Publications

Disposing of plastic waste through burial or burning leads to air pollution issues while also contributing to gas emissions and plastic waste spreading underground into seas via springs. Henceforth this research aims at reducing plastic waste volume while simultaneously generating clean energy. Hydrogen energy is a promising fuel source that holds great value for humanity. However achieving clean hydrogen energy poses challenges including high costs and complex production processes especially on a national scale. This research focuses on Iran as a country capable of producing this energy examining the production process along with related challenges and the general supply chain. These challenges encompass selecting appropriate raw materials based on chosen technologies factory capacities storage methods and transportation flow among different provinces of the country. To deal with these challenges a mixed-integer linear programming model is developed to optimize the hydrogen supply chain and make optimal decisions about the mentioned problems. The supply chain model estimates an average cost—IRR 4 million (approximately USD 8)—per kilogram of hydrogen energy that is available in syngas during the initial period; however subsequent periods may see costs decrease to IRR 1 million (approximately USD 2) factoring in return-on-investment rates.

The increase in the feasibility of hydrogen-based generation makes it a promising addition to the realm of renewable energies that are being employed to address the issue of electric vehicle charging. This paper presents technical and an economical approach to evaluate a newer off-grid hybrid PV-hydrogen energy-based recharging station in the city of Jamshoro Pakistan to meet the everyday charging needs of plug-in electric vehicles. The concept is designed and simulated by employing HOMER software. Hybrid PV-hydrogen and PV-hydrogenbattery are the two different scenarios that are carried out and compared based on their both technical as well as financial standpoints. The simulation results are evident that the hybrid PV- hydrogen-battery energy system has much more financial and economic benefits as compared with the PV-hydrogen energy system. Moreover it is also seen that costs of energy from earlier from hybrid PV-hydrogen-battery is more appealing i.e. 0.358 $/kWh from 0.412 $/kWh cost of energy from hybrid PV-hydrogen. The power produced by the hybrid PV- hydrogen - battery energy for the daily load demand of 1700 kWh /day consists of two powers produced independently by the PV and fuel cells of 87.4 % and 12.6 % respectively.

A transient pipeline flow model with gas composition tracking is solved for studying the operation of a natural gas pipeline under nonisothermal flow conditions in a hydrogen injection scenario. Two approaches to high-resolution pipeline flow modeling based on the WENO scheme are presented and compared with the implicit finite difference method. The high-resolution models are capable of capturing fast fluid transients and tracking the step changes in the composition of the transported mixture. The implicit method assumes the decoupling of the flow model components in order to enhance calculation efficiency. The validation of the composition tracking results against actual gas transmission pipeline indicates that both models exhibit good prediction performance with normalized root mean square errors of 0.406% and 1.48% respectively. Under nonisothermal flow conditions the prediction response of the reduced model against a high-resolution flow model with respect to the mass and energy linepack is at most 3.20%.

This paper presents a thorough critical literature review aimed at understanding the challenges associated with freshwater supply associated with rapidly growing global hydrogen economies. The review has been prompted by the fact that the hydrogen production projected for 2030 will create at least an additional demand of 2.1 billion cubic meters for freshwater which needs to be addressed to support sustainable development of emerging hydrogen economies. The key solutions explored by this study include seawater and wastewater treatment methods for large-scale freshwater generation along with the newly introduced technique of direct seawater-fed electrolysis. Prior research indicates that desalination technologies including reverse osmosis and membrane distillation also offer promising avenues for large-scale freshwater production at costs comparable to other desalination techniques. Additionally low-temperature desalination methods such as membrane distillation could play a significant role in freshwater production for electrolysis underscoring the importance of exploring waste recovery opportunities within the system (e.g. fuel cell heat recovery). This review also identifies research gaps that need to be addressed to overcome freshwater supply challenges and enhance the sustainability and techno-economic viability of large-scale hydrogen energy systems.

The growing concern about climate change and the contemporary increase in mobility requirements call for faster cheaper safer and cleaner means of transportation. The retrofitting of fossil-fueled piston engine ultralight aerial vehicles to hydrogen power systems is an option recently proposed in this direction. The goal of this investigation is a comparative analysis of the environmental impact of conventional and hydrogen-based propulsive systems. As a case study a hybrid electric configuration consisting of a fuel cell with a nominal power of about 30 kW a 6 kWh LFP battery and a pressurized hydrogen vessel is proposed to replace a piston prop configuration for an ultralight aerial vehicle. Both power systems are modeled with a backward approach that allows the efficiency of the main components to be evaluated based on the load and altitude at every moment of the flight with a time step of 1 s. A typical 90 min flight mission is considered for the comparative analysis which is performed in terms of direct and indirect emissions of carbon dioxide water and pollutant substances. For the hydrogen-based configuration two possible strategies are adopted for the use of the battery: charge sustaining and charge depleting. Moreover the effect of the altitude on the parasitic power of the fuel cell compressor and consequently on the net efficiency of the fuel cell system is taken into account. The results showed that even if the use of hydrogen confines the direct environmental impact to the emission of water (in a similar quantity to the fossil fuel case) the indirect emissions associated with the production transportation and delivery of hydrogen and electricity compromise the desired achievement of pollutant-free propulsion in terms of equivalent emissions of CO2 and VOCs if hydrogen is obtained from natural gas reforming. However in the case of green hydrogen from electrolysis with wind energy the total (direct and indirect) emissions of CO2 can be reduced up to 1/5 of the fossil fuel case. The proposed configuration has the additional advantage of eliminating the problem of lead which is used as an additive in the AVGAS 100LL.

This paper presents an assessment of the levelized cost of clean hydrogen produced in Sicily a region in Southern Italy particularly rich in renewable energy and where nearly 50% of Italy’s refineries are located making a comparison between on-site production that is near the end users who will use the hydrogen and centralized production comparing the costs obtained by employing the two types of electrolyzers already commercially available. In the study for centralized production the scale factor method was applied on the costs of electrolyzers and the optimal transport modes were considered based on the distance and amount of hydrogen to be transported. The results obtained indicate higher prices for hydrogen produced locally (from about 7 €/kg to 10 €/kg) and lower prices (from 2.66 €/kg to 5.80 €/kg) for hydrogen produced in centralized plants due to economies of scale and higher conversion efficiencies. How-ever meeting the demand for clean hydrogen at minimal cost requires hydrogen distribution pipelines to transport it from centralized production sites to users which currently do not exist in Sicily as well as a significant amount of renewable energy ranging from 1.4 to 1.7 TWh per year to cover only 16% of refineries’ hydrogen needs.

A regional integrated energy system (RIES) synergizing multiple energy forms is pivotal for enhancing renewable energy use and mitigating the greenhouse effect. Considering that the equipment of the current regional comprehensive energy system is relatively simple there is a coupling relationship linking power generation refrigeration and heating in the cogeneration system which is complex and cannot directly meet various load demands. This article proposes a RIES optimization model for bottom-source heat pumps and hydrogen storage systems in the context of comprehensive demand response. First P2G electric hydrogen production technology was introduced into RIES to give full play to the high efficiency advantages of hydrogen energy storage system and the adjustable thermoelectric ratio of the HFC was considered. The HFC could adjust its own thermoelectric ratio according to the system load and unit output. Second through the groundsource heat pump’s cleaning efficiency function further separation and cooling could be achieved. The heat and electrical output of RIES improved the operating efficiency of the system. Thirdly a comprehensive demand response model for heating cooling and electricity was established to enable users to reasonably adjust their own energy use strategies to promote the rational distribution of energy in the system. The model integrates power-to-gas (P2G) technology leveraging the tunable thermoelectric ratio of a hydrogen fuel cell (HFC) to optimize the generation of electricity and heat while maximizing the efficiency of the hydrogen storage system. Empirical analysis substantiated the proposed RIES model’s effectiveness and economic benefits when integrating ground-source HP and electric hydrogen production with IDR. Compared with the original model the daily operating cost of the proposed model was reduced by RMB 1884.16.

In this latest OIES podcast James Henderson talks to Bill Farren-Price the new Head of the Gas Programme about some of Key Themes identified by OIES research fellows for 2024. After a review of the outcomes from 2023 we look at the oil and gas markets and discuss a common theme around the contrast between the fundamental tightness in both markets compared with the relative softness of prices. We then move onto a number of energy transition issues starting with some of the key actions from COP28 that need to be implemented in 2024 and following with a review of the outlook for carbon markets hydrogen developments and offshore wind. We also consider the impact of emerging competition between regions over green industrial policy. Finally we consider some of the key geopolitical drivers for 2024 with the influence of China being the most critical. However in an election year for so many countries it will be critical to follow the key policy announcements of the main candidates and of most critically the outcome of the US election in November.

The podcast can be found on their website

The current study presents a comprehensive investigation of different energy system configurations for a remote village community in India with entirely renewable electricity. Excess electricity generated by the systems has been stored using two types of energy storage options: lithium-ion batteries and green hydrogen production through the electrolysers. The hybrid renewable energy system (HRES) configurations have been sized by minimising the levelised cost of energy (LCOE). In order to identify the best-performing HRES configuration economic and environmental performance indicators has been analysed using the multi-criteria decision-making method (MCDM) TOPSIS. Among the evaluated system configurations system-1 with a photovoltaic panel (PV) size of 310.24 kW a wind turbine (WT) size of 690 kW a biogas generator (BG) size of 100 kW a battery (BAT) size of 174 kWh an electrolyser (ELEC) size of 150 kW a hydrogen tank (HT) size of 120 kg and a converter (CONV) size of 106.24 kW has been found to be the best-performing system since it provides the highest relative closeness (RC) value (∼0.817) and also has the lowest fuel consumption rate of 2.31 kg/kWh. However system-6 shows the highest amount of CO2 (143.97 kg/year) among all the studied system configurations. Furthermore a detailed technical economic and environmental analysis has been conducted on the optimal HRES configuration. The minimum net present cost (NPC) LCOE and cost of hydrogen (COH) for system 1 has been estimated to be $1960584 $0.44/kWh and $22.3/kg respectively.

Hydrogen trade is an emerging area of interest for hydrogen developers end-users traders and governments around the world. It can enhance system flexibility energy security and clean growth enabling decarbonisation at a lower cost and faster pace. Thanks to its competitive advantage in existing ports terminals and interconnectors the UK is well placed to be the European trade hub for hydrogen and its carriers. With its access to world leading offshore wind generation capacity and geological storage the UK will almost certainly be a net exporter of hydrogen in the future delivering economic value and creating jobs. However hydrogen trade will not be a one-way process. In order to best position the UK as a future hydrogen trade hub there could be value in investing in small scale hydrogen imports and exports to ‘wet the pipes’ and stimulate investment in infrastructure. Imports could also enhance our energy security as a part of a diverse energy mix and support demand whilst domestic production gets up to speed. Both imports and exports will be key to build supply chains and skills and enhance clean growth. With major European economies having established their hydrogen trade strategy there is growing uncertainty as to how the United Kingdom will capitalise on its competitive advantage and position itself in the global hydrogen market. This is the first qualitative report released by Hydrogen UK’s Import and Export Taskforce. This report aims to provide a high-level overview of Hydrogen UK’s vision and recommendations with subsequent reports exploring this topic in further detail.

This report can be found on Hydrogen UK's website.