Publications

Hard-to-electrify sectors will require renewable fuels to facilitate the green transition in the future. Therefore it is crucial to identify promising production locations while taking into account the local biomass resources variable renewable energy sources and the synergies between sectors. In this study investments and dispatch operations are optimised of a large catalogue of renewable fuel production technologies in the opensource software SpineOpt and this is soft-linked to the comprehensive energy system model Balmorel. We analyse future production pathways by comparing various levels of hydrogen infrastructure including large-scale hydrogen storage and assess system impacts. The results indicate that methanol may provide synergies in its multipurpose use as an early (2030-2040) shipping fuel and later as an aviation fuel through further refining if ammonia becomes more competitive (2050). We furthermore show that a hydrogen infrastructure increases the competitiveness of non-flexible hydrogen-based fuel production technologies. Offshore electrolysis hubs decrease energy system impacts in scenarios with 105 TWh of Nordic hydrogen export. However hydrogen export scenarios are much costlier compared to scenarios with no export unless a high hydrogen price is received. Finally we find that emission taxes in the range of 250-265 euro/tCO2 will be necessary for renewable fuels to become competitive.

Green hydrogen is expected to play a vital role in decarbonizing the energy system in Europe. However large-scale deployment of green hydrogen has associated potential trade-offs in terms of climate and other environmental impacts. This study aims to shed light on a comprehensive sustainability assessment of this large-scale green hydrogen deployment based on the EMPIRE energy system modeling compared with other decarbonization paths. Process-based Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is applied and connected with the output of the energy system model revealing 45% extra climate impact caused by the dedicated 50% extra renewable infrastructure to deliver green hydrogen for the demand in the sectors of industry and transport in Europe towards 2050. Whereas the analysis shows that green hydrogen eventually wins on the climate impact within four designed scenarios (with green hydrogen with blue hydrogen without green hydrogen and baseline) mainly compensated by its clean usage and renewable electricity supply. On the other hand green hydrogen has a lower performance in other environmental impacts including human toxicity ecotoxicity mineral use land use and water depletion. Furthermore a monetary valuation of Life Cycle Impact (LCI) is estimated to aggregate 13 categories of environmental impacts between different technologies. Results indicate that the total monetized LCI cost of green hydrogen production is relatively lower than that of blue hydrogen. In overview a large-scale green hydrogen deployment potentially shifts the environmental pressure from climate and fossil resource use to human health mineral resource use and ecosystem damage due to its higher material consumption of the infrastructure.

Assessing the sustainable development of green hydrogen and assessing its potential environmental impacts using the Life Cycle Assessment is crucial. Challenges in LCA like missing environmental data are often addressed using machine learning such as artificial neural networks. However to find an ML solution researchers need to read extensive literature or consult experts. This research demonstrates how customised LLMs trained with domain-specific papers can help researchers overcome these challenges. By starting small by consolidating papers focused on the LCA of proton exchange membrane water electrolysis which produces green hydrogen and ML applications in LCA. These papers are uploaded to OpenAI to create the LlamaIndex enabling future queries. Using the LangChain framework researchers query the customised model (GPT-3.5-turbo) receiving tailored responses. The results demonstrate that customised LLMs can assist researchers in providing suitable ML solutions to address data inaccuracies and gaps. The ability to quickly query an LLM and receive an integrated response across relevant sources presents an improvement over manually retrieving and reading individual papers. This shows that leveraging fine-tuned LLMs can empower researchers to conduct LCAs more efficiently and effectively.

Hydrogen is an attractive energy carrier which could play a role in decarbonizing process heat power or transport applications. Though the U.S. already produces about 10 million metric tons of H2 (over 1 quadrillion BTUs or 1% of the U.S. primary energy consumption) production technologies primarily use fossil fuels that release CO2 and the deployment of other cleaner H2 production technologies is still in the very early stages in the U.S. This study explores (1) the level of current U.S. hydrogen production and demand (2) the importance of hydrogen to accelerate a net-zero CO2 future and (3) the challenges that must be overcome to make hydrogen an important part of the U.S. energy system. The study discusses four scenarios and hydrogen production has been shown to increase in the future but this growth is not enough to establish a hydrogen economy. In this study the characteristics of hydrogen technologies and their deployments in the long-term future are investigated using energy system model MARKAL. The effects of strong carbon constraints do not cause higher hydrogen demand but show a decrease in comparison to the business-as-usual scenario. Further according to our modeling results hydrogen grows only as a fuel for hard-to-decarbonize heavy-duty vehicles and is less competitive than other decarbonization solutions in the U.S. Without improvements in reducing the cost of electrolysis and increasing the performance of near-zero carbon technologies for hydrogen production hydrogen will remain a niche player in the U.S. energy system in the long-term future. This article provides the reader with a comprehensive understanding of the role of hydrogen in the U.S. energy system thereby explaining the long-term future projections.

Pressure vessels are used for large commercial and industrial applications such as softening filtration and storage. It is expected that high-pressure hydrogen storage vessels will be widely used in hydrogen-fuelled vehicles. Progressive failure properties the burst pressure and fatigue life should be taken into account in the design of composite pressure vessels. In this work the model and analysis of hydrogen storage vessels along with complete structural and thermal analysis. Liquid hydrogen is seen as an outstanding candidate for the fuel of high altitude long-endurance unmanned aircraft. The design of lightweight and super-insulated storage tanks for cryogenic liquid hydrogen is since long identified as crucial to enable the adoption of the liquid hydrogen. The basic structural design of the airborne cryogenic liquid hydrogen tank was completed in this paper. The problem of excessive heat leakage of the traditional support structure was solved by designing and using a new insulating support structure. The thermal performance of the designed tank was evaluated. The structure of the tank was analyzed by the combination of the film container theory and finite element numerical simulation method. The structure of the adiabatic support was analyzed by using the Hertz contact theory and numerical simulation method. A simple and effective structure analysis method for a similar container structure and point-contact support structure was provided. Bases for further structural optimization design of hydrogen tank will be provided also. The analysis will be carried out with different materials like titanium nickel alloy and some coated powders like alumina Titania and zirconium oxide. The results will be compared with that.

Hydrogen presents the UK with a substantial opportunity to drive economic growth and secure skilled jobs by leveraging our natural geological and geographical advantages robust supply chain and existing energy expertise. Hydrogen UK’s most recent Economic Impact Assessment estimates that the hydrogen sector in the UK could support approximately 30000 direct jobs and contribute more than £7 billion gross value added annually by 2030. On a global scale the hydrogen market is projected to be worth $2.5 trillion by 2050.

With international competition increasing the UK must act now to capitalise on this potential. These projections are supported by a recognition that hydrogen is one of the key solutions to decarbonising the UK economy complementing other low-carbon solutions such as electrification carbon capture biofuels and energy efficiency. Additionally hydrogen will play a vital role in enhancing the UK’s energy security by storing domestically produced energy to balance intermittent renewable sources like wind and solar. As a critical component of the clean energy transition hydrogen is indispensable to achieving net zero.

As it stands the UK is well placed to capitalise on the hydrogen opportunity and emerge as a global leader. We have made early strides in establishing a framework for hydrogen development with various pilot projects and strategic investments already underway. However the next five years will be critical for the sector as we move from strategy and planning to development and delivery. It is imperative to get the first lowcarbon production projects over the line and into construction as a matter of urgency and then deliver substantial infrastructure development regulatory clarity and sustained financial support to scale-up production and distribution. A new Government presents an opportunity for policymakers to solidify commitments and accelerate the deployment of hydrogen technology ensuring the UK remains competitive in the global race.

Our manifesto outlines policy recommendations for the new UK Government to take across production distribution and storage infrastructure end use applications trade and beyond which will support a thriving British industrial base that creates jobs and growth for British people. To achieve this the UK hydrogen industry calls on policymakers to speed up the deployment of hydrogen through the recommendations set out in this Manifesto.

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

Can Norway be an important hydrogen exporter to the European Union (EU) by 2030? We explore three scenarios in which Norway’s hydrogen export market may develop: A Business-as-usual B Moderate Onshore C Accelerated Offshore. Applying a sector-coupled energy system model we examine the techno-economic viability spatial and socio-economic considerations for blue and green hydrogen export in the form of ammonia by ship. Our results estimate the costs of low-carbon hydrogen to be 3.5–7.3€/kg hydrogen. While Norway may be cost-competitive in blue hydrogen exports to the EU its sustainability is limited by the reliance on natural gas and the nascent infrastructure for carbon transport and storage. For green hydrogen exports Norway may leverage its strong relations with the EU but is less cost-competitive than countries like Chile and Morocco which benefit from cheaper solar power. For all scenarios significant land use is needed to generate enough renewable energy. Developing a green hydrogen-based export market requires policy support and strategic investments in technology infrastructure and stakeholder engagement ensuring a more equitable distribution of renewable installations across Norway and national security in the north. Using carbon capture and storage technologies and offshore wind to decarbonise the offshore platforms is a win-win solution that would leave more electricity for developing new industries and demonstrate the economic viability of these technologies. Finally for Norway to become a key hydrogen exporter to the EU will require a balanced approach that emphasises public acceptance and careful land use management to avoid costly consequences.

In recent years new chemical release agents based on silane are being used in the tire industry. Silane is an inorganic chemical compound consisting of a silicon backbone and hydrogen. Silanes can be thermally decomposed into high-purity silicon and hydrogen. If silane is stored and transported in Intermediate Bulk Containers (IBCs) equipped with safety valves in vented semi-confined spaces such as ISO-Containers hydrogen can be accumulated and become explosive mixture with air. A conservative CFD analysis using the GASFLOW-MPI code has been carried out to assess the hydrogen risk inside the vented containers. Two types of containers with different natural ventilation systems were investigated under various hypothetical accident scenarios. A continuous release of hydrogen due to the chemical decomposition of silane from IBCs was studied as the reference case. The effect of the safety valves on hydrogen accumulation in the container which results in small pulsed releases of hydrogen was investigated. The external effects of the sun and wind on hydrogen distribution and ventilation were also evaluated. The results can provide detailed information on hydrogen dispersion and mixing within the vented enclosures and used to evaluate the hydrogen risks such as flammability. Based on the assumptions used in this study it indicates that the geometry of ventilation openings plays a key role in the efficiency of the indoor air exchange process. In addition the use of safety valves makes it possible to reduce the concentration of hydrogen by volume in air compared to the reference case. The effect of the sun which results in a temperature difference between two container walls allows a strong mixing of hydrogen and air which helps to obtain a concentration lower than both the base case and the case of the pulsed releases. But the best results for the venting process are obtained with the wind that can drive the mixture to the downwind wall vent holes.

This paper mainly introduces the main pain point of China's civil hydrogen energy supply chain - the problem of storage and transportation and analyzes the safety economy and scale effect and other issues of the existing hydrogen energy storage and transportation compares with other storage and transportation technology solutions and comprehensively screens out the storage and transportation technology solution mainly based on liquid hydrogen technology. The liquid hydrogen technology solution has significant advantages over the existing compressed hydrogen system in terms of safety economy and scale effect especially for future large-scale hydrogen energy application scenarios. In addition the future hydrogen energy storage and transportation system based on liquid hydrogen technology can help improve the overall utilization efficiency of country’s renewable energy promote the country's energy transition promote the electrification of the country's transportation sector and help achieve China's carbon emission reduction 2030/2060 target.

Hydrogen is on the rise as a substitute for fossil fuel in the energy sector. While this substitution does not happen dramatically the steady increase in hydrogen related research might be a good indicator of such desire. As it stands there are issues regarding its safe handling and use; consequently the health and safety subsectors observe the situation conspicuously. As we yet to know the behavior of hydrogen in critical situations uncertainties make these tasks prone to emerging risks. Thus hydrogen safety falls under emerging risk studies. Conventional perspective on safety especially regarding the flammable material focuses on calculating the hypothetical risks of failures in system. Resilience Engineering has another perspective as it focuses on normal operations offering new perspectives to tackle emerging risks from a new angle. Born from the heart of Resilience Engineering the Functional Resonance Analysis Method (FRAM) captures sociotechnical systems’ essence in a tangible way. In this study FRAM has been used to model a series of experiments done on hydrogen management to analyze its jet fire. FRAM is used to test whether the method could be suitable to model a system in which emerging risks are present. It is the conclusion of this study that FRAM seems promising in raising risk awareness especially when available data is limited.