Singapore

Hydrogen energy with environment amicable renewable efficiency and cost-effective advantages is the future mainstream substitution of fossil-based fuel. However the extremely low volumetric density gives rise to the main challenge in hydrogen storage and therefore exploring effective storage techniques is key hurdles that need to be crossed to accomplish the sustainable hydrogen economy. Hydrogen physically or chemically stored into nanomaterials in the solid-state is a desirable prospect for effective large-scale hydrogen storage which has exhibited great potentials for applications in both reversible onboard storage and regenerable off-board storage applications. Its attractive points include safe compact light reversibility and efficiently produce sufficient pure hydrogen fuel under the mild condition. This review comprehensively gathers the state-of-art solid-state hydrogen storage technologies using nanostructured materials involving nanoporous carbon materials metal-organic frameworks covalent organic frameworks porous aromatic frameworks nanoporous organic polymers and nanoscale hydrides. It describes significant advances achieved so far and main barriers need to be surmounted to approach practical applications as well as offers a perspective for sustainable energy research.

As a signatory to the Paris Agreement Singapore is committed to achieving net-zero carbon emissions in the second half of the century. In this paper we propose a decarbonization roadmap for Singapore based on an analysis of Singapore’s energy landscape and a technology mapping exercise. This roadmap consists of four major components. The first component which also underpins the other three components is using centralized post-combustion carbon capture technology to capture and compress CO2 emitted from multiple industrial sources in Jurong Island. The captured CO2 is then transported by ship or an existing natural gas pipeline to a neighboring country where it will be stored permanently in a subsurface reservoir. Important to the success of this first-of-a-kind cross-border carbon capture and storage (CCS) project is the establishment of a regional CCS corridor which makes use of economies of scale to reduce the cost of CO2 capture transport and injection. The second component of the roadmap is the production of hydrogen in a methane steam reforming plant which is integrated with the carbon capture plant. The third component is the modernizing of the refining sector by introducing biorefineries increasing output to petrochemical plants and employing post-combustion carbon capture. The fourth component is refueling the transport sector by introducing electric and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles using biofuels for aviation and hydrogen for marine vessels. The implications of this roadmap on Singapore’s energy policies are also discussed.

Producing hydrogen by water electrolysis suffers from the kinetic barriers in the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) that limits the overall efficiency. With spin-dependent kinetics in OER to manipulate the spin ordering of ferromagnetic OER catalysts (e.g. by magnetization) can reduce the kinetic barrier. However most active OER catalysts are not ferromagnetic which makes the spin manipulation challenging. In this work we report a strategy with spin pinning effect to make the spins in paramagnetic oxyhydroxides more aligned for higher intrinsic OER activity. The spin pinning effect is established in oxideFM/oxyhydroxide interface which is realized by a controlled surface reconstruction of ferromagnetic oxides. Under spin pinning simple magnetization further increases the spin alignment and thus the OER activity which validates the spin effect in rate-limiting OER step. The spin polarization in OER highly relies on oxyl radicals (O∙) created by 1st dehydrogenation to reduce the barrier for subsequent O-O coupling.

Today as a result of the advancement of technology and increasing environmental problems the need for clean energy has considerably increased. In this regard hydrogen which is a clean and sustainable energy carrier with high energy density is among the well-regarded and effective means to deliver and store energy and can also be used for environmental remediation purposes. Renewable hydrogen energy carriers can successfully substitute fossil fuels and decrease carbon dioxide (CO2 ) emissions and reduce the rate of global warming. Hydrogen generation from sustainable solar energy and water sources is an environmentally friendly resolution for growing global energy demands. Among various solar hydrogen production routes semiconductor-based photocatalysis seems a promising scheme that is mainly performed using two kinds of homogeneous and heterogeneous methods of which the latter is more advantageous. During semiconductor-based heterogeneous photocatalysis a solid material is stimulated by exposure to light and generates an electron–hole pair that subsequently takes part in redox reactions leading to hydrogen production. This review paper tries to thoroughly introduce and discuss various semiconductor-based photocatalysis processes for environmental remediation with a specific focus on heterojunction semiconductors with the hope that it will pave the way for new designs with higher performance to protect the environment.

The ever-increasing demand for energy coupled with dwindling fossil fuel resources make the establishment of a clean and sustainable energy system a compelling need. Hydrogen-based energy systems offer potential solutions. Although in the long-term the ultimate technological challenge is large-scale hydrogen production from renewable sources the pressing issue is how to store hydrogen efficiently on board hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles.

The falling cost of making hydrogen from wind and solar power offers a promising route to cutting emissions in some of the most fossil fuel dependent sectors of the economy such as steel heavy-duty vehicles shipping and cement.



Hydrogen Economy Outlook a new and independent global study from research firm BloombergNEF (BNEF) finds that clean hydrogen could be deployed in the decades to come to cut up to 34% of global greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels and industry – at a manageable cost. However this will only be possible if policies are put in place to help scale up technology and drive down costs.



The report’s findings suggest that renewable hydrogen could be produced for $0.8 to $1.6/kg in most parts of the world before 2050. This is equivalent to gas priced at $6-12/MMBtu making it competitive with current natural gas prices in Brazil China India Germany and Scandinavia on an energy-equivalent basis. When including the cost of storage and pipeline infrastructure the delivered cost of renewable hydrogen in China India and Western Europe could fall to around $2/kg ($15/MMBtu) in 2030 and $1/kg ($7.4/MMBtu) in 2050.



Kobad Bhavnagri head of industrial decarbonization for BNEF and lead author of the report said: “Hydrogen has potential to become the fuel that powers a clean economy. In the years ahead it will be possible to produce it at low cost using wind and solar power to store it underground for months and then to pipe it on-demand to power everything from ships to steel mills.”



Hydrogen is a clean-burning molecule that can be used as a substitute for coal oil and gas in a large variety of applications. But for its use to have net environmental benefits it must be produced from clean sources rather than from unabated fossil fuel processes – the usual method at present.



Renewable hydrogen can be made by splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen using electricity generated by cheap wind or solar power. The cost of the electrolyzer technology to do this has fallen by 40% in the last five years and can continue to slide if deployment increases. Clean hydrogen can also be made using fossil fuels if the carbon is captured and stored but this is likely to be more expensive the report finds.



Read the full report on the BloombergNEF website here

This study presents an approach for estimating fuel boil‐off behaviour in cryogenic energy carrier ships such as future liquid hydrogen (LH2) carriers. By relying on thermodynamic model‐ ling and empirical formulas for ship motion and propulsion the approach can be used to investigate boil‐off as a function of tank properties weather conditions and operating velocities during a laden voyage. The model is first calibrated against data from a liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier and is consequently used to investigate various design configurations of an LH2 ship. Results indicate that an LH2 ship with the same tank volume and glass wool insulation thickness as a conventional LNG carrier stores 40% of the fuel energy and is characterised by a boil‐off rate nine times higher and twice as sensitive to sloshing. Adding a reliquefaction unit can reduce the LH2 fuel depletion rate by at least 38.7% but can increase its variability regarding velocity and weather conditions. In calm weather LH2 boil‐off rates can only meet LNG carrier standards by utilising at least 6.6 times the insulation thickness. By adopting fuel cell propulsion in an LH2 ship a 1.1% increase in fuel delivery is expected. An LH2 ship with fuel cells and reliquefaction is required to be at least 1.7 times larger than an existing LNG carrierto deliverthe same energy. Further comparison of alternative scenarios indicates that LH2 carriers necessitate significant redesigns if LNG carrier standards are desired. The present approach can assist future feasibility studies featuring other vessels and propulsion technologies and can be seen as an extendable framework that can predict boil‐off in real‐time.

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.

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

The greenhouse effect has always been a problem troubling various country many fields have made corresponding technological improvements and regulations and the shipping industry is no exception. In the shipping field governments are actively looking for viable low-carbon/zero-carbon alternative fuels to reduce their dependence on traditional fossil fuels. This paper discusses the challenges and opportunities of replacing fuel oil with clean energies. Firstly the alternative fuels that have been proposed frequently and widely in recent years are summarized and their sources adaptive power systems and relationships among fuels are systematically summarized. Secondly when evaluating the advantages and future development trends of each energy the environmental economic and safety factors are digitally quantified. Results show that the analysis focuses on the efficiency and economics of carbon reduction. Hydrogen ammonia and nuclear energy show advantages in environmental quantification factors while LNG biofuels and alcohols show benefits in economic quantification factors considering calorific value and fuel price and LNG and alcohols received high scores in safety assessment. Finally the study predicts the evolution and development trend of ship fuels in the future and evaluates the most suitable energy for ship development in different periods.