option to deploy is designed taking into account the system specificity and including the depleted reservoir to which it is connected when relevant. Socio-economic issues were not investigated as they were out of the scope of the project.

Low-carbon hydrogen could be an important component of a net-zero carbon economy helping to mitigate emissions in a number of hard-to-abate sectors. The United States recently introduced an escalating production tax credit (PTC) to incentivize production of hydrogen meeting increasingly stringent embodied emissions thresholds. Hydrogen produced via electrolysis can qualify for the full subsidy under current federal accounting standards if the input electricity is generated by carbon-free resources but may fail to do so if emitting resources are present in the generation mix. While use of behind-the-meter carbon-free electricity inputs can guarantee compliance with this standard the PTC could also be structured to allow producers using grid-supplied electricity to qualify subject to certain clean energy procurement requirements. Herein we use electricity system capacity expansion modeling to quantitatively assess the impact of grid-connected electrolysis on the evolution of the power sector in the western United States through 2030 under multiple possible implementations of the clean hydrogen PTC. We find that subsidized grid-connected hydrogen production has the potential to induce additional emissions at effective rates worse than those of conventional fossil-based hydrogen production pathways. Emissions can be minimized by requiring grid-based hydrogen producers to match 100% of their electricity consumption on an hourly basis with physically deliverable ‘additional’ clean generation which ensures effective emissions rates equivalent to electrolysis exclusively supplied by behind-the-meter carbon-free generation. While these requirements cannot eliminate indirect emissions caused by competition for limited clean resources which we find to be a persistent result of large hydrogen production subsidies they consistently outperform alternative approaches relying on relaxed time matching or marginal emissions accounting. Added hydrogen production costs from enforcing an hourly matching requirement rather than no requirements are less than $1 kg−1 and can be near zero if clean firm electricity resources are available for procurement.

The continued use of energy sources based on fossil fuels has various repercussions for the environment. These repercussions are being minimized through the use of renewable energy supplies and new techniques to decarbonize the global energy matrix. For many years hydrogen has been one of the most used gases in all kinds of industry and now it is possible to produce it efficiently on a large scale and in a non-polluting way. This gas is mainly used in the chemical industry and in the oil refining industry but the constant growth of its applications has generated the interest of all the countries of the world. Its use in transportation petrochemical industries heating equipment etc. will result in a decrease in the production of greenhouse gases which are harmful to the environment. This means hydrogen is widely used and needed by countries creating great opportunities for hydrogen export business. This paper details concepts about the production of green hydrogen its associated technologies and demand projections. In addition the current situation of several countries regarding the use of this new fuel their national strategy and advances in research carried out in different parts of the world for various hydrogen generation projects are discussed. Additionally the great opportunities that Chile has for this new hydrogen export business thanks to the renewable energy production capacities in the north and south of the country are discussed. The latter is key for countries that require large amounts of hydrogen to meet the demand from various industrial energy and transportation sectors. Therefore it is of global importance to determine the real capacities that this country has in the face of this new green fuel. For this modeling was carried out through mathematical representations showing the behavior of the technologies involved in the production of hydrogen for a system composed of an on-grid photovoltaic plant an electrolyser and compressor together with a storage system. The program optimized the capacities of the equipment in such a way as to reduce the costs of hydrogen production and thereby demonstrate Chile’s capacity for the production of this fuel. From this it was found that the LCOH for the case study was equivalent to 3.5 USD/kg which is not yet considered a profitable value for the long term. Due to this five case studies were analyzed to see what factors influence the LCOH and thereby reduce it as much as possible.

The declining cost of renewable power has engendered growing interest in leveraging this power for the production of chemicals and synthetic fuels. Here renewable power is added to the gas-to-liquid (GTL) process through Fischer–Tropsch (FT) synthesis in order to increase process efficiency and reduce CO2 emissions. Accordingly two realistic configurations are considered which differ primarily in the syngas preparation step. In the first configuration solid oxide steam electrolysis cells (SOEC) in combination with an autothermal reformer (ATR) are used to produce synthesis gas with the right composition while in the second configuration an electrically-heated steam methane reformer (E-SMR) is utilized for syngas production. The results support the idea of adding power to the GTL process mainly by increased process efficiencies and reduced process emissions. Assuming renewable power is available the process emissions would be 200 and 400 gCO2 L1 syncrude for the first and second configurations respectively. Configuration 1 and 2 show 8 and 4 times less emission per liter syncrude produced respectively compared to a GTL plant without H2 addition with a process emission of 1570 gCO2 L1 syncrude. By studying the two designs based on FT production carbon efficiency and FT catalyst volume a better alternative is to add renewable power to the SOEC (configuration 1) rather than using it in an E-SMR (configuration 2). Given an electricity price of $100/MW h and natural gas price of 5 $ per GJ FT syncrude and H2 can be produced at a cost between $15/MW h and $16/MW h. These designs are considered to better utilize the available carbon resources and thus expedite the transition to a low-carbon economy

Currently hydrogen is mainly generated by steam methane reforming with significant CO2 emissions thus exacerbating the greenhouse effect. This environmental concern promotes methane cracking which represents one of the most promising alternatives for hydrogen production with theoretical zero CO/CO2 emissions. Methane cracking has been intensively investigated using metallic and carbonaceous catalysts. Recently research has focused on methane pyrolysis in molten metals/salts to prevent both reactor coking and rapid catalyst deactivation frequently encountered in conventional pyrolysis. Another expected advantage is the heat transfer improvement due to the high heat capacity of molten media. Apart from the reaction itself that produces hydrogen and solid carbon the energy source used in this endothermic process can also contribute to reducing environmental impacts. While most researchers used nonrenewable sources based on fossil fuel combustion or electrical heating concentrated solar energy has not been thoroughly investigated to date for pyrolysis in molten media. However it could be a promising innovative pathway to further improve hydrogen production sustainability from methane cracking. After recalling the basics of conventional catalytic methane cracking and the developed solar cracking reactors this review delves into the most significant results of the state-of-the-art methane pyrolysis in melts (molten metals and salts) to show the advantages and the perspectives of this new path as well as the carbon products’ characteristics and the main factors governing methane conversion.

The energy transition to wind and solar opens up opportunities for green hydrogen as wind and solar generation tend to bring electricity prices down to very low levels. We evaluate whether green hydrogen can integrate well with wind and solar PVs to improve the South Australian electricity grid. Green hydrogen can use membrane electrolysis plants during periods of surplus renewable energy. This hydrogen can then be electrified or used in industry. The green hydrogen system was analysed to understand the financial viability and technical impact of integrating green hydrogen. We also used system engineering techniques to understand the system holistically including the technical social environmental and economic impacts. The results show opportunities for the system to provide seasonal storage grid firming and reliability services. Financially it would need changes to electricity rules to be viable so at present it would not be viable without subsidy.

Debra Jones Chemistry Knowledge Transfer Manager and Simon Buckley Zero Emission Mobility Knowledge Transfer Manager from Innovate UK KTN talk about green hydrogen production with their special guest  Chris Jackson CEO & Founder at Protium.

This podcast discussion centres around methods of producing clean hydrogen from renewable energy sources the innovative projects Protium is working on and how much green hydrogen will the UK produce by 2030 and beyond.

The podcast can be found on their website.

Recently the management of water and wastewater is gaining attention worldwide as a way of conserving the natural resources on the planet. The traditional wastewater treatment in Oman is such that the treated effluent produced is only reused for unfeasible purposes such as landscape irrigation cooling or disposed of in the sea. Introducing more progressive reuse applications can result in achieving a circular economy by considering treated effluent as a source of producing new products. Accordingly wastewater treatment plants can provide feedstock for green hydrogen production processes. The involvement of the wastewater industry in the green pathway of production scores major points in achieving decarbonization. In this paper the technical and economic feasibility of green hydrogen production in Oman was carried out using a new technique that would help explore the benefits of the treated effluent from wastewater treatment in Oman. The feasibility study was conducted using the Al Ansab sewage treatment plant in the governate of Muscat in Wilayat (region) Bousher. The results have shown that the revenue from Al Ansab STP in a conventional case is 7.02 million OMR/year while sustainable alternatives to produce hydrogen from the Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) electrolyzer system for two cases with capacities of 1500 kg H2/day and 50000 kg H2/day would produce revenue of 8.30 million OMR/year and 49.73 million OMR/year respectively.