Publications

Hydrogen as a carbon-free fuel is commonly expected to play a major role in future energy supply e.g. as an admixture gas in natural gas grids. Which impacts on residential and commercial gas appliances can be expected due to the significantly different physical and chemical properties of hydrogen-enriched natural gas? This paper analyses and discusses blends of hydrogen and natural gas from the perspective of combustion science. The admixture of hydrogen into natural gas changes the properties of the fuel gas. Depending on the combustion system burner design and other boundary conditions these changes may cause higher combustion temperatures and laminar combustion velocities while changing flame positions and shapes are also to be expected. For appliances that are designed for natural gas these effects may cause risk of flashback reduced operational safety material deterioration higher nitrogen oxides emissions (NOx) and efficiency losses. Theoretical considerations and first measurements indicate that the effects of hydrogen admixture on combustion temperatures and the laminar combustion velocities are often largely mitigated by a shift towards higher air excess ratios in the absence of combustion control systems but also that common combustion control technologies may be unable to react properly to the presence of hydrogen in the fuel.

This paper deals with site selection problems for hydrogen production plants and aims to propose a structural procedure for determining the most feasible sites. The study area is Adrar province Algeria which has a promising wind potential. The methodology is mainly composed of two stages: the first stage is to evaluate and select the best locations for wind-powered hydrogen production using GIS and MCDM technique. the AHP is applied to weigh the criteria and compute a LSI to evaluate potential sites and the second stage is applying different filtration constraints to select the suitable petrol stations for such hydrogen refuelling station modification. The result map showed that the entire Adrar province is almost suitable for wind-powered hydrogen production with varying suitability index. The LSI model groups sites into three categories: High suitable areas Medium suitable areas and Low suitable. As a result 2.95 % (12808.97 km2) of the study area has high suitability 54.59 % (236320.16 km2) has medium suitability 1.12 %(4842.94 km2) has low suitability and 41.34 % (178950.35 km2) of the study area is not suitable for wind hydrogen production. By applying the constraints about 4 stations are suitable for wind-powered hydrogen refuelling system retrofitting in Adrar province.

With government legislating for net-zero by 2050 what does this mean for UK energy markets and business models?<br/>Getting to net-zero will require economy-wide changes that extend well beyond the energy system leading to rapid and unprecedented change in all aspects of society.<br/>This report shines a light on the level of disruption that could be required by some sectors to meet net-zero targets. With many businesses making strong commitments to a net-zero carbon future the report highlights the stark future facing specific sectors. Some will need to make fundamental change to their business models and operating practices whilst others could be required to phase out core assets. Government may need to play a role in purposefully disrupting specific sectors to ensure the move away from high carbon business models facilitating the transition a zero-carbon economy. Sector specific impactsThe in-depth analysis presented in ‘Disrupting the UK energy systems: causes impacts and policy implications’ focuses on four key areas of the economy highlighting how they may need to change to remain competitive and meet future carbon targets.<br/>Heat: All approaches for heat decarbonisation are potentially disruptive with policymakers favouring those that are less disruptive to consumers. Since it is unlikely that rapid deployment of low carbon heating will be driven by consumers or the energy industry significant policy and governance interventions will be needed to drive the sustainable heat transformation.<br/>Transport: Following the ‘Road to Zero’ pathway for road transport is unlikely to be disruptive but it is not enough to meet our climate change targets. The stricter targets for phasing out conventional vehicles that will be required will lead to some disruption. Vehicle manufacturers the maintenance and repair sector and the Treasury may all feel the strain.<br/>Electricity: Strategies of the Big 6 energy companies have changed considerably in recent years with varying degrees of disruption to their traditional business model. It remains to be seen whether they will be able to continue to adapt to rapid change – or be overtaken by new entrants.<br/>Construction: To deliver low-carbon building performance will require disruptive changes to the way the construction sector operates. With new-build accounting for less than 1% of the total stock major reductions in energy demand will need to come through retrofit of existing buildings.<br/>The report identifies how policy makers plan for disruptions to existing systems. With the right tools and with a flexible and adaptive approach to policy implementation decision makers can better respond to unexpected consequences and ensure delivery of key policy objectives.

The amount of hydrogen gas generated from metal oxide materials based on a thermochemical water-splitting method gradually reduces as the surface of the metal oxide oxidizes during the hydrogen generation process. To regenerate hydrogen the oxygen reduction process of a metal oxide at high temperatures (1000–2500 °C) is generally required. In this study to overcome the problem of an energy efficiency imbalance in which the required energy of the oxygen reduction process for hydrogen regeneration is higher than the generated hydrogen energy we investigated the possibility of the oxygen reduction of a metal oxide with a low energy using microwave irradiation. For this purpose a macroporous nickel-oxide structure was used as a metal oxide catalyst to generate hydrogen gas and the oxidized surface of the macroporous nickel-oxide structure could be reduced by microwave irradiation. Through this oxidation reduction process ∼750 μmol g⁻¹ of hydrogen gas could be continuously regenerated. In this way it is expected that oxygen-enriched metal oxide materials can be efficiently reduced by microwave irradiation with a low power consumption of <∼4% compared to conventional high-temperature heat treatment and thus can be used for efficient hydrogen generation and regeneration processes in the future.

<br/>Our industry is beginning its journey on the transition to providing the world with sufficient sustainable affordable and low emission energy.<br/><br/>Decarbonisation is now a key priority. Steps range from reducing emissions from traditional oil and gas operations to investing in renewable energy and supplementing natural gas supplies with greener gasses such as hydrogen.<br/><br/>This paper looks at the role hydrogen could play in decarbonisation.

Seizing the clean growth opportunity. The move to cleaner economic growth is one of the greatest industrial opportunities of our time. This Strategy will ensure Britain is ready to seize that opportunity. Our modern Industrial Strategy is about increasing the earning power of people in every part of the country. We need to do that while not just protecting but improving the environment on which our economic success depends. In short we need higher growth with lower carbon emissions. This approach is at the heart of our Strategy for clean growth. The opportunity for people and business across the country is huge. The low carbon economy could grow 11 per cent per year between 2015 and 2030 four times faster than the projected growth of the economy as a whole. This is spread across a large number of sectors: from low cost low carbon power generators to more efficient farms; from innovators creating better batteries to the factories putting them in less polluting cars; from builders improving our homes so they are cheaper to run to helping businesses become more productive. This growth will not just be seen in the UK. Following the success of the Paris Agreement where Britain played such an important role in securing the landmark deal the transition to a global low carbon economy is gathering momentum. We want the UK to capture every economic opportunity it can from this global shift in technologies and services.<br/>Our approach to clean growth is an important element of our modern Industrial Strategy: building on the UK’s strengths; improving productivity across the country; and ensuring we are the best place for innovators and new businesses to start up and grow. A good example of this is offshore wind where costs have halved in just a few years. A combination of sustained commitment – across different Governments – and targeted public sector innovation support harnessing the expertise of UK engineers working in offshore conditions and private sector ingenuity has created the conditions for a new industry to flourish while cutting emissions. We need to replicate this success in sectors across our economy. This Strategy delivers on the challenge that Britain embraced when Parliament passed the Climate Change Act. If we get it right we will not just deliver reduced emissions but also cleaner air lower energy bills for households and businesses an enhanced natural environment good jobs and industrial opportunity. It is an opportunity we will seize.

From 2006 to 2009 INERIS alongside with CEA PSA PEUGEOT CITROËN and IRPHE were involved in a project called DRIVE. Its objective was to provide data on the whole reaction chain leading to a hydrogen hazard onboard a vehicle. Out of the three types of leakage identified by the consortium (permeation chronic and accidental) the chronic leakage taking place within the engine was judged to be more problematic since it can feature a high probability of occurrence and a significant release flow rate (up to 100 NL/min). Ignition tests carried out within a real and dummy engine compartment showed that pressure effects due to an explosion will be relatively modest provided that the averaged hydrogen concentration in this area is limited to 10% vol/vol which would correspond to a maximum release flow of 10 NL/min. This maximum concentration could be used as a threshold value for detection or as a target while designing the vehicle. Jet fire experiments were also conducted in the frame of the DRIVE project. It was found that pressure-relief devices (PRDs) might be unsuited to protect humans from the explosion of a tank caused by a bonfire. Other solutions are proposed in this paper.

The U.S. Department of Energy supports the implementation of hydrogen fuel cell technologies by providing hydrogen safety and emergency response training to first responders. A collaboration was formed to develop and deliver a one-day course that uses a mobile fuel cell vehicle (FCV) burn prop designed and built by Kidde Fire Trainers. This paper describes the development of the training curriculum including the design and operation of the FCV prop; describes the successful delivery of this course to over 300 participants at three training centers in California; and discusses feedback and observations received on the course. Photographs and video clips of the training sessions will be presented.

A large number of natural gas vehicles (NGV) with composite cylinders run in the world. In order to store hydrogen using the composite cylinder has also reached commercialization for the hydrogen fuel cell vehicle (FCV) which is been developing on ECO Energy. Under these increasing circumstances the most important issue is that makes sure of safety of the hydrogen composite cylinder. In case of the composite cylinder a standards to verify the safety of cylinders obey several country's standards. For NGV ISO 11439 has adopted as international standards but for FCV it has been still developing and there is only ISO/TS 15869 as international technical standards. In contents of international standards the fire test is the weakest part. The fire test is that the pressure relief valves (PRD) normally operate or not in order to prevent cylinders bursting when a vehicle is covered by fire. However with present standards there is no method to check the problem from vehicles in local flame. This study includes fire test results that have been performed to establish the fire-test standards.

The Sixth Carbon Budget report is based on an extensive programme of analysis consultation and consideration by the Committee and its staff building on the evidence published last year for our Net Zero advice. In support of the advice in this report we have also produced:

• A Methodology Report setting out the evidence and methodology behind the scenarios.
• A Policy Report setting out the changes to policy that could drive the changes necessary particularly over the 2020s.
• All the charts and data behind the report as well as a separate dataset for the Sixth Carbon Budget scenarios which sets out more details and data on the pathways than can be included in this report.
• A public Call for Evidence several new research projects three expert advisory groups and deep dives into the roles of local authorities and businesses.

Our recommended pathway requires a 78% reduction in UK territorial emissions between 1990 and 2035. In effect bringing forward the UK’s previous 80% target by nearly 15 years.