- Home
- A-Z Publications
- Publications
Publications
Optimal Design and Analysis of a Hybrid Hydrogen Energy Storage System for an Island-Based Renewable Energy Community
Oct 2023
Publication
Installations of decentralised renewable energy systems (RES) are becoming increasing popular as governments introduce ambitious energy policies to curb emissions and slow surging energy costs. This work presents a novel model for optimal sizing for a decentralised renewable generation and hybrid storage system to create a renewable energy community (REC) developed in Python. The model implements photovoltaic (PV) solar and wind turbines combined with a hybrid battery and regenerative hydrogen fuel cell (RHFC). The electrical service demand was derived using real usage data from a rural island case study location. Cost remuneration was managed with an REC virtual trading layer ensuring fair distribution among actors in accordance with the European RED(III) policy. A multi-objective genetic algorithm (GA) stochastically determines the system capacities such that the inherent trade-off relationship between project cost and decarbonisation can be observed. The optimal design resulted in a levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) of 0.15 EUR/kWh reducing costs by over 50% compared with typical EU grid power with a project internal rate of return (IRR) of 10.8% simple return of 9.6%/year and return on investment (ROI) of 9 years. The emissions output from grid-only use was reduced by 72% to 69 gCO2 e/kWh. Further research of lifetime economics and additional revenue streams in combination with this work could provide a useful tool for users to quickly design and prototype future decentralised REC systems.
Low Platinum Fuel Cell as Enabler for the Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicle
Feb 2024
Publication
In this work the design and modeling of a fuel cell vehicle using low-loading platinum catalysts were investigated. Data from single fuel cells with low Pt-loading cathode catalysts were scaled up to fuel cell stacks and systems implemented in a vehicle and then compared to a commercial fuel cell vehicle. The low-loading Pt systems have shown lower efficiency at high loads compared to the commercial systems suggesting less stable materials. However the analysis showed that the vehicle comprising low-loading Pt catalysts achieves similar or higher efficiency compared to the commercial fuel cell vehicle when being scaled up for the same number of cells. When the systems were scaled up for the same maximum power as the commercial fuel cell vehicle all the low-loading Pt fuel cell systems showed higher efficiencies. In this case more cells are needed but still the amount of Pt is significantly reduced compared to the commercial one. The high-efficiency results can be associated with the vehicle’s power range operation that meets the region where the low-loading Pt fuel cells have high performance. The results suggested a positive direction towards the reduction of Pt in commercial fuel cell vehicles supporting a cost-competitive clean energy transition based on hydrogen.
Hydrogen and the Global Energy Transition—Path to Sustainability and Adoption across All Economic Sectors
Feb 2024
Publication
This perspective article delves into the critical role of hydrogen as a sustainable energy carrier in the context of the ongoing global energy transition. Hydrogen with its potential to decarbonize various sectors has emerged as a key player in achieving decarbonization and energy sustainability goals. This article provides an overview of the current state of hydrogen technology its production methods and its applications across diverse industries. By exploring the challenges and opportunities associated with hydrogen integration we aim to shed light on the pathways toward achieving a sustainable hydrogen economy. Additionally the article underscores the need for collaborative efforts among policymakers industries and researchers to overcome existing hurdles and unlock the full potential of hydrogen in the transition to a low-carbon future. Through a balanced analysis of the present landscape and future prospects this perspective article aims to contribute valuable insights to the discourse surrounding hydrogen’s role in the global energy transition.
Review on Techno-economics of Hydrogen Production Using Current and Emerging Processes: Status and Perspectives
Feb 2024
Publication
This review presents a broad exploration of the techno economic evaluation of different technologies utilized in the production of hydrogen from both renewable and non-renewable sources. These encompass methods ranging from extracting hydrogen from fossil fuels or biomass to employing microbial processes electrolysis of water and various thermochemical cycles. A rigorous techno-economic evaluation of hydrogen production technologies can provide a critical cost comparison for future resource allocation priorities and trajectory. This evaluation will have a great impact on future hydrogen production projects and the development of new approaches to reduce overall production costs and make it a cheaper fuel. Different methods of hydrogen production exhibit varying efficiencies and costs: fast pyrolysis can yield up to 45% hydrogen at a cost range of $1.25 to $2.20 per kilogram while gasification operating at temperatures exceeding 750°C faces challenges such as limited small-scale coal production and issues with tar formation in biomass. Steam methane reforming which constitutes 48% of hydrogen output experiences cost fluctuations depending on scale whereas auto-thermal reforming offers higher efficiency albeit at increased costs. Chemical looping shows promise in emissions reduction but encounters economic hurdles and sorptionenhanced reforming achieves over 90% hydrogen but requires CO2 storage. Renewable liquid reforming proves effective and economically viable. Additionally electrolysis methods like PEM aim for costs below $2.30 per kilogram while dark fermentation though cost-effective grapples with efficiency challenges. Overcoming technical economic barriers and managing electricity costs remains crucial for optimizing hydrogen production in a low-carbon future necessitating ongoing research and development efforts.
Research on Fast Frequency Response Control Strategy of Hydrogen Production Systems
Mar 2024
Publication
With the large-scale integration of intermittent renewable energy generation presented by wind and photovoltaic power the security and stability of power system operations have been challenged. Therefore this article proposes a control strategy of a hydrogen production system based on renewable energy power generation to enable the fast frequency response of a grid. Firstly based on the idea of virtual synchronous control a fast frequency response control transformation strategy for the grid-connected interface of hydrogen production systems for renewable energy power generation is proposed to provide active power support when the grid frequency is disturbed. Secondly based on the influence of VSG’s inertia and damping coefficient on the dynamic characteristics of the system a VSG adaptive control model based on particle swarm optimization is designed. Finally based on the Matlab/Simulink platform a grid-connected simulation model of hydrogen production systems for renewable energy power generation is established. The results show that the interface-transformed electrolytic hydrogen production device can actively respond to the frequency disturbances of the power system and participate in primary frequency control providing active support for the frequency stability of the power system under high-percentage renewable energy generation integration. Moreover the system with parameter optimization has better fast frequency response control characteristics.
On the Green Transformation of the Iron and Steel Industry: Market and Competition Aspects of Hydrogen Biomass Options
Feb 2024
Publication
The iron and steel industry is a major emitter of carbon dioxide globally. To reduce their carbon footprint the iron and steel industry pursue different decarbonization strategies including deploying bio-based materials and energy carriers for reduction carburisation and/or energy purposes along their value-chains. In this study two potential roles for biomass were analysed: (a) substituting for fossil fuels in iron-ore pellets induration and (b) carburisation of DRI (direct reduced iron) produced via fully hydrogen-based reduction. The purpose of the study was to analyse the regional demand-driven price and allocative effects of biomass assortments under different biomass demand scenarios for the Swedish iron and steel industry. Economic modelling was used in combination with spatial biomass supply assessments to predict the changes on relevant biomass markets. The results showed that the estimated demand increases for forest biomass will have significant regional price effects. Depending on scenario the biomass demand will increase up to 25 percent causing regional prices to more than doubling. In general the magnitude of the price effects was driven by the volumes and types of biomasses needed in the different scenarios with larger price effects for harvesting residues and industrial by-products compared to those of roundwood. A small price effect of roundwood means that the incentives for forest-owners to increase their harvests and thus also the availability of harvest residues are small. Flexibility in the feedstock sourcing (both regarding quality and geographic origin) will thus be important if forest biomass is to satisfy demands in iron and steel industry.
Study on the Application of a Multi-Energy Complementary Distributed Energy System Integrating Waste Heat and Surplus Electricity for Hydrogen Production
Feb 2024
Publication
To improve the recovery of waste heat and avoid the problem of abandoning wind and solar energy a multi-energy complementary distributed energy system (MECDES) is proposed integrating waste heat and surplus electricity for hydrogen storage. The system comprises a combined cooling heating and power (CCHP) system with a gas engine (GE) solar and wind power generation and miniaturized natural gas hydrogen production equipment (MNGHPE). In this novel system the GE’s waste heat is recycled as water vapor for hydrogen production in the waste heat boiler while surplus electricity from renewable sources powers the MNGHPE. A mathematical model was developed to simulate hydrogen production in three building types: offices hotels and hospitals. Simulation results demonstrate the system’s ability to store waste heat and surplus electricity as hydrogen thereby providing economic benefit energy savings and carbon reduction. Compared with traditional energy supply methods the integrated system achieves maximum energy savings and carbon emission reduction in office buildings with an annual primary energy reduction rate of 49.42–85.10% and an annual carbon emission reduction rate of 34.88–47.00%. The hydrogen production’s profit rate is approximately 70%. If the produced hydrogen is supplied to building through a hydrogen fuel cell the primary energy reduction rate is further decreased by 2.86–3.04% and the carbon emission reduction rate is further decreased by 12.67–14.26%. This research solves the problem of waste heat and surplus energy in MECDESs by the method of hydrogen storage and system integration. The economic benefits energy savings and carbon reduction effects of different building types and different energy allocation scenarios were compared as well as the profitability of hydrogen production and the factors affecting it. This has a positive technical guidance role for the practical application of MECDESs.
A Complete Assessment of the Emission Performance of an SI Engine Fueled with Methanol, Methane and Hydrogen
Feb 2024
Publication
This study explores the potentiality of low/zero carbon fuels such as methanol methane and hydrogen for motor applications to pursue the goal of energy security and environmental sustainability. An experimental investigation was performed on a spark ignition engine equipped with both a port fuel and a direct injection system. Liquid fuels were injected into the intake manifold to benefit from a homogeneous charge formation. Gaseous fuels were injected in direct mode to enhance the efficiency and prevent abnormal combustion. Tests were realized at a fixed indicated mean effective pressure and at three different engine speeds. The experimental results highlighted the reduction of CO and CO2 emissions for the alternative fuels to an extent depending on their properties. Methanol exhibited high THC and low NOx emissions compared to gasoline. Methane and even more so hydrogen allowed for a reduction in THC emissions. With regard to the impact of gaseous fuels on the NOx emissions this was strongly related to the operating conditions. A surprising result concerns the particle emissions that were affected not only by the fuel characteristics and the engine test point but also by the lubricating oil. The oil contribution was particularly evident for hydrogen fuel which showed high particle emissions although they did not contain carbon atoms.
Economic Prospects of Taxis Powered by Hydrogen Fuel Cells in Palestine
Feb 2024
Publication
Recently major problems related to fuel consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have arisen in the transportation sector. Therefore developing transportation modes powered by alternative fuels has become one of the main targets for car manufacturers and governments around the world. This study aimed to investigate the economic prospects of using hydrogen fuel cell technology in taxi fleets in Westbank. For this purpose a model that could predict the number of taxis was developed and the expected economic implications of using hydrogen fuel cell technology in taxi fleets were determined based on the expected future fuel consumption and future fuel cost. After analysis of the results it was concluded that a slight annual increase in the number of taxis in Palestine is expected in the future due to the government restrictions on issuing new taxi permits in order to get this sector organized. Furthermore using hydrogen fuel cells in taxi fleets is expected to become more and more feasible over time due to the expected future increase in oil price and the expected significant reduction in hydrogen cost as a result of the new technologies that are expected to be used in the production and handling of hydrogen.
A Systematic Review: The Role of Emerging Carbon Capture and Conversion Rechnologies for Energy Transition to Clean Hydrogen
Feb 2024
Publication
The exploitation of fossil fuels in various sectors such as power and heat generation and the transportation sector has been the primary source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions which are the main contributors to global warming. Qatar's oil and gas sector notably contributes to CO2 emissions accounting for half of the total emissions. Globally it is essential to transition into cleaner fossil fuel production to achieve carbon neutrality on a global scale. In this paper we focus on clean hydrogen considering carbon capture to make hydrogen a viable low carbon energy alternative for the transition to clean energy. This paper systematically reviews emerging technologies in carbon capture and conversion (CCC). First the road map stated by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to reach carbon neutrality is discussed along with pathways to decarbonize the energy sector in Qatar. Next emerging CO2 removal technologies including physical absorption using ionic liquids chemical looping and cryogenics are explored and analyzed regarding their advancement and limitations CO2 purity scalability and prospects. The advantages limitations and efficiency of the CO2 conversion technology to value-added products are grouped into chemical (plasma catalysis electrochemical and photochemical) and biological (photosynthetic and non-photosynthetic). The paper concludes by analyzing pathways to decarbonize the energy sector in Qatar via coupling CCC technologies for low-carbon hydrogen highlighting the challenges and research gaps.
Hydrogen Gas Compression for Efficient Storage: Balancing Energy and Increasing Density
May 2024
Publication
This article analyzes the processes of compressing hydrogen in the gaseous state an aspect considered important due to its contribution to the greater diffusion of hydrogen in both the civil and industrial sectors. This article begins by providing a concise overview and comparison of diverse hydrogen-storage methodologies laying the groundwork with an in-depth analysis of hydrogen’s thermophysical properties. It scrutinizes plausible configurations for hydrogen compression aiming to strike a delicate balance between energy consumption derived from the fuel itself and the requisite number of compression stages. Notably to render hydrogen storage competitive in terms of volume pressures of at least 350 bar are deemed essential albeit at an energy cost amounting to approximately 10% of the fuel’s calorific value. Multi-stage compression emerges as a crucial strategy not solely for energy efficiency but also to curtail temperature rises with an upper limit set at 200 ◦C. This nuanced approach is underlined by the exploration of compression levels commonly cited in the literature particularly 350 bar and 700 bar. The study advocates for a three-stage compression system as a pragmatic compromise capable of achieving high-pressure solutions while keeping compression work below 10 MJ/kg a threshold indicative of sustainable energy utilization.
Fuel Cell-based Hybrid Electric Vehicles: An Integrated Review of Current Status, Key Challenges, Recommended Policies, and Future Prospects
Aug 2023
Publication
Battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) whose exhaust pipes emit nothing are examples of zero-emission automobiles. FCEVs should be considered an additional technology that will help battery-powered vehicles to reach the aspirational goal of zero-emissions electric mobility particularly in situations where the customers demand for longer driving ranges and where using batteries would be insufficient due to bulky battery trays and time-consuming recharging. This study stipulates a current evaluation of the status of development and challenges related to (i) research gap to promote fuel-cell based HEVs (ii) key barriers of fuel-cell based HEVs (iii) advancement of electric mobility and their power drive (iv) electrochemistry of fuel cell technology for FCEVs (v) power transformation topologies communication protocols and advanced charging methods (vi) recommendations and future prospects of fuel-cell HEVs and (vii) current research trends of EVs and FCEVs. This article discusses key challenges with fuel cell electric mobility such as low fuel cell performance cold starts problems with hydrogen storage cost-reduction safety concerns and traction systems. The operating characteristics and applications of several fuel-cell technologies are investigated for FCEVs and FCHEVs. An overview of the fuel cell is provided which serves as the primary source of energy for FCHEVs along with comparisons and its electrochemistry. The study of power transformation topologies communication protocols and enhanced charging techniques for FCHEVs has been studied analytically. Recent technology advancements and the prospects for FCHEVs are discussed in order to influence the future vehicle market and to attain the aim of zero emissions.
The ATHENA Framework: Analysis and Design of a Strategic Hydrogen Refuelling Infrastructure
Apr 2023
Publication
With the pressured timescale in determining effective and viable net zero solutions within the transport sector it is important to understand the extent of implementing a new refuelling infrastructure for alternative fuel such as hydrogen. The proposed ATHENA framework entails three components which encapsulates the demand data analysis an optimisation model in determining the minimal cost hydrogen refuelling infrastructure design and an agent-based model simulating the operational system. As a case study the ATHENA framework is applied to Northern England focusing on the design of a hydrogen refuelling infrastructure for heavy goods vehicles. Analysis is performed in calibrating parameters and investigating different scenarios within the optimisation and agent-based simulation models. For this case study the system optimality is limited by the feasible number of tube trailer deliveries per day which suggests an opportunity for alternative delivery methods.
A Newly Proposed Method for Hydrogen Storage in a Metal Hydride Storage Tank Intended for Maritime and Inland Shipping
Aug 2023
Publication
The utilisation of hydrogen in ships has important potential in terms of achieving the decarbonisation of waterway transport which produces approximately 3% of the world’s total emissions. However the utilisation of hydrogen drives in maritime and inland shipping is conditioned by the efficient and safe storage of hydrogen as an energy carrier on ship decks. Regardless of the type the constructional design and the purpose of the aforesaid vessels the preferred method for hydrogen storage on ships is currently high-pressure storage with an operating pressure of the fuel storage tanks amounting to tens of MPa. Alternative methods for hydrogen storage include storing the hydrogen in its liquid form or in hydrides as adsorbed hydrogen and reformed fuels. In the present article a method for hydrogen storage in metal hydrides is discussed particularly in a certified low-pressure metal hydride storage tank—the MNTZV-159. The article also analyses the 2D heat conduction in a transversal cross-section of the MNTZV-159 storage tank for the purpose of creating a final design of the shape of a heat exchanger (intensifier) that will help to shorten the total time of hydrogen absorption into the alloy i.e. the filling process. Based on the performed 3D calculations for heat conduction the optimisation and implementation of the intensifier into the internal volume of a metal hydride alloy will increase the performance efficiency of the shell heat exchanger of the MNTZV-159 storage tank. The optimised design increased the cooling power by 46.1% which shortened the refuelling time by 41% to 2351 s. During that time the cooling system which comprised the newly designed internal heat transfer intensifier was capable of eliminating the total heat from the surface of the storage tank thus preventing a pressure increase above the allowable value of 30 bar.
Design of Gravimetric Primary Standards for Field-testing of Hydrogen Refuelling Stations
Apr 2020
Publication
The Federal Institute of Metrology METAS developed a Hydrogen Field Test Standard (HFTS) that can be used for field verification and calibration of hydrogen refuelling stations. The testing method is based on the gravimetric principle. The experimental design of the HFTS as well as the description of the method are presented here.
Risk Analysis of Fire and Explosion of Hydrogen-Gasoline Hybrid Refueling Station Based on Accident Risk Assessment Method for Industrial System
Apr 2023
Publication
Hydrogen–gasoline hybrid refueling stations can minimize construction and management costs and save land resources and are gradually becoming one of the primary modes for hydrogen refueling stations. However catastrophic consequences may be caused as both hydrogen and gasoline are flammable and explosive. It is crucial to perform an effective risk assessment to prevent fire and explosion accidents at hybrid refueling stations. This study conducted a risk assessment of the refueling area of a hydrogen–gasoline hybrid refueling station based on the improved Accident Risk Assessment Method for Industrial Systems (ARAMIS). An improved probabilistic failure model was used to make ARAMIS more applicable to hydrogen infrastructure. Additionally the accident consequences i.e. jet fires and explosions were simulated using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) methods replacing the traditional empirical model. The results showed that the risk levels at the station house and the road near the refueling area were 5.80 × 10−5 and 3.37 × 10−4 respectively and both were within the acceptable range. Furthermore the hydrogen dispenser leaked and caused a jet fire and the flame ignited the exposed gasoline causing a secondary accident considered the most hazardous accident scenario. A case study was conducted to demonstrate the practicability of the methodology. This method is believed to provide trustworthy decisions for establishing safe distances from dispensers and optimizing the arrangement of the refueling area.
On the Design and Optimization of Distributed Energy Resources for Sustainable Grid-integrated Microgrid in Ethiopia
Apr 2023
Publication
This paper presents a study that focuses on alleviating the impacts of grid outages in Ethiopia. To deal with grid outages most industrial customers utilize backup diesel generators (DG) which are environmentally unfriendly and economically not viable. Grid integration of hybrid renewable energy systems (HRES) might be a possible solution to enhance grid reliability and reduce environmental and economic impacts of utilizing DG. In this study an optimization of grid integrated HRES is carried out for different dispatch and control strategies. The optimal power supply option is determined by performing comparative analysis of the different configurations of grid integrated HRES. The result of the study shows that grid integrated HRES consisting of photovoltaic and wind turbine as renewable energy sources and battery and hydrogen as hybrid energy storage systems is found to be the optimal system to supply the load demand. From the hydrogen produced on-site the FC generator and FCEVs consume 143 620 kg/yr of hydrogen which is equivalent to 394 955 kg/yr gasoline fuel consumption. This corresponds to saving 1 184 865 kg/yr of CO2 emissions and 605 703 $/yr revenue. Besides this system yields 547 035.4 $/yr revenue by injecting excess electricity to the grid. The study clearly shows the economic and environmental viability of this new technology for implementation.
Recent Advances in Sustainable and Safe Marine Engine Operation with Alternative Fuels
Nov 2022
Publication
Pursuing net-zero emission operations in the shipping industry are quintessential for this sector to mitigate the environmental impact caused by hydrocarbon fuel combustion. Significant contributions to this are expected from the substitution of conventional marine fuels by alternative emission-free fuels with lower emission footprints. This study aims to conduct a comprehensive literature review for delineating the main characteristics of the considered alternative fuels specifically focusing on hydrogen methanol and ammonia which have recently attracted attention from both industry and academia. This study comparatively assesses the potential of using these fuels in marine engines and their subsequent performance characteristics as well as the associated environmental benefits. In addition the required storage conditions space as well as the associated costs are reviewed. Special attention is given to the safety characteristics and requirements for each alternative fuel. The results of this study demonstrate that the environmental benefits gained from alternative fuel use are pronounced only when renewable energy is considerably exploited for their production whereas the feasibility of each fuel depends on the vessel type used and pertinent storage constraints. Hydrogen ammonia and methanol are considered best-fit solutions for small scale shipping requiring minimal on-board storage. In addition the need for comparative assessments between diesel and alternative fuels is highlighted and sheds light on marine engines’ operational characteristics. Moreover using combinations of alternative and diesel fuels is identified as a direction towards decarbonisation of the maritime sector; intensifying the need for optimisation studies on marine engine design and operation. This study concludes with recommendations for future research directions thus contributing to fuel research concepts that can facilitate the shipboard use of alternative fuels.
Research Progress and Prospects on Hydrogen Damage in Welds of Hydrogen-Blended Natural Gas Pipelines
Nov 2023
Publication
Hydrogen energy represents a crucial pathway towards achieving carbon neutrality and is a pivotal facet of future strategic emerging industries. The safe and efficient transportation of hydrogen is a key link in the entire chain development of the hydrogen energy industry’s “production storage and transportation”. Mixing hydrogen into natural gas pipelines for transportation is the potential best way to achieve large-scale long-distance safe and efficient hydrogen transportation. Welds are identified as the vulnerable points in natural gas pipelines and compatibility between hydrogen-doped natural gas and existing pipeline welds is a critical technical challenge that affects the global-scale transportation of hydrogen energy. Therefore this article systematically discusses the construction and weld characteristics of hydrogen-doped natural gas pipelines the research status of hydrogen damage mechanism and mechanical property strengthening methods of hydrogen-doped natural gas pipeline welds and points out the future development direction of hydrogen damage mechanism research in hydrogen-doped natural gas pipeline welds. The research results show that: 1 Currently there is a need for comprehensive research on the degradation of mechanical properties in welds made from typical pipe materials on a global scale. It is imperative to systematically elucidate the mechanism of mechanical property degradation due to conventional and hydrogeninduced damage in welds of high-pressure hydrogen-doped natural gas pipelines worldwide. 2 The deterioration of mechanical properties in welds of hydrogen-doped natural gas pipelines is influenced by various components including hydrogen carbon dioxide and nitrogen. It is necessary to reveal the mechanism of mechanical property deterioration of pipeline welds under the joint participation of multiple damage mechanisms under multi-component gas conditions. 3 Establishing a fundamental database of mechanical properties for typical pipeline steel materials under hydrogen-doped natural gas conditions globally is imperative to form a method for strengthening the mechanical properties of typical high-pressure hydrogen-doped natural gas pipeline welds. 4 It is essential to promptly develop relevant standards for hydrogen blending transportation welding technology as well as weld evaluation testing and repair procedures for natural gas pipelines.
Assessing the Implications of Hydrogen Blending on the European Energy System towards 2050
Dec 2023
Publication
With the aim of reducing carbon emissions and seeking independence from Russian gas in the wake of the conflict in Ukraine the use of hydrogen in the European Union is expected to rise in the future. In this regard hydrogen transport via pipeline will become increasingly crucial either through the utilization of existing natural gas infrastructure or the construction of new dedicated hydrogen pipelines. This study investigates the effects of hydrogen blending in existing pipelines on the European energy system by the year 2050 by introducing hydrogen blending sensitivities to the Global Energy System Model (GENeSYS-MOD). Results indicate that hydrogen demand in Europe is inelastic and limited by its high costs and specific use cases with hydrogen production increasing by 0.17% for 100%-blending allowed compared to no blending allowed. The availability of hydrogen blending has been found to impact regional hydrogen production and trade with countries that can utilize existing natural gas pipelines such as Norway experiencing an increase in hydrogen and synthetic gas exports from 44.0 TWh up to 105.9 TWh in 2050 as the proportion of blending increases. Although the influence of blending on the overall production and consumption of hydrogen in Europe is minimal the impacts on the location of production and dependence on imports must be thoroughly evaluated in future planning efforts.
Performance Analysis of Hybrid Solar/H2/Battery Renewable Energy System for Residential Electrification
Mar 2019
Publication
Due to the privileged location of Ecuador in terms of solar radiation the analysis and use of renewable energy system (RES) using solar energy has been of great interest during the last years. At the same time the supply support of RES in terms of direct current (DC) can be faced by using fuel cell (FC) systems which can give to the systems fully autonomy from fossil fuels. The aim of this paper is to propose the design of a hybrid photovoltaic-fuel cell-battery (PV-FC-B) system to supply the required electrical energy for residential use in the city of Guayaquil. The feasibility analysis constitutive elements of the system and adjusted variables are computed and presented using a computational tool. The results evidence that this system is not economically viable since the cost of energy (COE) in Ecuador is low compared to the COE of the proposed system. However a more detailed analysis considering the inherent benefits of no emission of pollutant gases is required to have a complete outlook.
A Hydrogen Vision for the UK
Apr 2023
Publication
This report shows how the infrastructure that exists today can evolve from one based on the supply of fossil fuels to one providing the backbone of a clean hydrogen system. The ambitious government hydrogen targets across the UK will only be met with clarity focus and partnership. The gas networks are ready to play their part in the UK’s energy future. They have a plan know what is needed to deliver it and are taking the necessary steps to do just that.
Current Status and Economic Analysis of Green Hydrogen Energy Industry Chain
Feb 2024
Publication
Under the background of the power system profoundly reforming hydrogen energy from renewable energy as an important carrier for constructing a clean low-carbon safe and efficient energy system is a necessary way to realize the objectives of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality. As a strategic energy source hydrogen plays a significant role in accelerating the clean energy transition and promoting renewable energy. However the cost and technology are the two main constraints to green hydrogen energy development. Herein the technological development status and economy of the whole industrial chain for green hydrogen energy “production-storage-transportation-use” are discussed and reviewed. After analysis the electricity price and equipment cost are key factors to limiting the development of alkaline and proton exchange membrane hydrogen production technology; the quantity scale and distance of transportation are key to controlling the costs of hydrogen storage and transportation. The application of hydrogen energy is mainly concentrated in the traditional industries. With the gradual upgrading and progress of the top-level design and technology the application of hydrogen energy mainly including traffic transportation industrial engineering energy storage power to gas and microgrid will show a diversified development trend. And the bottleneck problems and development trends of the hydrogen energy industry chain are also summarized and viewed.
Thermodynamic Evaluation and Carbon Footprint Analysis of the Application of Hydrogen-Based Energy-Storage Systems in Residential Buildings
Sep 2016
Publication
This study represents a thermodynamic evaluation and carbon footprint analysis of the application of hydrogen based energy storage systems in residential buildings. In the system model buildings are equipped with photovoltaic (PV) modules and a hydrogen storage system to conserve excess PV electricity from times with high solar irradiation to times with low solar irradiation. Short-term storages enable a degree of self-sufficiency of approximately 60% for a single-family house (SFH) [multifamily house (MFH): 38%]. Emissions can be reduced by 40% (SFH) (MFH: 30%) compared to households without PV modules. These results are almost independent of the applied storage technology. For seasonal storage the degree of self-sufficiency ranges between 57 and 83% (SFH). The emission reductions highly depend on the storage technology as emissions caused by manufacturing the storage dominate the emission balance. Compressed gas or liquid organic hydrogen carriers are the best options enabling emission reductions of 40%.
Energy Storage Strategy - Phase 3
Feb 2023
Publication
This report evaluates the main options to provide required hydrogen storage capacity including the relevant system-level considerations and provides recommendations for further actions including low-regrets actions that are needed in a range of scenarios.
The Heat Transfer Potential of Compressor Vanes on a Hydrogen Fueled Turbofan Engine
Sep 2023
Publication
Hydrogen is a promising fuel for future aviation due to its CO2-free combustion. In addition its excellent cooling properties as it is heated from cryogenic conditions to the appropriate combustion temperatures provides a multitude of opportunities. This paper investigates the heat transfer potential of stator surfaces in a modern high-speed low-pressure compressor by incorporating cooling channels within the stator vane surfaces where hydrogen is allowed to flow and cool the engine core air. Computational Fluid Dynamics simulations were carried out to assess the aerothermal performance of this cooled compressor and were compared to heat transfer correlations. A core air temperature drop of 9.5 K was observed for this cooling channel design while being relatively insensitive to the thermal conductivity of the vane and cooling channel wall thickness. The thermal resistance was dominated by the air-side convective heat transfer and more surface area on the air-side would therefore be required in order to increase overall heat flow. While good agreement with established heat transfer correlations was found for both turbulent and transitional flow the correlation for the transitional case yielded decent accuracy only as long as the flow remains attached and while transition was dominated by the bypass mode. A system level analysis indicated a limited but favorable impact at engine performance level amounting to a specific fuel consumption improvement of up to 0.8% in cruise and an estimated reduction of 3.6% in cruise NOx. The results clearly show that although it is possible to achieve high heat transfer rate per unit area in compressor vanes the impact on cycle performance is constrained by the limited available wetted area in the low-pressure compressor.
Experimental Investigation on Knock Characteristics from Pre-Chamber Gas Engine Fueled by Hydrogen
Feb 2024
Publication
Hydrogen-fueled engines require large values of the excess air ratio in order to achieve high thermal efficiency. A low value of this coefficient promotes knocking combustion. This paper analyzes the conditions for the occurrence of knocking combustion in an engine with a turbulent jet ignition (TJI) system with a passive pre-chamber. A single-cylinder engine equipped with a TJI system was running with an air-to-fuel equivalence ratio λ in the range of 1.25–2.00 and the center of combustion (CoC) was regulated in the range of 2–14 deg aTDC (top dead center). Such process conditions made it possible to fully analyze the ascension of knock combustion until its disappearance with the increase in lambda and CoC. Measures of knock in the form of maximum amplitude pressure oscillation (MAPO) and integral modulus of pressure oscillation (IMPO) were used. The absolute values of these indices were pointed out which can provide the basis for the definition of knock combustion. Based on our own work the MAPO index > 1 bar was defined determining the occurrence of knocking (without indicating its quality). In addition taking into account MAPO it was concluded that IMPO > 0.13 bar·deg is the quantity responsible for knocking combustion.
An Overview of Hydrogen Energy Generation
Feb 2024
Publication
The global issue of climate change caused by humans and its inextricable linkage to our present and future energy demand presents the biggest challenge facing our globe. Hydrogen has been introduced as a new renewable energy resource. It is envisaged to be a crucial vector in the vast low-carbon transition to mitigate climate change minimize oil reliance reinforce energy security solve the intermittency of renewable energy resources and ameliorate energy performance in the transportation sector by using it in energy storage energy generation and transport sectors. Many technologies have been developed to generate hydrogen. The current paper presents a review of the current and developing technologies to produce hydrogen from fossil fuels and alternative resources like water and biomass. The results showed that reformation and gasification are the most mature and used technologies. However the weaknesses of these technologies include high energy consumption and high carbon emissions. Thermochemical water splitting biohydrogen and photo-electrolysis are long-term and clean technologies but they require more technical development and cost reduction to implement reformation technologies efficiently and on a large scale. A combination of water electrolysis with renewable energy resources is an ecofriendly method. Since hydrogen is viewed as a considerable game-changer for future fuels this paper also highlights the challenges facing hydrogen generation. Moreover an economic analysis of the technologies used to generate hydrogen is carried out in this study.
Emission Reduction and Cost-benefit Analysis of the Use of Ammonia and Green Hydrogen as Fuel for Marine Applications
Dec 2023
Publication
Increasingly stringent emission standards have led shippers and port operators to consider alternative energy sources which can reduce emissions while minimizing capital investment. It is essential to understand whether there is a certain economic investment gap for alternative energy. The present work mainly focuses on the simulation study of ships using ammonia and hydrogen fuels arriving at Guangzhou Port to investigate the emission advantages and cost-benefit analysis of ammonia and hydrogen as alternative fuels. By collecting actual data and fuel consumption emissions of ships arriving at Guangzhou Port the present study calculated the pollutant emissions and cost of ammonia and hydrogen fuels substitution. As expected it is shown that with the increase of NH3 in fuel mixed fuels will effectively reduce CO and CO2 emissions. Compared to conventional fuel the injection of NH3 increases the NOx emission. However the cost savings of ammonia fuel for CO2 SOx and PM10 reduction are higher than that for NOx. In terms of pollutants ammonia is less expensive than conventional fuels when applied to the Guangzhou Port. However the cost of fuel supply is still higher than conventional energy as ammonia has not yet formed a complete fuel supply and storage system for ships. On the other hand hydrogen is quite expensive to store and transport resulting in higher overall costs than ammonia and conventional fuels even if no pollutants are produced. At present conventional fuels still have advantage in terms of cost. With the promotion of ammonia fuel technology and application the cost of supply will be reduced. It is predicted that by 2035 ammonia will not only have emission reduction benefits but also will have a lower overall economic cost than conventional fuels. Hydrogen energy will need longer development and technological breakthroughs due to the limitation of storage conditions.
Critical Review of Life Cycle Assessment of Hydrogen Production Pathways
May 2024
Publication
In light of growing concerns regarding greenhouse gas emissions and the increasingly severe impacts of climate change the global situation demands immediate action to transition towards sustainable energy solutions. In this sense hydrogen could play a fundamental role in the energy transition offering a potential clean and versatile energy carrier. This paper reviews the recent results of Life Cycle Assessment studies of different hydrogen production pathways which are trying to define the routes that can guarantee the least environmental burdens. Steam methane reforming was considered as the benchmark for Global Warming Potential with an average emission of 11 kgCO2eq/kgH2. Hydrogen produced from water electrolysis powered by renewable energy (green H2 ) or nuclear energy (pink H2 ) showed the average lowest impacts with mean values of 2.02 kgCO2eq/kgH2 and 0.41 kgCO2eq/kgH2 respectively. The use of grid electricity to power the electrolyzer (yellow H2 ) raised the mean carbon footprint up to 17.2 kgCO2eq/kgH2 with a peak of 41.4 kgCO2eq/kgH2 in the case of countries with low renewable energy production. Waste pyrolysis and/or gasification presented average emissions three times higher than steam methane reforming while the recourse to residual biomass and biowaste significantly lowered greenhouse gas emissions. The acidification potential presents comparable results for all the technologies studied except for biomass gasification which showed significantly higher and more scattered values. Regarding the abiotic depletion potential (mineral) the main issue is the lack of an established recycling strategy especially for electrolysis technologies that hamper the inclusion of the End of Life stage in LCA computation. Whenever data were available hotspots for each hydrogen production process were identified.
‘Greening’ an Oil Exporting Country: A Hydrogen, Wind and Gas Turbine Case Study
Feb 2024
Publication
In the quest for achieving decarbonisation it is essential for different sectors of the economy to collaborate and invest significantly. This study presents an innovative approach that merges technological insights with philosophical considerations at a national scale with the intention of shaping the national policy and practice. The aim of this research is to assist in formulating decarbonisation strategies for intricate economies. Libya a major oil exporter that can diversify its energy revenue sources is used as the case study. However the principles can be applied to develop decarbonisation strategies across the globe. The decarbonisation framework evaluated in this study encompasses wind-based renewable electricity hydrogen and gas turbine combined cycles. A comprehensive set of both official and unofficial national data was assembled integrated and analysed to conduct this study. The developed analytical model considers a variety of factors including consumption in different sectors geographical data weather patterns wind potential and consumption trends amongst others. When gaps and inconsistencies were encountered reasonable assumptions and projections were used to bridge them. This model is seen as a valuable foundation for developing replacement scenarios that can realistically guide production and user engagement towards decarbonisation. The aim of this model is to maintain the advantages of the current energy consumption level assuming a 2% growth rate and to assess changes in energy consumption in a fully green economy. While some level of speculation is present in the results important qualitative and quantitative insights emerge with the key takeaway being the use of hydrogen and the anticipated considerable increase in electricity demand. Two scenarios were evaluated: achieving energy self-sufficiency and replacing current oil exports with hydrogen exports on an energy content basis. This study offers for the first time a quantitative perspective on the wind-based infrastructure needs resulting from the evaluation of the two scenarios. In the first scenario energy requirements were based on replacing fossil fuels with renewable sources. In contrast the second scenario included maintaining energy exports at levels like the past substituting oil with hydrogen. The findings clearly demonstrate that this transition will demand great changes and substantial investments. The primary requirements identified are 20529 or 34199 km2 of land for wind turbine installations (for self-sufficiency and exports) and 44 single-shaft 600 MW combined-cycle hydrogen-fired gas turbines. This foundational analysis represents the commencement of the research investment and political agenda regarding the journey to achieving decarbonisation for a country.
Techno-Economic Analysis of a Hydrogen-Based Power Supply Backup System for Tertiary Sector Buildings: A Case Study in Greece
May 2023
Publication
In view of the European Union’s strategy on hydrogen for decarbonization and buildings’ decarbonization targets the use of hydrogen in buildings is expected in the future. Backup power in buildings is usually provided with diesel generators (DGs). In this study the use of a hydrogen fuel cell (HFC) power supply backup system is studied. Its operation is compared to a DG and a techno-economic analysis of the latter’s replacement with an HFC is conducted by calculating relevant key performance indicators (KPIs). The developed approach is presented in a case study on a school building in Greece. Based on the school’s electricity loads which are calculated with a dynamic energy simulation and power shortages scenarios the backup system’s characteristics are defined and the relevant KPIs are calculated. It was found that the HFC system can reduce the annual CO2 emissions by up to 400 kg and has a lower annual operation cost than a DG. However due to its high investment cost its levelized cost of electricity is higher and the replacement of an existing DG is unviable in the current market situation. The techno-economic study reveals that subsidies of around 58–89% are required to foster the deployment of HFC backup systems in buildings.
Power Sector Effects of Green Hydrogen Production in Germany
Aug 2023
Publication
The use of green hydrogen can support the decarbonization of sectors which are difficult to electrify such as industry or heavy transport. Yet the wider power sector effects of providing green hydrogen are not well understood so far. We use an open-source electricity sector model to investigate potential power sector interactions of three alternative supply chains for green hydrogen in Germany in the year 2030. We distinguish between model settings in which Germany is modeled as an electric island versus embedded in an interconnected system with its neighboring countries as well as settings with and without technology-specific capacity bounds on wind energy. The findings suggest that large-scale hydrogen storage can provide valuable flexibility to the power system in settings with high renewable energy shares. These benefits are more pronounced in the absence of flexibility from geographical balancing. We further find that the effects of green hydrogen production on the optimal generation portfolio strongly depend on the model assumptions regarding capacity expansion potentials. We also identify a potential distributional effect of green hydrogen production at the expense of other electricity consumers of which policy makers should be aware.
Progress and Prospect of the Novel Integrated SOFC-ICE Hybrid Power System: System Design, Mass and Heat Integration, System Optimization and Techno-economic Analysis
Jan 2023
Publication
This paper presents a review of system design and analysis control strategy optimization and heat and mass integration of integrated solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) and reciprocating internal combustion engine (ICE) system. Facing the future power-fuel-power path both SOFC and ICE can adapt to a variety of fuels which is one evidence that ICE is amenable to integration with SOFC while SOFC is more efficient cleaner and quieter than ICE. Different system topologies are classified whose dynamic performances are also analyzed. In addition the heat and mass integration of system is discussed. Moreover the combustion modes of ICE which can be applied to steady combustion high efficiency and low emissions are analyzed and compared. Meanwhile the potential and methods of system waste heat recovery are discussed. The exergy analysis energy density and techno-economy are discussed. Finally the results are discussed in the last section with the final conclusion that SOFC-ICE systems are very suitable for long-distance transportation such as maritime and aviation which can also solve problems of the carbon and pollutant emissions with the background of engine cannot be replaced in maritime while the system can adapt a variety of alternative fuels.
Is the Polish Solar-to-Hydrogen Pathway Green? A Carbon Footprint of AEM Electrolysis Hydrogen Based on an LCA
Apr 2023
Publication
Efforts to direct the economies of many countries towards low-carbon economies are being made in order to reduce their impact on global climate change. Within this process replacing fossil fuels with hydrogen will play an important role in the sectors where electrification is difficult or technically and economically ineffective. Hydrogen may also play a critical role in renewable energy storage processes. Thus the global hydrogen demand is expected to rise more than five times by 2050 while in the European Union a seven-fold rise in this field is expected. Apart from many technical and legislative barriers the environmental impact of hydrogen production is a key issue especially in the case of new and developing technologies. Focusing on the various pathways of hydrogen production the essential problem is to evaluate the related emissions through GHG accounting considering the life cycle of a plant in order to compare the technologies effectively. Anion exchange membrane (AEM) electrolysis is one of the newest technologies in this field with no LCA studies covering its full operation. Thus this study is focused on a calculation of the carbon footprint and economic indicators of a green hydrogen plant on the basis of a life cycle assessment including the concept of a solar-to-hydrogen plant with AEM electrolyzers operating under Polish climate conditions. The authors set the range of the GWP indicators as 2.73–4.34 kgCO2eq for a plant using AEM electrolysis which confirmed the relatively low emissivity of hydrogen from solar energy also in relation to this innovative technology. The economic profitability of the investment depends on external subsidies because as developing technology the AEM electrolysis of green hydrogen from photovoltaics is still uncompetitive in terms of its cost without this type of support.
Technology Roadmap for Hydrogen-fuelled Transportation in the UK
Apr 2023
Publication
Transportation is the sector responsible for the largest greenhouse gas emission in the UK. To mitigate its impact on the environment and move towards net-zero emissions by 2050 hydrogen-fuelled transportation has been explored through research and development as well as trials. This article presents an overview of relevant technologies and issues that challenge the supply use and marketability of hydrogen for transportation application in the UK covering on-road aviation maritime and rail transportation modes. The current development statutes of the different transportation modes were reviewed and compared highlighting similarities and differences in fuel cells internal combustion engines storage technologies supply chains and refuelling characteristics. In addition common and specific future research needs in the short to long term for the different transportation modes were suggested. The findings showed the potential of using hydrogen in all transportation modes although each sector faces different challenges and requires future improvements in performance and cost development of innovative designs refuelling stations standards and codes regulations and policies to support the advancement of the use of hydrogen.
The Role of Hydrogen for the Defossilization of the German Chemical Industry
Apr 2023
Publication
Within the European Green Deal the European industry is summoned to transform towards a green and circular economy to reduce CO2-emissions and reach climate goals. Special focus is on the chemical industry to boost recycling processes for plastics exploit resource efficiency potentials and switch to a completely renewable feedstock (defossilization). Despite common understanding that drastic changes have to take place it is yet unknown how the industrial transformation should be accomplished. This work explains how a cost-optimal defossilization of the chemical industry in the context of national greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation strategies look like. The central part of this investigation is based on a national energy system model to optimize the future energy system design of Germany as a case study for a highly industrialized country. A replacement of fossil-based feedstocks by renewable feedstocks leads to a significant increase in hydrogen demand by þ40% compared to a reference scenario. The resulting demand of hydrogen-based energy carriers including the demand for renewable raw materials must be produced domestically or imported. This leads to cumulative additional costs of the transformation that are 32% higher than those of a reference scenario without defossilization of the industry. Fischer-Tropsch synthesis and the methanol-to-olefins route can be identified as key technologies for the defossilization of the chemical industry.
A Review on Biohydrogen Sources, Production Routes, and Its Application as a Fuel Cell
Aug 2023
Publication
More than 80% of the energy from fossil fuels is utilized in homes and industries. Increased use of fossil fuels not only depletes them but also contributes to global warming. By 2050 the usage of fossil fuels will be approximately lower than 80% than it is today. There is no yearly variation in the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere due to soil and land plants. Therefore an alternative source of energy is required to overcome these problems. Biohydrogen is considered to be a renewable source of energy which is useful for electricity generation rather than relying on harmful fossil fuels. Hydrogen can be produced from a variety of sources and technologies and has numerous applications including electricity generation being a clean energy carrier and as an alternative fuel. In this review a detailed elaboration about different kinds of sources involved in biohydrogen production various biohydrogen production routes and their applications in electricity generation is provided.
Decarbonisation of Geographical Islands and the Feasibility of Green Hydrogen Production Using Excess Electricity
May 2023
Publication
Islands face limitations in producing and transporting energy due to their geographical constraints. To address this issue the ROBINSON project funded by the EU aims to create a flexible self-sufficient and environmentally friendly energy system that can be used on isolated islands. The feasibility of renewable electrification and heating system decarbonization of Eigerøy in Norway is described in this article. A mixed-integer linear programming framework was used for modelling. The optimization method is designed to be versatile and adaptable to suit individual scenarios with a flexible and modular formulation that can accommodate boundary conditions specific to each case. Onshore and offshore wind farms and utility-scale photovoltaic (PV) were considered to generate renewable electricity. Each option was found to be feasible under certain conditions. The heating system composed of a biomass gasifier a combined heat and power system with a gas boiler as backup unit was also analyzed. Parameters were identified in which the combination of all three thermal units represented the best system option. In addition the possibility of green hydrogen production based on the excess electricity from each scenario was evaluated.
Renewable Methanol Synthesis
Oct 2019
Publication
Renewable methanol production is an emerging technology that bridges the gap in the shift from fossil fuel to renewable energy. Two thirds of the global emission of CO2 stems from humanity’s increasing energy need from fossil fuels. Renewable energy mainly from solar and wind energy suffers from supply intermittency which current grid infrastructures cannot accommodate. Excess renewable energy can be harnessed to power the electrolysis of water to produce hydrogen which can be used in the catalytic hydrogenation of waste CO2 to produce renewable methanol. This review considers methanol production in the current context regionally for Europe which is dominated by Germany and globally by China. Appropriate carbon-based feedstock for renewable methanol production is considered as well as state-of-the-art renewable hydrogen production technologies. The economics of renewable methanol production necessitates the consideration of regionally relevant methanol derivatives. The thermodynamics kinetics catalytic reaction mechanism operating conditions and reactor design are reviewed in the context of renewable methanol production to reveal the most up to date understanding.
Fast Sizing Methodology and Assessment of Energy Storage Configuration on the Flight Time of a Multirotor Aerial Vehicle
Apr 2023
Publication
Urban air mobility (UAM) defined as safe and efficient air traffic operations in a metropolitan area for manned aircraft and unmanned aircraft systems is being researched and developed by industry academia and government. This kind of mobility offers an opportunity to construct a green and sustainable sub-sector building upon the lessons learned over decades by aviation. Thanks to their non-polluting operation and simple air traffic management electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft technologies are currently being developed and experimented with for this purpose. However to successfully complete the certification and commercialization stage several challenges need to be overcome particularly in terms of performance such as flight time and endurance and reliability. In this paper a fast methodology for sizing and selecting the propulsion chain components of an eVTOL multirotor aerial vehicle was developed and validated on a reduced-scale prototype of an electric multirotor vehicle with a GTOW of 15 kg. This methodology is associated with a comparative study of energy storage system configurations in order to assess their effect on the flight time of the aerial vehicle. First the optimal pair motor/propeller was selected using a global nonlinear optimization in order to maximize the specific efficiency of these components. Second five energy storage technologies were sized in order to evaluate their influence on the aerial vehicle flight time. Finally based on this sizing process the optimized propulsion chain gross take-off weight (GTOW) was evaluated for each energy storage configuration using regression-based methods based on propulsion chain supplier data.
Assessment of Hydrogen Gas Turbine-fuel Cell Powerplant for Rotorcraft
Jul 2023
Publication
Conventional turboshaft engines are high power density movers suffering from low efficiency at part power operation and producing significant emissions. This paper presents a design exploration and feasibility assessment of a hybrid hydrogen-fueled powerplant for Urban Air Mobility (UAM) rotorcraft. A multi-disciplinary approach is devised comprising models for rotorcraft performance tank and subsystems sizing and engine performance. The respective trade-offs between payload-range and mission level performance are quantified for kerosene-fueled and hybrid hydrogen tilt-rotor variants. The effects of gas turbine scaling and fuel cell pressurization are evaluated for different hybridization degrees. Gas turbine scaling with hybridization (towards the fuel cell) results in up to 21% benefit in energy consumption relative to the non-scaled case with the benefits being more pronounced at high hybridization degrees. Pressurizing the fuel cell has shown significant potential as cell efficiency can increase up to 10% when pressurized to 6 bar which translates to a 6% increase in overall efficiency. The results indicate that current fuel cells (1 kW/kg) combined with current hydrogen tank technology severely limit the payload range capability of the tilt-rotor. However for advanced fuel cell technology (2.5 kW/kg) and low ranges hybrid powerplant show the potential to reduce energy consumption and reduce emissions footprint.
Techno-Economic Assessment of Power-to-Liquids (PtL) Fuels Production and Global Trading Based on Hybrid PV-Wind Power Plants
Nov 2016
Publication
This paper introduces a value chain design for transportation fuels and a respective business case taking into account hybrid PV-Wind power plants electrolysis and hydrogen-to-liquids (H2tL) based on hourly resolved full load hours (FLh). The value chain is based on renewable electricity (RE) converted by power-to-liquids (PtL) facilities into synthetic fuels mainly diesel. Results show that the proposed RE-diesel value chains are competitive for crude oil prices within a minimum price range of about 79 - 135 USD/barrel (0.44 – 0.75 €/l of diesel production cost) depending on the chosen specific value chain and assumptions for cost of capital available oxygen sales and CO2 emission costs. A sensitivity analysis indicates that the RE-PtL value chain needs to be located at the best complementing solar and wind sites in the world combined with a de-risking strategy and a special focus on mid to long-term electrolyser and H2tL efficiency improvements. The substitution of fossil fuels by hybrid PV-Wind power plants could create a PV-wind market potential in the order of terawatts.
Concept Design and Energy Balance Optimization of a Hydrogen Fuel Cell Helicoptor for Unmanned Aerial Vehicle and Aerotaxi Applications
May 2023
Publication
In the new scenario where the transportation sector must be decarbonized to limit global warming fuel cellpowered aerial vehicles have been selected as a strategic target application to compose part of the urban fleet to minimize road transport congestion and make goods and personal transportation fast and efficient. To address the necessity of clean and efficient urban air transport this work consists of the conceptual development of a lightweight rotary-winged transport vehicle using a hydrogen-based fuel cell propulsion system and the optimization of its energy balance. For that purpose the methods for integrating the coupled aerodynamic and propulsion system sizing and optimization was developed with the aim of designing concepts capable of carrying 0 (unmanned aerial vehicle — Design 1) and 1 (Aerotaxi — Design 2) passengers for a distance of 300 km at a cruise altitude of 500 m with a minimum climbing rate capability of 6 m s−1 at 1000 m. The results show how these designs with the desired performance specifications can be obtained with a vehicle mass ranging from 416 to 648 kg depending on the application and with specific range and endurance respectively within 46.2–47.8 km/kg and 20.4–21.3 min/kg for design 1 and 33.3–33.8 km/kg and 12.5–13.9 min/kg for design 2.
Performance Assessment of a 25 kW Solid Oxide Cell Module for Hydrogen Production and Power Generation
Jan 2024
Publication
Hydrogen produced via water electrolysis from renewable electricity is considered a key energy carrier to defossilize hard-to-electrify sectors. Solid oxide cells (SOC) based reactors can supply hydrogen not only in electrolysis but also in fuel cell mode when operating with (synthetic) natural gas or biogas at low conversion (polygeneration mode). However the scale-up of SOC reactors to the multi-MW scale is still a research topic. Strategies for transient operation depending on electricity intermittency still need to be developed. In this work a unique testing environment for SOC reactors allows reversible operation demonstrating the successful switching between electrolysis (− 75 kW) and polygeneration (25 kW) modes. Transient and steady state experiments show promising performance with a net hydrogen production of 53 kg day− 1 in SOEL operation with ca. − 75 kW power input. The experimental results validate the scaling approach since the reactor shows homogenous temperature profiles.
The Cost of Clean Hydrogen from Offshore Wind and Electrolysis
Feb 2024
Publication
The decarbonization of industry heating and transportation is a major challenge for many countries’ energy transition. Hydrogen is a direct low-carbon fuel alternative to natural gas offering a higher flexibility in the range of possible applications yet currently most hydrogen is produced using carbonintensive steam methane reforming due to cost considerations. Therefore this study explores the economics of a prominent low-carbon method of hydrogen production comparing the cost of hydrogen generation from offshore wind farms with and without grid electricity imports to conventional hydrogen production methods. A novel techno-economic model for offshore electrolysis production costs is presented which makes hydrogen production fully dispatchable leveraging geological salt-cavern storage. This model determines the lifetime costs aportioned across the system components as well as the Levelized Cost of Hydrogen (LCOH). Using the United Kingdom as a case study LCOH from offshore wind power is calculated to be €8.68 /kgH2 using alkaline electrolysis (AEL) €10.49 /kgH2 using proton exchange membrane electrolysis (PEMEL) and €10.88 /kgH2 with grid electricity to backup the offshore wind power. A stochastic Monte-Carlo model is used to asses the uncertainty on costs and identify the cost of capital electrolyser and wind farm capital costs and cost of electricity as the most important drivers of LCOH across the different scenarios. Reducing the capital cost to comparative levels observed on today’s wind farms alone could see AEL LCOH fall to €5.32 /kgH2 near competitive with conventional generation methods.
Near-term Infrastructure Rollout and Investment Strategies for Net-zero Hydrogen Supply Chains
Feb 2024
Publication
Low-carbon hydrogen plays a key role in European industrial decarbonization strategies. This work investigates the cost-optimal planning of European low-carbon hydrogen supply chains in the near term (2025–2035) comparing several hydrogen production technologies and considering multiple spatial scales. We focus on mature hydrogen production technologies: steam methane reforming of natural gas biomethane reforming biomass gasification and water electrolysis. The analysis includes carbon capture and storage for natural gas and biomass-derived hydrogen. We formulate and solve a linear optimization model that determines the costoptimal type size and location of hydrogen production and transport technologies in compliance with selected carbon emission targets including the EU fit for 55 target and an ambitious net-zero emissions target for 2035. Existing steam methane reforming capacities are considered and optimal carbon and biomass networks are designed. Findings identify biomass-based hydrogen production as the most cost-efficient hydrogen technology. Carbon capture and storage is installed to achieve net-zero carbon emissions while electrolysis remains costdisadvantageous and is deployed on a limited scale across all considered sensitivity scenarios. Our analysis highlights the importance of spatial resolution revealing that national perspectives underestimate costs by neglecting domestic transport needs and regional resource constraints emphasizing the necessity for highly decarbonized infrastructure designs aligned with renewable resource availabilities.
The Role of Hydrogen Storage in an Electricity System with Large Hydropower Resources
Feb 2024
Publication
Hydrogen is considered one of the key pillars of an effective decarbonization strategy of the energy sector; however the potential of hydrogen as an electricity storage medium is debated. This paper investigates the role of hydrogen as an electricity storage medium in an electricity system with large hydropower resources focusing on the Swiss electricity sector. Several techno-economic and climate scenarios are considered. Findings suggest that hydrogen storage plays no major role under most conditions because of the large hydropower resources. More specifically no hydrogen storage is installed in Switzerland if today’s values of net-transfer capacities and low load-shedding costs are assumed. This applies even to hydrogen-favorable climate scenarios (dry years with low precipitation and dam inflows) and economic assumptions (high learning rates for hydrogen technologies). In contrast hydrogen storage is installed when net-transfer capacities between countries are reduced below 30% of current values and load-shedding costs are above 1000 EUR/MWh. When installed hydrogen is deployed in a few large-scale installations near the national borders.
Energy-exergy Evaluation of Liquefied Hydrogen Production System Based on Steam Methane Reforming and LNG Revaporization
Jul 2023
Publication
The research motivation of this paper is to utilize the large amount of energy wasted during the LNG (liquefied natural gas) gasification process and proposes a synergistic liquefied hydrogen (LH2) production and storage process scheme for LNG receiving station and methane reforming hydrogen production process - SMR-LNG combined liquefied hydrogen production system which uses the cold energy from LNG to pre-cool the hydrogen and subsequently uses an expander to complete the liquefaction of hydrogen. The proposed process is modeled and simulated by Aspen HYSYS software and its efficiency is evaluated and sensitivity analysis is carried out. The simulation results show that the system can produce liquefied hydrogen with a flow rate of 5.89t/h with 99.99% purity when the LNG supply rate is 50t/h. The power consumption of liquefied hydrogen is 46.6kWh/kg LH2; meanwhile the energy consumption of the HL subsystem is 15.9kWh/kg LH2 lower than traditional value of 17~19kWh/kg LH2. The efficiency of the hydrogen production subsystem was 16.9%; the efficiency of the hydrogen liquefaction (HL) subsystem was 29.61% which was significantly higher than the conventional industrial value of 21%; the overall energy efficiency (EE1) of the system was 56.52% with the exergy efficiency (EE2) of 22.2% reflecting a relatively good thermodynamic perfection. The energy consumption of liquefied hydrogen per unit product is 98.71 GJ/kg LH2.
A Review of Liquid Hydrogen Aircraft and Propulsion Technologies
Jan 2024
Publication
Sustainable aviation is a key part of achieving Net Zero by 2050 and is arguably one of the most challenging sectors to decarbonise. Hydrogen has gained unprecedented attention as a future fuel for aviation for use within fuel cell or hydrogen gas turbine propulsion systems. This paper presents a survey of the literature and industrial projects on hydrogen aircraft and associated enabling technologies. The current and predicted technology capabilities are analysed to identify important trends and to assess the feasibility of hydrogen propulsion. Several key enabling technologies are discussed in detail and gaps in knowledge are identified. It is evident that hydrogen propelled aircraft are technologically viable by 2050. However convergence of a number of critical factors is required namely: the extent of industrial collaboration the understanding of environmental science and contrails green hydrogen production and its availability at the point of use and the safety and certification of the aircraft and supporting infrastructure.
An Optimization-Based Model for A Hybrid Photovoltaic-Hydrogen Storage System for Agricultural Operations in Saudi Arabia
Apr 2023
Publication
Renewable energy technologies and resources particularly solar photovoltaic systems provide cost-effective and environmentally friendly solutions for meeting the demand for electricity. The design of such systems is a critical task as it has a significant impact on the overall cost of the system. In this paper a mixed-integer linear programming-based model is proposed for designing an integrated photovoltaic-hydrogen renewable energy system to minimize total life costs for one of Saudi Arabia’s most important fields a greenhouse farm. The aim of the proposed system is to determine the number of photovoltaic (PV) modules the amount of hydrogen accumulated over time and the number of hydrogen tanks. In addition binary decision variables are used to describe either-or decisions on hydrogen tank charging and discharging. To solve the developed model an exact approach embedded in the general algebraic modeling System (GAMS) software was utilized. The model was validated using a farm consisting of 20 greenhouses a worker-housing area and a water desalination station with hourly energy demand. The findings revealed that 1094 PV panels and 1554 hydrogen storage tanks are required to meet the farm’s load demand. In addition the results indicated that the annual energy cost is $228234 with a levelized cost of energy (LCOE) of 0.12 $/kWh. On the other hand the proposed model reduced the carbon dioxide emissions to 882 tons per year. These findings demonstrated the viability of integrating an electrolyzer fuel cell and hydrogen tank storage with a renewable energy system; nevertheless the cost of energy produced remains high due to the high capital cost. Moreover the findings indicated that hydrogen technology can be used as an energy storage solution when the production of renewable energy systems is variable as well as in other applications such as the industrial residential and transportation sectors. Furthermore the results revealed the feasibility of employing renewable energy as a source of energy for agricultural operations.
Operating Characteristics Analysis and Capacity Configuration Optimization of Wind-Solar-Hydrogen Hybrid Multi-energy Complementary System
Dec 2023
Publication
Wind and solar energy are the important renewable energy sources while their inherent natures of random and intermittent also exert negative effect on the electrical grid connection. As one of multiple energy complementary route by adopting the electrolysis technology the wind-solar-hydrogen hybrid system contributes to improving green power utilization and reducing its fluctuation. Therefore the moving average method and the hybrid energy storage module are proposed which can smooth the wind-solar power generation and enhance the system energy management. Moreover the optimization of system capacity configuration and the sensitive analysis are implemented by the MATLAB program platform. The results indicate that the 10-min grid-connected volatility is reduced by 38.7% based on the smoothing strategy and the internal investment return rate can reach 13.67% when the electricity price is 0.04 $/kWh. In addition the annual coordinated power and cycle proportion of the hybrid energy storage module are 80.5% and 90% respectively. The developed hybrid energy storage module can well meet the annual coordination requirements and has lower levelized cost of electricity. This method provides reasonable reference for designing and optimizing the wind-solar-hydrogen complementary system.
Benchmark of J55 and X56 Steels on Cracking and Corrosion Effects Under Hydrogen Salt Cavern Boundary Conditions
Feb 2024
Publication
Salt caverns have great potential to store relevant amounts of hydrogen as part of the energy transition. However the durability and suitability of commonly used steels for piping in hydrogen salt caverns is still under research. In this work aging effects focusing on corrosion and cracking patterns of casing steel API 5CT J55 and “H2ready” pipeline steel API 5L X56 were investigated with scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy after accelerated stress tests with pressure/temperature cycling under hydrogen salt cavern-like conditions. Compared to dry conditions significant more corrosion by presence of salt ions was detected. However compared to X56 only for J55 an intensification of corrosion and cracking at the surface due to hydrogen atmosphere was revealed. Pronounced surface cracks were observed for J55 over the entire samples. Overall the results strongly suggest that X56 is more resistant than J55 under the conditions of a hydrogen salt cavern.
Improving Ecological Efficiency of Gas Turbine Power System by Combusting Hydrogen and Hydrogen-Natural Gas Mixtures
Apr 2023
Publication
Currently the issue of creating decarbonized energy systems in various spheres of life is acute. Therefore for gas turbine power systems including hybrid power plants with fuel cells it is relevant to transfer the existing engines to pure hydrogen or mixtures of hydrogen with natural gas. However significant problems arise associated with the possibility of the appearance of flashback zones and acoustic instability of combustion an increase in the temperature of the walls of the flame tubes and an increase in the emission of nitrogen oxides in some cases. This work is devoted to improving the efficiency of gas turbine power systems by combusting pure hydrogen and mixtures of natural gas with hydrogen. The organization of working processes in the premixed combustion chamber and the combustion chamber with a sequential injection of ecological and energy steam for the “Aquarius” type power plant is considered. The conducted studies of the basic aerodynamic and energy parameters of a gas turbine combustor working on hydrogen-containing gases are based on solving the equations of conservation and transfer in a multicomponent reacting system. A four-stage chemical scheme for the burning of a mixture of natural gas and hydrogen was used which allows for the rational parameters of environmentally friendly fuel burning devices to be calculated. The premixed combustion chamber can only be recommended for operations on mixtures of natural gas with hydrogen with a hydrogen content not exceeding 20% (by volume). An increase in the content of hydrogen leads to the appearance of flashback zones and fuel combustion inside the channels of the swirlers. For the combustion chamber of the combined-cycle power plant “Vodoley” when operating on pure hydrogen the formation of flame flashback zones does not occur.
Fuelling the Transition Podcast: How Will Hydrogen Heat and Safety in the Home?
Jan 2022
Publication
In this episode Angela Needle Director of Strategy at Cadent and John Williams Head of Hydrogen Expertise Cluster at AFRY Management Consulting join us to discuss a range of topics concerning hydrogen and the energy transition. This includes Cadent’s involvement in hydrogen through HyNet the role of hydrogen in heat safety and plans for the first hydrogen village. They also explore Angela’s role as co-founder of the Women’s Utilities Network a group focussed on helping women develop their skills within the energy space.
The podcast can be found on their website.
The podcast can be found on their website.
Fuelling the Transition Podcast: The Future of Electrolysers and Hydrogen in the UK
Nov 2021
Publication
ITM Power is a leading electrolyser manufacturer and is a globally recognised expert in hydrogen technologies. In this episode Graham Cooley Chief Executive Officer at ITM Power and John Williams Head of Hydrogen Expertise Cluster at AFRY Management Consulting join us to discuss ITM’s recent announcements. This includes raising £250 million to scale up its electrolyser manufacturing capacity to 5GW per annum by 2024 and forming a partnership with Linde to halve electrolyser manufacturing costs within five years. The episode also explores the UK hydrogen strategy how blue hydrogen compares with green hydrogen the role of electrolysers in hydrogen production and providing flexibility to power grids.
The podcast can be found on their website.
The podcast can be found on their website.
Global Demand Analysis for Carbon Dioxide as Raw Material from Key Industrial Sources and Direct Air Capture to Produce Renewable Electricity-based Fuels and Chemicals
Sep 2022
Publication
Defossilisation of the current fossil fuels dominated global energy system is one of the key goals in the upcoming decades to mitigate climate change. Sharp reduction in the costs of solar photovoltaics wind power and battery technologies enables a rapid transition of the power and some segments of the transport sectors to sustainable energy resources. However renewable electricity-based fuels and chemicals are required for the defossilisation of hard-to-abate segments of transport and industry. The global demand for carbon dioxide as raw material for the production of e-fuels and e-chemicals during a global energy transition to 100% renewable energy is analysed in this research. Carbon dioxide capture and utilisation potentials from key industrial point sources including cement mills pulp and paper mills and waste incinerators are evaluated. According to this study’s estimates the demand for carbon dioxide increases from 0.6 in 2030 to 6.1 gigatonnes in 2050. Key industrial point sources can potentially supply 2.1 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide and thus meet the majority of the demand in the 2030s. By 2050 however direct air capture is expected to supply the majority of the demand contributing 3.8 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide annually. Sustainable and unavoidable industrial point sources and direct air capture are vital technologies which may help the world to achieve ambitious climate goals.
The Role of Direct Air Capture in EU’s Decarbonisation and Associated Carbon Intensity for Synthetic Fuels Production
May 2023
Publication
Direct air capture (DAC) is considered one of the mitigation strategies in most of the future scenarios trying to limit global temperature to 1.5 ◦C. Given the high expectations placed on DAC for future decarbonisation this study presents an extensive review of DAC technologies exploring a number of techno-economic aspects including an updated collection of the current and planned DAC projects around the world. A dedicated analysis focused on the production of synthetic methane methanol and diesel from DAC and electrolytic hydrogen in the European Union (EU) is also performed where the carbon footprint is analysed for different scenarios and energy sources. The results show that the maximum grid carbon intensity to obtain negative emissions with DAC is estimated at 468 gCO2e/kWh which is compliant with most of the EU countries’ current grid mix. Using only photovoltaics (PV) and wind negative emissions of at least −0.81 tCO2e/tCO2 captured can be achieved. The maximum grid intensities allowing a reduction of the synthetic fuels carbon footprint compared with their fossil-fuels counterparts range between 96 and 151 gCO2e/kWh. However to comply with the Renewable Energy Directive II (REDII) sustainability criteria to produce renewable fuels of non-biological origin the maximum stays between 30.2 to 38.8 gCO2e/kWh. Only when using PV and wind is the EU average able to comply with the REDII threshold for all scenarios and fuels with fuel emissions ranging from 19.3 to 25.8 gCO2e/MJ. These results highlight the importance of using renewable energies for the production of synthetic fuels compliant with the EU regulations that can help reduce emissions from difficult-to-decarbonise sectors.
A Flexible Techno-economic Analysis Tool for Regional Hydrogen Hubs - A Case Study for Ireland
Apr 2023
Publication
The increasing urgency with which climate change must be addressed has led to an unprecedented level of interest in hydrogen as a clean energy carrier. Much of the analysis of hydrogen until this point has focused predominantly on hydrogen production. This paper aims to address this by developing a flexible techno-economic analysis (TEA) tool that can be used to evaluate the potential of future scenarios where hydrogen is produced stored and distributed within a region. The tool takes a full year of hourly data for renewables availability and dispatch down (the sum of curtailment and constraint) wholesale electricity market prices and hydrogen demand as well as other user-defined inputs and sizes electrolyser capacity in order to minimise cost. The model is applied to a number of case studies on the island of Ireland which includes Ireland and Northern Ireland. For the scenarios analysed the overall LCOH ranges from V2.75e3.95/kgH2. Higher costs for scenarios without access to geological storage indicate the importance of cost-effective storage to allow flexible hydrogen production to reduce electricity costs whilst consistently meeting a set demand.
Potential Cost Savings of Large-scale Blue Hydrogen Production via Sorption-enhanced Steam Reforming Process
Jan 2024
Publication
As countries work towards achieving net-zero emissions the need for cleaner fuels has become increasingly urgent. Hydrogen produced from fossil fuels with carbon capture and storage (blue hydrogen) has the potential to play a significant role in the transition to a low-carbon economy. This study examined the technical and economic potential of blue hydrogen produced at 600 MWth(LHV) and scaled up to 1000 MWth(LHV) by benchmarking sorption-enhanced steam reforming process against steam methane reforming (SMR) autothermal gasheated reforming (ATR-GHR) integrated with carbon capture and storage (CCS) and SMR with CCS. Aspen Plus® was used to develop the process model which was validated using literature data. Cost sensitivity analyses were also performed on two key indicators: levelised cost of hydrogen and CO2 avoidance cost by varying natural gas price electricity price CO2 transport and storage cost and carbon price. Results indicate that at a carbon price of 83 £/tCO2e the LCOH for SE-SR of methane is the lowest at 2.85 £/kgH2 which is 12.58% and 22.55% lower than that of ATR-GHR with CCS and SMR plant with CCS respectively. The LCOH of ATR-GHR with CCS and SMR plant with CCS was estimated to be 3.26 and 3.68 £/kgH2 respectively. The CO2 avoidance cost was also observed to be lowest for SE-SR followed by ATR-GHR with CCS then SMR plant with CCS and was observed to reduce as the plant scaled to 1000 MWth(LHV) for these technologies.
Hopes and Fears for a Sustainable Energy Future: Enter the Hydrogen Acceptance Matrix
Feb 2024
Publication
Hydrogen-fuelled technologies for home heating and cooking may provide a low-carbon solution for decarbonising parts of the global housing stock. For the transition to transpire the attitudes and perceptions of consumers must be factored into policy making efforts. However empirical studies are yet to explore potential levels of consumer heterogeneity regarding domestic hydrogen acceptance. In response this study explores a wide spectrum of consumer responses towards the prospect of hydrogen homes. The proposed spectrum is conceptualised in terms of the ‘domestic hydrogen acceptance matrix’ which is examined through a nationally representative online survey conducted in the United Kingdom. The results draw attention to the importance of interest and engagement in environmental issues knowledge and awareness of renewable energy technologies and early adoption potential as key drivers of domestic hydrogen acceptance. Critically strategic measures should be taken to convert hydrogen scepticism and pessimism into hope and optimism by recognising the multidimensional nature of consumer acceptance. To this end resources should be dedicated towards increasing the observability and trialability of hydrogen homes in proximity to industrial clusters and hubs where the stakes for consumer acceptance are highest. Progress towards realising a net-zero society can be supported by early stakeholder engagement with the domestic hydrogen acceptance matrix.
Merging the Green-H2 Production with Carbon Recycling for Stepping Towards the Carbon Cyclic Economy
Jan 2024
Publication
Hydrogen Economy and Cyclic Economy are advocated together with the use of perennial (solar wind hydro geo-power SWHG) and renewable (biomass) energy sources for defossilizing anthropic activities and mitigating climate change. Each option has intrinsic limits that prevent a stand-alone success in reaching the target. Humans have recycled goods (metals water paper and now plastics) to a different extent since very long time. Recycling carbon (which is already performed at the industrial level in the form of CO2 utilization and with recycling paper and plastics) is a key point for the future. The conversion of CO2 into chemicals and materials is carried out since the late 1800s (Solvay process) and is today performed at scale of 230 Mt/y. It is time to implement on a scale of several Gt/y the conversion of CO2 into energy products possibly mimicking Nature which does not use hydrogen. In the short term a few conditions must be met to make operative on a large scale the production of fuels from recycled-C namely the availability of low-cost: i. abundant pure concentrated streams of CO2 ii. non-fossil primary energy sources and iii. non-fossil-hydrogen. The large-scale production of hydrogen by Methane Steam Reforming with CO2 capture (Blue-H2) seems to be a realistic and sustainable solution. Green-H2 could in principle be produced on a large scale through the electrolysis of water powered by perennial primary sources but hurdles such as the availability of materials for the construction of long-living robust electrochemical cells (membranes electrodes) must be abated for a substantial scale-up with respect to existing capacity. The actual political situation makes difficult to rely on external supplies. Supposed that cheap hydrogen will be available its direct use in energy production can be confronted with the indirect use that implies the hydrogenation of CO2 into fuels (E-fuels) an almost ready technology. The two strategies have both pros and cons and can be integrated. E-Fuels can also represent an option for storing the energy of intermittent sources. In the medium-long term the direct co-processing of CO2 and water via co-electrolysis may avoid the production/transport/ use of hydrogen. In the long term coprocessing of CO2 and H2O to fuels via photochemical or photoelectrochemical processes can become a strategic technology.
Impact of Fuel Production Technologies on Energy Consumption and GHG Emissions from Diesel and Electric–Hydrogen Hybrid Buses in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Apr 2023
Publication
In view of the GHG reduction targets to be met Brazilian researchers are looking for cleaner alternatives to energy sources. These alternatives are primarily to be applied in the transport sector which presents high energy consumption as well as high CO2 emissions. In this sense this research developed an LCI study considering two bus alternatives for the city of Rio de Janeiro: diesel-powered internal combustion buses (ICEB) and a hydrogen-powered polymer fuel cell hybrid bus (FCHB). For the FCHB three hydrogen production methods were also included: water electrolysis (WE) ethanol steam reforming (ESR) and natural gas steam reforming (NGSR). The research was aimed at estimating energy consumption including the percentage of energy that is renewable as well as CO2 emissions. The results show diesel as the energy source with the highest emissions as well as the highest fossil energy consumption. Regarding the alternatives for hydrogen production water electrolysis stood out with the lowest emissions.
Industrial and Academic Collaboration Strategies on Hydrogen Fuel Cell Technology Development in Malaysia
Nov 2013
Publication
Hydrogen fuel cells are electrochemical power generators of high conversion efficiency and incredibly clean operation. Throughout the world the growth of fuel cell research and application has been very rapid in the last ten years where successful pilot projects on many areas have been implemented. In Malaysia approximately RM40 million has been granted to academic research institutions for fuel cell study and development. Recently Malaysia saw the emergence of its first hydrogen fuel cell developer signaling the readiness of the industrial sector to be involved in marketing the potential of fuel cells. Focusing mainly on Polymer Electrolyte Membrane fuel cell technology this paper demonstrates the efforts by Malaysian institutions both industrial and academic to promote hydrogen fuel cell education training application R&D as well as technology transfer. Emphasis is given to the existing collaboration between G-Energy Technologies and UniversitiTeknologi MARA that culminates with the successful application of a locally developed fuel cell system for a single-seated vehicle. Briefs on the potential of realizing a large-scale utilization of this clean technology into Malaysia’s mainstream power industry domestic consumers and energy consuming industries is also discussed. Key challenges are also identified where pilot projects government policy and infrastructural development is central to strengthen the prospect of hydrogen fuel cell implementation in Malaysia.
Simulating Offshore Hydrogen Production via PEM Electrolysis using Real Power Production Data from a 2.3 MW Floating Offshore Wind Turbine
Mar 2023
Publication
This work presents simulation results from a system where offshore wind power is used to produce hydrogen via electrolysis. Real-world data from a 2.3 MW floating offshore wind turbine and electricity price data from Nord Pool were used as input to a novel electrolyzer model. Data from five 31-day periods were combined with six system designs and hydrogen production system efficiency and production cost were estimated. A comparison of the overall system performance shows that the hydrogen production and cost can vary by up to a factor of three between the cases. This illustrates the uncertainty related to the hydrogen production and profitability of these systems. The highest hydrogen production achieved in a 31-day period was 17 242 kg using a 1.852 MW electrolyzer (i.e. utilization factor of approximately 68%) the lowest hydrogen production cost was 4.53 $/kg H2 and the system efficiency was in the range 56.1e56.9% in all cases.
Techno-economic Analysis of Developing an Underground Hydrogen Storage Facility in Depleted Gas Field: A Dutch Case Study
Apr 2023
Publication
Underground hydrogen storage will be an essential part of the future hydrogen infrastructure to provide flexibility and security of supply. Storage in porous reservoirs should complement storage in salt caverns to be able to meet the projected high levels of required storage capacities. To assess its techno-economic feasibility a case study of hydrogen storage in a depleted gas field in the Netherlands is developed. Subsurface modelling is performed and various surface facility design concepts are investigated to calculate the levelized cost of hydrogen storage (LCOHS). Our base case with hydrogen as cushion gas results in an LCOHS of 0.79 EUR/kg (range of 0.58–1.04 EUR/kg). Increasing the number of full-cycle equivalents from 1 to 6 lowers the storage cost to 0.25 EUR/kg. The investment cost of the cushion gas represents 76% of the total cost. With nitrogen as cushion gas LCOHS is reduced to 0.49 EUR/kg (range of 0.42–0.56 EUR/kg).
The European Hydrogen Policy Landscape
Apr 2024
Publication
This report aims to summarise the status of the European hydrogen policies and standards landscape. It is based on the information available at the European Hydrogen Observatory (EHO) platform the leading source of data and information on hydrogen in Europe (EU27 EFTA and the UK) providing an overview of the European and national policies legislations strategies and codes and standards which impact the deployment of hydrogen technologies and infrastructures. The EHO database covers a total of 29 EU policies and legislations that directly or indirectly affect the development and deployment of hydrogen technologies. To achieve its net zero ambitions the EU started with cross-cutting strategies such as the EU Green Deal and the EU Hydrogen Strategy setting forward roadmaps and targets that are to be achieved in the near future. As a next step the EU has developed legislations such as those bundled in the Fit for 55 package to meet the targets they have put forward. The implemented legislations including funding vehicles and initiatives have an impact on the whole value chain of hydrogen including production transport storage and distribution and end-uses. At national level as of July 2023 63% of the European countries have successfully published their national strategies in the hydrogen sector while 6% of the countries are currently in the draft stage. Several European countries have strategically incorporated quantitative indicators within their national strategies outlining their targets and estimates across the hydrogen value chain. This deliberate approach reflects a commitment to providing clear and measurable goals within their hydrogen strategies. A target often used in the national strategies is on electrolyser capacity as an effort to enhance the domestic renewable hydrogen production. Germany took the lead with an ambitious goal of achieving 10 GW by 2030 followed by France (6.5 GW) and Denmark (4 - 6 GW). Other targets that some of the countries use in their strategies are on the number of hydrogen refuelling stations fuel cell electric vehicles and total (renewable) hydrogen demand. A few countries also have targets on renewable hydrogen uptake in industry and hydrogen injection limit in the transmission grid. To monitor the policies and legislation that are adopted on a national level across the hydrogen value chain a survey was launched with national experts which was validated by Hydrogen Europe. In total 28 European countries have participated to the survey. On production the survey revealed that 61% of country specialists report that their country provides support for capital expenditure (CAPEX) in the development of renewable or low-carbon hydrogen production plants. Moreover 7 countries also provide support for operational expenditure (OPEX). Furthermore 8 countries have instituted official 6 permitting guidelines for hydrogen production projects while 5 countries have enacted a legal act or established an agency serving as a single point of contact for hydrogen project developers. For transmission only two countries reported to provide support schemes for hydrogen injection. Several countries have policies in place that clearly define the hydrogen limit in their transmission grid for now and in the future ranging from 0.02% up to 15% while a few countries define within their policies the operation of hydrogen storage facilities. On end-use the majority of countries totalling 71% reported to have implemented support schemes aimed at promoting the adoption of hydrogen in the mobility sector. Purchase subsidies stand out as the predominant form of support for fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) with implementation observed in 17 countries. In the context of support schemes for stationary fuel applications for heating or power generation only two countries have adopted such measures. A slightly larger group of four countries do provide support for the deployment of residential and commercial heating systems utilizing hydrogen. For hydrogen end-use in industry a total of 9 countries reported to provide support schemes with a major focus on ammonia production (8) and the chemicals industry (7). On the topic of technology manufacturing 7 countries have reported to have support schemes of which grants emerge as the mainly used method (4). Exploring the latest advancements into European codes and standards relevant to the deployment of hydrogen technologies and infrastructures a total of 11 standards have been revised and developed between January 2022 and September 2023. This includes standards covering the following areas: 6 for fuel cell technologies 2 for gas cylinders 2 for road vehicles and 1 for hydrogen refuelling. Moreover 5 standards were published since September 2023 which will be added to the EHO database in its next update. This includes ISO/TS 19870:2023 which sets a methodology for determining the greenhouse gas emissions associated with the production conditioning and transport of hydrogen to consumption gate. This landmark standard which was unveiled at COP28 aims to act as a foundation for harmonization safety interoperability and sustainability across the hydrogen value chain.
Life Cycle Assessment of an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle that Employs Hydrogen Fuel Cell
Aug 2023
Publication
In recent years there has been a significant increase in the adoption of autonomous vehicles for marine and submarine missions. The advancement of emerging imaging navigation and communication technologies has greatly expanded the range of operational capabilities and opportunities available. The ENDURUNS project is a European research endeavor focused on identifying strategies for achieving minimal environmental impact. To measure these facts this article evaluates the product impacts employing the Life Cycle Assessment methodology for the first time following the ISO 14040 standard. In this analysis the quantitative values of Damage and Environmental Impact using the Eco-Indicator 99 methodology in SimaPro software are presented. The results report that the main contributors in environmental impact terms have been placed during the manufacturing phase. Thus one of the challenges is accomplished avoiding the use phase emissions that are the focus to reduce nowadays in the marine industry.
Feasibility Study on the Provision of Electricity and Hydrogen for Domestic Purposes in the South of Iran using Grid-connected Renewable Energy Plants
Dec 2018
Publication
This work presents a feasibility study on the provision of electricity and hydrogen with renewable grid connected and off-the-grid systems for Bandar Abbas City in the south of Iran. The software HOMER Pro® has been used to perform the analysis. A techno-enviro-economic study comparing a hybrid system consisting of the grid/wind turbine and solar cell is done. The wind turbine is analyzed using four types of commercially available vertical axis wind turbines (VAWTs). According to the literature review no similar study has been performed so far on the feasibility of using VAWTs and also no work exists on the use of a hybrid system in the studied area. The results indicated that the lowest price of providing the required hydrogen was $0.496 which was achieved using the main grid. Also the lowest price of the electricity generated was $1.55 which was obtained through using EOLO VAWT in the main grid/wind turbine/solar cell scenario. Also the results suggested that the highest rate of preventing CO2 emission which was also the lowest rate of using the national grid with 3484 kg/year was associated with EOLO wind turbines where only 4% of the required electricity was generated by the national grid.
Hydrogen Trapping and Embrittlement in Metals - A Review
Apr 2024
Publication
Hydrogen embrittlement in metals (HE) is a serious challenge for the use of high strength materials in engineering practice and a major barrier to the use of hydrogen for global decarbonization. Here we describe the factors and variables that determine HE susceptibility and provide an overview of the latest understanding of HE mechanisms. We discuss hydrogen uptake and how it can be managed. We summarize hydrogen trapping and the techniques used for its characterization. We also review literature that argues that hydrogen trapping can be used to decrease HE susceptibility. We discuss the future research that is required to advance the understanding of HE and hydrogen trapping and to develop HE-resistant alloys.
The Role of Hydrogen and H2 Mobility on the Green Transition of Islands: The Case of Anafi (Greece)
Apr 2023
Publication
The holistic green energy transition of non-interconnected islands faces several challenges if all the energy sectors are included i.e. electricity heating/cooling and mobility. On the one hand the penetration of renewable energy systems (RES) is limited due to design restrictions with respect to the peak demand. On the other hand energy-intensive heating and mobility sectors pose significant challenges and may be difficult to electrify. The focus of this study is on implementing a hybrid Wind–PV system on the non-interconnected island of Anafi (Greece) that utilizes surplus renewable energy production for both building heating through heat pumps and hydrogen generation. This comprehensive study aims to achieve a holistic green transition by addressing all three main sectors—electricity heating and transportation. The produced hydrogen is utilized to address the energy needs of the mobility sector (H2 mobility) focusing primarily on public transportation vehicles (buses) and secondarily on private vehicles. The overall RES production was modeled to be 91724 MWh with a RES penetration of 84.68%. More than 40% of the produced electricity from RES was in the form of excess electricity that could be utilized for hydrogen generation. The modeled generated hydrogen was simulated to be more than 40 kg H2/day which could cover all four bus routes of the island and approximately 200 cars for moderate use i.e. traveled distances of less than 25 km/day for each vehicle.
Modelling of Fast Fueling of Pressurized Hydrogen Tanks for Maritime Applications
Apr 2023
Publication
This paper studies fast fueling of gaseous hydrogen into large hydrogen (H2) tanks suitable for maritime applications. Three modeling methods have been developed and evaluated: (1) Two-dimensional computational fluid dynamic (CFD) modeling (2) One-dimensional wall discretized modeling and (3) Zero-dimensional modeling. A detailed 2D CFD simulation of a small H2-tank was performed and validated with data from literature and then used to simulate a large H2-tank. Results from the 2D-model show non-uniform temperature distribution inside the large tank but not in the small H2-tank. The 1D-model can predict the mean temperature in small H2-tanks but not the inhomogeneous temperature field in large H2-tanks. The 0D-model is suitable as a screening tool to obtain rough estimates. Results from the modeling of the large H2-tank show that the heat transfer to the wall during fast filling is inhibited by heat conduction in the wall which leads to an unacceptably high mean hydrogen temperature.
Assessing the Potential of Decarbonization Options for Industrial Sectors
Jan 2024
Publication
Industry emits around a quarter of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This paper presents the first comprehensive review to identify the main decarbonization options for this sector and their abatement potentials. First we identify the important GHG emitting processes and establish a global average baseline for their current emissions intensity and energy use. We then quantify the energy and emissions reduction potential of the most significant abatement options as well as their technology readiness level (TRL). We find that energy-intensive industries have a range of decarbonization technologies available with medium to high TRLs and mature options also exist for decarbonizing low-temperature heat across a wide range of industrial sectors. However electrification and novel process change options to reduce emissions from high-temperature and sector-specific processes have much lower TRLs in comparison. We conclude by highlighting important barriers to the deployment of industrial decarbonization options and identifying future research development and demonstration needs.
Risk Assessment of a Hydrogen Refueling Station in an Urban Area
May 2023
Publication
After the Paris Agreement was signed in 2015 many countries worldwide focused on the hydrogen economy aiming for eco-friendly and renewable energy by moving away from the existing carbon economy which has been the primary source of global warming. Hydrogen is the most common element on Earth. As a light substance hydrogen can diffuse quickly; however it also has a small risk of explosion. Representative explosion accidents have included the Muskingum River Power Plant Vapor Cloud Explosion accident in 2007 and the Silver Eagle Refinery Vapor Cloud Explosion accident in 2009. In addition there was an explosion in a hydrogen tank in Gangneung Korea in May 2019 and a hydrogen refueling station (HRS) in Norway exploded in 2018. Despite this risk Korea is promoting the establishment of HRSs in major urban centers including downtown areas and public buildings by using the Regulatory Sandbox to install HRSs. This paper employed the Hydrogen Risk Assessment Model (HyRAM) of Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) a quantitative risk assessment (QRA) program specialized in hydrogen energy for HRSs installed in major urban hubs. A feasibility evaluation of the site conditions of an HRS was conducted using the French land use planning method based on the results obtained through evaluation using the HyRAM and the overpressure results of PHAST 8.0. After a risk assessment we confirmed that an HRS would be considered safe even if it was installed in the city center within a radius of influence of jet fires and overpressure.
Mapping Hydrogen Initiatives in Italy: An Overview of Funding and Projects
May 2024
Publication
The global momentum towards hydrogen has led to various initiatives aimed at harnessing hydrogen’s potential. In particular low-carbon hydrogen is recognized for its crucial role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions across hard-to-abate sectors such as steel cement and heavy-duty transport. This study focuses on the presentation of all hydrogen-related financing initiatives in Italy providing a comprehensive overview of the various activities and their geographical locations. The examined funding comes from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) from projects directly funded through the Important Projects of Common European Interest (IPCEI) and from several initiatives supported by private companies or other funding sources (hydrogen valleys). Specific calls for proposals within the PNRR initiative outline the allocation of funds focusing on hydrogen production in brownfield areas (52 expected hydrogen production plants by 2026) hydrogen use in hard-to-abate sectors and the establishment of hydrogen refuelling stations for both road (48 refuelling stations by 2026) and railway transport (10 hydrogen-based railway lines). A detailed description of the funded initiatives (150 in total) is presented encompassing their geographical location typology and size (when available) as well as the funding they have received. This overview sheds light on regions prioritising decarbonisation efforts in heavy-duty transport especially along cross-border commercial routes as evident in northern Italy. Conversely some regions concentrate more on local transport typically buses or on the industrial sector primarily steel and chemical industries. Additionally the study presents initiatives aimed at strengthening the national manufacturing capacity for hydrogenrelated technologies alongside new regulatory and incentive schemes for hydrogen. The ultimate goal of this analysis is to foster connections among existing and planned projects stimulate new initiatives along the entire hydrogen value chain raise an awareness of hydrogen among stakeholders and promote cooperation and international competitiveness.
Biological Hydrogen Methanation with Carbon Dioxide Utilization: Methanation Acting as Mediator in the Hydrogen Economy
May 2023
Publication
Hydrogen is one of the main energy carriers playing a prominent role in the future decarbonization of the economy. However several aspects regarding the transport and storage of this gas are challenging. The intermediary conversion of hydrogen into high-density energy molecules may be a crucial step until technological conditions are ready to attain a significant reduction in fossil fuel use in transport and the industrial sector. The process of transforming hydrogen into methane by anaerobic digestion is reviewed showing that this technology is a feasible option for facilitating hydrogen storage and transport. The manuscript focuses on the role of anaerobic digestion as a technology driver capable of fast adaptation to current energy needs. The use of thermophilic systems and reactors capable of increasing the contact between the H2 -fuel and liquid phase demonstrated outstanding capabilities attaining higher conversion rates and increasing methane productivity. Pressure is a relevant factor of the process allowing for better hydrogen solubility and setting the basis for considering feasible underground hydrogen storage concomitant with biological methanation. This feature may allow the integration of sequestered carbon dioxide as a relevant substrate.
Preliminary Design of a Fuel Cell/Battery Hybrid Powertrain for a Heavy-duty Yard Truck for Port Logistics
Jun 2021
Publication
The maritime transport and the port-logistic industry are key drivers of economic growth although they represent major contributors to climate change. In particular maritime port facilities are typically located near cities or residential areas thus having a significant direct environmental impact in terms of air and water quality as well as noise. The majority of the pollutant emissions in ports comes from cargo ships and from all the related ports activities carried out by road vehicles. Therefore a progressive reduction of the use of fossil fuels as a primary energy source for these vehicles and the promotion of cleaner powertrain alternatives is in order. The present study deals with the design of a new propulsion system for a heavy-duty vehicle for port applications. Specifically this work aims at laying the foundations for the development of a benchmark industrial cargo–handling hydrogen-fueled vehicle to be used in real port operations. To this purpose an on-field measurement campaign has been conducted to analyze the duty cycle of a commercial Diesel-engine yard truck currently used for terminal ports operations. The vehicle dynamics has been numerically modeled and validated against the acquired data and the energy and power requirements for a plug-in fuel cell/battery hybrid powertrain replacing the Diesel powertrain on the same vehicle have been evaluated. Finally a preliminary design of the new powertrain and a rule-based energy management strategy have been proposed and the electric energy and hydrogen consumptions required to achieve the target driving range for roll-on and roll-off operations have been estimated. The results are promising showing that the hybrid electric vehicle is capable of achieving excellent energy performances by means of an efficient use of the fuel cell. An overall amount of roughly 12 kg of hydrogen is estimated to be required to accomplish the most demanding port operation and meet the target of 6 h of continuous operation. Also the vehicle powertrain ensures an adequate all-electric range which is between approximately 1 and 2 h depending on the specific port operation. Potentially the hydrogen-fueled yard truck is expected to lead to several benefits such as local zero emissions powertrain noise elimination reduction of the vehicle maintenance costs improving of the energy management and increasing of operational efficiency.
Techno-economic Modelling of Zero-emission Marine Transport with Hydrogen Fuel and Superconducting Propulsion System: Case Study of a Passenger Ferry
Mar 2023
Publication
This paper proposes a techno-economic model for a high-speed hydrogen ferry. The model can describe the system properties i.e. energy demand weight and daily operating expenses of the ferry. A novel aspect is the consideration of superconductivity as a measure for cost saving in the setting where liquid hydrogen (LH2) can be both coolant and fuel. We survey different scenarios for a high-speed ferry that could carry 300 passengers. The results show that despite higher energy demand compressed hydrogen gas is more economical compared with LH2 for now; however constructing large-scale hydrogen liquefaction plants make it competitive in the future. Moreover compressed hydrogen gas is restricted to a shorter distance while LH2 makes longer distances possible and whenever LH2 is accessible using a superconducting propulsion system has a beneficial impact on both energy and cost savings. These effects strengthen if the operational time or the weight of the ferry increases.
Magnesium-Based Hydrogen Storage Alloys: Advances, Strategies, and Future Outlook for Clean Energy Applications
May 2024
Publication
Magnesium-based hydrogen storage alloys have attracted significant attention as promising materials for solid-state hydrogen storage due to their high hydrogen storage capacity abundant reserves low cost and reversibility. However the widespread application of these alloys is hindered by several challenges including slow hydrogen absorption/desorption kinetics high thermodynamic stability of magnesium hydride and limited cycle life. This comprehensive review provides an in-depth overview of the recent advances in magnesium-based hydrogen storage alloys covering their fundamental properties synthesis methods modification strategies hydrogen storage performance and potential applications. The review discusses the thermodynamic and kinetic properties of magnesium-based alloys as well as the effects of alloying nanostructuring and surface modification on their hydrogen storage performance. The hydrogen absorption/desorption properties of different magnesium-based alloy systems are compared and the influence of various modification strategies on these properties is examined. The review also explores the potential applications of magnesium-based hydrogen storage alloys including mobile and stationary hydrogen storage rechargeable batteries and thermal energy storage. Finally the current challenges and future research directions in this field are discussed highlighting the need for fundamental understanding of hydrogen storage mechanisms development of novel alloy compositions optimization of modification strategies integration of magnesium-based alloys into hydrogen storage systems and collaboration between academia and industry.
Semi-Systematic Literature Review on the Contribution of Hydrogen to Universal Access to Energy in the Rationale of Sustainable Development Goal Target 7.1
Feb 2023
Publication
As part of the United Nations’ (UN) Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG7) SDG target 7.1 recognizes universal electrification and the provision of clean cooking fuel as two fundamental challenges for global society. Faltering progress toward SDG target 7.1 calls for innovative technologies to stimulate advancements. Hydrogen has been proposed as a versatile energy carrier to be applied in both pillars of SDG target 7.1: electrification and clean cooking. This paper conducts a semi-systematic literature review to provide the status quo of research on the application of hydrogen in the rationale of SDG 7.1 covering the technical integration pathways as well as the key economic environmental and social aspects of its use. We identify decisive factors for the future development of hydrogen use in the rationale of SDG target 7.1 and by complementing our analysis with insights from the related literature propose future avenues of research. The literature on electrification proposes that hydrogen can serve as a backup power supply in rural off-grid communities. While common electrification efforts aim to supply appliances that use lower amounts of electricity a hydrogen-based power supply can satisfy appliances with higher power demands including electric cook stoves while simultaneously supporting clean cooking efforts. Alternatively with the exclusive aim of stimulating clean cooking hydrogen is proposed to be used as a clean cooking fuel via direct combustion in distribution and utilization infrastructures analogous to Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG). While expected economic and technical developments are seen as likely to render hydrogen technologies economically competitive with conventional fossil fuels in the future the potential of renewably produced hydrogen usage to reduce climate-change impacts and point-of-use emissions is already evident today. Social benefits are likely when meeting essential safety standards as a hydrogen-based power supply offers service on a high tier that might overachieve SDG 7.1 ambitions while hydrogen cooking via combustion fits into the existing social habits of LPG users. However the literature lacks clear evidence on the social impact of hydrogen usage. Impact assessments of demonstration projects are required to fill this research gap.
Assessing the Role of Hydrogen in Sustainable Energy Futures: A Comprehensive Bibliometric Analysis of Research and International Collaborations in Energy and Environmental Engineering
Apr 2024
Publication
The main results highlighted in this article underline the critical significance of hydrogen technologies in the move towards carbon neutrality. This research focuses on several key areas including the production storage safety and usage of hydrogen alongside innovative approaches for assessing hydrogen purity and production-related technologies. This study emphasizes the vital role of hydrogen storage technology for the future utilization of hydrogen as an energy carrier and the advancement of technologies that facilitate effective safe and cost-efficient hydrogen storage. Furthermore bibliometric analysis has been instrumental in identifying primary research fields such as hydrogen storage hydrogen production efficient electrocatalysts rotary engines utilizing hydrogen as fuel and underground hydrogen storage. Each domain is essential for realizing a sustainable hydrogen economy reflecting the significant research and development efforts in hydrogen technologies. Recent trends have shown an increased interest in underground hydrogen storage as a method to enhance energy security and assist in the transition towards sustainable energy systems. This research delves into the technical economic and environmental facets of employing geological formations for large-scale seasonal and long-term hydrogen storage. Ultimately the development of hydrogen technologies is deemed crucial for meeting sustainable development goals particularly in terms of addressing climate change and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Hydrogen serves as an energy carrier that could substantially lessen reliance on fossil fuels while encouraging the adoption of renewable energy sources aiding in the decarbonization of transport industry and energy production sectors. This in turn supports worldwide efforts to curb global warming and achieve carbon neutrality.
Subsurface Renewable Energy Storage Capcity for Hydrogen, Methane and Compress Air - A Performance Assessment Study from the North German Basin
Jul 2021
Publication
The transition to renewable energy sources to mitigate climate change will require large-scale energy storage to dampen the fluctuating availability of renewable sources and to ensure a stable energy supply. Energy storage in the geological subsurface can provide capacity and support the cycle times required. This study investigates hydrogen storage methane storage and compressed air energy storage in subsurface porous formations and quantifies potential storage capacities as well as storage rates on a site-specific basis. For part of the North German Basin used as the study area potential storage sites are identified employing a newly developed structural geological model. Energy storage capacities estimated from a volume-based approach are 6510 TWh and 24544 TWh for hydrogen and methane respectively. For a consistent comparison of storage capacities including compressed air energy storage the stored exergy is calculated as 6735 TWh 25795 TWh and 358 TWh for hydrogen methane and compressed air energy storage respectively. Evaluation of storage deliverability indicates that high deliverability rates are found mainly in two of the three storage formations considered. Even accounting for the uncertainty in geological parameters the storage potential for the three considered storage technologies is significantly larger than the predicted demand and suitable storage rates are achievable in all storage formations.
A Model for Assessing the Potential Impact Radius of Hydrogen Pipelines Based on Jet Fire Radiation
Jan 2024
Publication
The accurate determination of the potential impact radius is crucial for the design and risk assessment of hydrogen pipelines. The existing methodologies employ a single point source model to estimate radiation and the potential impact radius. However these approaches overlook the jet fire shape resulting from high-pressure leaks leading to discrepancies between the calculated values and real-world incidents. This study proposes models that account for both the mass release rate while considering the pressure drop during hydrogen pipeline leakage and the radiation while incorporating the flame shape. The analysis encompasses 60 cases that are representative of hydrogen pipeline scenarios. A simplified model for the potential impact radius is subsequently correlated and its validity is confirmed through comparison with actual cases. The proposed model for the potential impact radius of hydrogen pipelines serves as a valuable reference for the enhancement of the precision of hydrogen pipeline design and risk assessment.
Just Trade-offs in a Net-zero Transition and Social Impact Assessment
Apr 2024
Publication
Countries around the world are prioritising net zero emissions to meet their Paris Agreement goals. The demand for social impact assessment (SIA) is likely to grow as this transition will require investments in decarbonisation projects with speed and at scale. There will be winners and losers of these projects because not everyone benefits the same; and hence trade-offs are inevitable. SIAs therefore should focus on understanding how the risks and benefits will be distributed among and within stakeholders and sectors and enable the identification of trade-offs that are just and fair. In this study we used a hypothetical case of large-scale hydrogen production in regional Australia and engaged with multi-disciplinary experts to identify justice issues in transitioning to such an industry. Using Rawlsian theory of justice as fairness we identified several tensions between different groups (national regional local inter and intra-communities) and sectors (environmental and economic) concerning the establishment of a hydrogen industry. These stakeholders and sectors will be disproportionately affected by this establishment. We argue that Rawlsian principles of justice would enable the practice of SIA to identify justice trade-offs. Further we conceptualise that a systems approach will be critical to facilitate a wider participation and an agile process for achieving just trade-offs in SIA.
Economic and Environmental Assessment of Hydrogen Production from Brazilian Energy Grid
Apr 2023
Publication
The Brazilian energy grid is considered as one of the cleanest in the world because it is composed of more than 80% of renewable energy sources. This work aimed to apply the levelized costs (LCOH) and environmental cost accounting techniques to demonstrate the feasibility of producing hydrogen (H2 ) by alkaline electrolysis powered by the Brazilian energy grid. A project of hydrogen production with a lifetime of 20 years had been evaluated by economical and sensitivity analysis. The production capacity (8.89 to 46.67 kg H2/h) production volume (25 to 100%) hydrogen sale price (1 to 5 USD/kg H2 ) and the MAR rate were varied. Results showed that at 2 USD/kg H2 all H2 production plant sizes are economically viable. On this condition a payback of fewer than 4 years an IRR greater than 31 a break-even point between 56 and 68% of the production volume and a ROI above 400% were found. The sensitivity analysis showed that the best economic condition was found at 35.56 kg H2/h of the plant size which generated a net present value of USD 10.4 million. The cost of hydrogen varied between 1.26 and 1.64 USD/kg and a LCOH of 37.76 to 48.71 USD/MWh. LCA analysis showed that the hydrogen production project mitigated from 26 to 131 thousand tons of CO2 under the conditions studied.
Design and Modeling of a Co-flow Reactor for Turquoise Hydrogen Production
May 2024
Publication
This work focuses on the design of a reactor for producing clean hydrogen from methane pyrolysis in the form of the so-called “turquoise hydrogen”. In addition to its simple geometry the fundamental concept and the main novelty of the proposed method rely on using part of the methane to produce the required heat needed for the thermal decomposition of methane (TDM). The reactor configuration for hydrogen production is shown to produce significant advantages in terms of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. A reactive flow CFD model incorporating also soot formation mechanism has been first developed and validated with experimental results available in the literature and then used to design and characterize the performances of proposed reactor configuration. 3D CFD simulations have been carried out to predict the behavior of the reactor configuration; a sensitivity analysis is used for clearing the aspect related to key environmental parameters e.g. the global warming impact (GWI). The real potential of the proposed design resides in the low emissions and high efficiency with which hydrogen is produced at the various operating conditions (very flexible reactor) albeit subject to the presence of carbon by-product. This suggests that this type of methane conversion system could be a good substitute for the most common hydrogen production technologies.
The Impact of Sustainable Energy Technologies and Demand Response Programs on the Hub's Planning by the Practical Consideration of Tidal Turbines as a Novel Option
Apr 2023
Publication
This paper investigates a multi-objective optimal energy planning strategy for a hub incorporating renewable and non-renewable resources like PV tidal turbine fuel-cell CHP boiler micro-turbine reactor reformer electrolyzer and energy storage by utilizing the time of use program (TOU). In this strategy tidal turbine fuel-cell and reformer technologies are considered novel technologies that simultaneously reduce the proposed hub’s cost and pollution. The hub’s total cost and pollution are considered objective functions. To make the results more realistic characteristics of the tidal turbine are investigated by utilizing the manufactory’s company information. The problem is then modeled as real mixed integer programming (RMIP) and is solved in GAMS software using a CPLEX solver. Epsilon constraints method and fuzzy satisfying approach are used to select the optimal solution based on the proposed model. Finally a sensitivity analysis is performed to assess the effective parameters that affect the planning’s results. The results show that the overall pollution is reduced by about 9% by assuming the proposed planning and the total profit is increased by about 30%.
Towards Climate-neutral Aviation: Assessment of Maintenance Requirements for Airborne Hydrogen Storage and Distribution Systems
Apr 2023
Publication
Airlines are faced with the challenge of reducing their environmental footprint in an effort to push for climate-neutral initiatives that comply with international regulations. In the past the aviation industry has followed the approach of incremental improvement of fuel efficiency while simultaneously experiencing significant growth in annual air traffic. With the increase in air traffic negating any reduction in Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions more disruptive technologies such as hydrogen-based onboard power generation are required to reduce the environmental impact of airline operations. However despite initial euphoria and first conceptual studies for hydrogen-powered aircraft several decades ago there still has been no mass adoption to this day. Besides the challenges of a suitable ground infrastructure this can partly be attributed to uncertainties with the associated maintenance requirements and the expected operating costs to demonstrate the economic viability of this technology. With this study we address this knowledge gap by estimating changes towards scheduled maintenance activities for an airborne hydrogen storage and distribution system. In particular we develop a detailed system design for a hydrogen-powered fuel-cell-based auxiliary power generation and perform a comparative analysis with an Airbus A320 legacy system. That analysis allows us to (a) identify changes for the expected maintenance effort to enhance subsequent techno-economic assessments (b) identify implications of specific design assumptions with corresponding maintenance activities while ensuring regulatory compliance and (c) describe the impact on the resulting task execution. The thoroughly examined interactions between system design and subsequent maintenance requirements of this study can support practitioners in the development of prospective hydrogen-powered aircraft. In particular it allows the inclusion of maintenance implications in early design stages of corresponding system architectures. Furthermore since the presented methodology is transferable to different design solutions it provides a blueprint for alternative operating concepts such as the complete substitution of kerosene by hydrogen to power the main engines.
Review on the Thermal Neutrality of Application-orientated Liquid Organic Hydrogen Carrier for Hydrogen Energy Storage and Delivery
Aug 2023
Publication
The depletion and overuse of fossil fuels present formidable challenge to energy supply system and environment. The human society is in great need of clean renewable and sustainable energy which can guarantee the long-term utilization without leading to escalation of greenhouse effect. Hydrogen as an extraordinary secondary energy is capable of realizing the target of environmental protection and transferring the intermittent primary energy to the application terminal while its nature of low volumetric energy density and volatility need suitable storage method and proper carrier. In this context liquid organic hydrogen carrier (LOHC) among a series of storage methods such as compressed and liquefied hydrogen provokes a considerable amount of research interest since it is proven to be a suitable carrier for hydrogen with safety and stability. However the dehydrogenation of hydrogen-rich LOHC materials is an endothermic process and needs large energy consumption which hampers the scale up of the LOHC system. The heat issue is thus essential to be addressed for fulfilling the potential of LOHC. In this work several strategies of heat intensification and management for LOHC system including the microwave irradiation circulation of exhaust heat and direct LOHC fuel cell are summarized and analyzed to provide suggestions and directions for future research.
Forecasting the Development of Clean Energy Vehicles in Large Cities: A System Dynamics Perspective
Jan 2024
Publication
Clean energy vehicles (CEVs) e.g. battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) are being adopted gradually to substitute for internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs) around the world. The fueling infrastructure is one of the key drivers for the development of the CEV market. When the government develops funding policies to support the fueling infrastructure development for FCEVs and BEVs it has to assess the effectiveness of different policy options and identify the optimal policy combination which is very challenging in transportation research. In this paper we develop a system dynamics model to study the feedback mechanism between the fueling infrastructure funding policies and the medium- to long-term diffusion of FCEVs and BEVs and the competition between FCEVs and BEVs based on relevant policy and market data in Guangzhou China. The results of the modeling analysis are as follows. (1) Funding hydrogen refueling stations and public charging piles has positive implications for achieving the substitution of CEVs for ICEVs. (2) Adjusting the funding ratio of hydrogen refueling stations and public charging piles or increasing the funding budget and extending the funding cycle does not have a significant impact on the overall substitution of CEVs for ICEVs but only impacts the relative competitive advantage between FCEVs and BEVs. (3) An equal share of funding for hydrogen refueling stations and public charging piles would have better strategic value for future net-zero-emissions urban transportation. (4) Making a moderate-level full investment in hydrogen refueling stations coupled with hydrogen refueling subsidies can provide the ideal conditions for FCEV diffusion.
Divergent Consumer Preferences and Visions for Cooking and Heating Technologies in the United Kingdom: Make Our Homes Clean, Safe, Warm and Smart!
Aug 2023
Publication
Decarbonising the global housing stock is imperative for reaching climate change targets. In the United Kingdom hydrogen is currently being tested as a replacement fuel for natural gas which could be used to supply low-carbon energy to parts of the country. Transitioning the residential sector towards a net-zero future will call for an inclusive understanding of consumer preferences for emerging technologies. In response this paper explores consumer attitudes towards domestic cooking and heating technologies and energy appliances of the future which could include a role for hydrogen hobs and boilers in UK homes. To access qualitative evidence on this topic we conducted ten online focus groups (N = 58) with members of the UK public between February and April 2022. The study finds that existing gas users wish to preserve the best features of gas cooking such as speed responsiveness and controllability but also desire the potential safety and aesthetic benefits of electric systems principally induction hobs. Meanwhile future heating systems should ensure thermal comfort ease of use energy efficiency and smart performance while providing space savings and noise reduction alongside demonstrable green benefits. Mixed-methods multigroup analysis suggests divergence between support levels for hydrogen homes which implies a degree of consumer heterogeneity. Foremost we find that domestic hydrogen acceptance is positively associated with interest and engagement with renewable energy and fuel poverty pressures. We conclude that internalising the perspectives of consumers is critical to enabling constructive socio-technical imaginaries for low-carbon domestic energy futures.
Energy and Economic Advantages of Using Solar Stills for Renewable Energy-Based Multi-Generation of Power and Hydrogen for Residential Buildings
Apr 2024
Publication
The multi-generation systems with simultaneous production of power by renewable energy in addition to polymer electrolyte membrane electrolyzer and fuel cell (PEMFC-PEMEC) energy storage have become more and more popular over the past few years. The fresh water provision for PEMECs in such systems is taken into account as one of the main challenges for them where conventional desalination technologies such as reverse osmosis (RO) and mechanical vapor compression (MVC) impose high electricity consumption and costs. Taking this point into consideration as a novelty solar still (ST) desalination is applied as an alternative to RO and MVC for better techno-economic justifiability. The comparison made for a residential building complex in Hawaii in the US as the case study demonstrated much higher technical and economic benefits when using ST compared with both MVC and RO. The photovoltaic (PV) installed capacity decreased by 11.6 and 7.3 kW compared with MVC and RO while the size of the electrolyzer declined by 9.44 and 6.13% and the hydrogen storage tank became 522.1 and 319.3 m3 smaller respectively. Thanks to the considerable drop in the purchase price of components the payback period (PBP) dropped by 3.109 years compared with MVC and 2.801 years compared with RO which is significant. Moreover the conducted parametric study implied the high technical and economic viability of the system with ST for a wide range of building loads including high values.
Hydrogen Supply Chain and Refuelling Network Design: Assessment of Alternative Scenarios for the Long-haul Road Freight in the UK
Mar 2023
Publication
Shifting from fossil fuels to clean alternative fuel options such as hydrogen is an essential step in decarbonising the road freight transport sector and facilitating an efficient transition towards zero-emissions goods distribution of the future. Designing an economically viable and competitive Hydrogen Supply Chain (HSC) to support and accelerate the widespread adoption of hydrogen powered Heavy Goods Vehicles (H2-HGVs) is however significantly hindered by the lack of the infrastructure required for producing storing transporting and distributing the required hydrogen. This paper focuses on a bespoke design of a hydrogen supply chain and distribution network for the long-haul road freight transportation in the UK and develops an improved end-to-end and spatially-explicit optimisation tool to perform scenario analysis and provide important first-hand managerial and policy making insights. The proposed methodology improves over existing grid-based methodologies by incorporating spatially-explicit locations of Hydrogen Refuelling Stations (HRSs) and allowing further flexibility and accuracy. Another distinctive feature of the method and the analyses carried out in the paper pertains to the inclusion of bulk geographically agnostic as well as geological underground hydrogen storage options and reporting on significant cost saving opportunities. Finally the curve for H2-HGVs penetration levels safety stock period decisions and the transport mode capacity against hydrogen levelized cost at pump have been generated as important policy making tools to provide decision support and insights into cost resilience and reliability of the HSC.
Operation Optimization of Wind/Battery Storage/Alkaline Electrolyzer System Considering Dynamic Hydrogen Production Efficiency
Aug 2023
Publication
Hydrogen energy is regarded as a key path to combat climate change and promote sustainable economic and social development. The fluctuation of renewable energy leads to frequent start/stop cycles in hydrogen electrolysis equipment. However electrochemical energy storage with its fast response characteristics helps regulate the power of hydrogen electrolysis enabling smooth operation. In this study a multi-objective constrained operation optimization model for a wind/battery storage/alkaline electrolyzer system is constructed. Both profit maximization and power abandonment rate minimization are considered. In addition some constraints such as minimum start/stop times upper and lower power limits and input fluctuation limits are also taken into account. Then the non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm II (NSGA-II) algorithm and the entropy method are used to optimize the operation strategy of the hybrid energy system by considering dynamic hydrogen production efficiency and through optimization to obtain the best hydrogen production power of the system under the two objectives. The change in dynamic hydrogen production efficiency is mainly related to the change in electrolyzer power and the system can be better adjusted according to the actual supply of renewable energy to avoid the waste of renewable energy. Our results show that the distribution of Pareto solutions is uniform which indicates the suitability of the NSGA-II algorithm. In addition the optimal solution indicates that the battery storage and alkaline electrolyzer can complement each other in operation and achieve the absorption of wind power. The dynamic hydrogen production efficiency can make the electrolyzer operate more efficiently which paves the way for system optimization. A sensitivity analysis reveals that the profit is sensitive to the price of hydrogen energy.
Use of Existing Gas Infrastructure in European Hydrogen Economy
Apr 2023
Publication
The rapidly increasing production volume of clean hydrogen creates challenges for transport infrastructure. This study improves understanding of hydrogen transport options in Europe and provides more detailed analysis on the prospects for hydrogen transport in Finland. Previous studies and ongoing pipeline projects were reviewed to identify potential and barriers to hydrogen transport. A fatigue life assessment tool was built because material challenges have been one of the main concerns of hydrogen transportation. Many European countries aim at utilizing existing gas infrastructure for hydrogen. Conducted studies and pilot facilities have provided promising results. Hydrogen reduces the fatigue life of the pipeline but existing pipelines can be used for hydrogen if pressure variation is maintained at a reasonable level and the maximum operation pressure is limited. Moreover the use of existing pipelines can reduce hydrogen transport costs but the suitability of every pipeline for hydrogen must be analyzed and several issues such as leakage leakage detection effects of hydrogen on pipeline assets and end users corrosion maintenance and metering of gas flow must be considered. The development of hydrogen transport will vary within countries depending on the structure of the existing gas infrastructure and on the future hydrogen use profile.
Greenhouse Gas Emissions of a Hydrogen Engine for Automotive Application through Life-Cycle Assessment
May 2024
Publication
Hydrogen combustion engine vehicles have the potential to rapidly enter the market and reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) compared to conventional engines. The ability to provide a rapid market deployment is linked to the fact that the industry would take advantage of the existing internal combustion engine production chain. The aim of this paper is twofold. First it aims to develop a methodology for applying life-cycle assessment (LCA) to internal combustion engines to estimate their life-cycle GHG emissions. Also it aims to investigate the decarbonization potential of hydrogen engines produced by exploiting existing diesel engine technology and assuming diverse hydrogen production routes. The boundary of the LCA is cradle-to-grave and the assessment is entirely based on primary data. The products under study are two monofuel engines: a hydrogen engine and a diesel engine. The hydrogen engine has been redesigned using the diesel engine as a base. The engines being studied are versatile and can be used for a wide range of uses such as automotive cogeneration maritime off-road and railway; however this study focuses on their application in pickup trucks. As part of the redesign process certain subsystems (e.g. combustion injection ignition exhaust gas recirculation and exhaust gas aftertreatment) have been modified to make the engine run on hydrogen. Results revealed that employing a hydrogen engine using green hydrogen (i.e. generated from water electrolysis using wind-based electricity) might reduce GHG emission by over 90% compared to the diesel engine This study showed that the benefits of the new hydrogen engine solution outweigh the increase of emissions related to the redesign process making it a potentially beneficial solution also for reconditioning current and used internal combustion engines.
Performance, Emissions, and Economic Analyses of Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicles
May 2024
Publication
The transport sector is considered to be a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions as this sector emits about one-fourth of global CO2 emissions. Transport emissions contribute toward climate change and have been linked to adverse health impacts. Therefore alternative and sustainable transport options are urgent for decarbonising the transport sector and mitigating those issues. Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles are a potential alternative to conventional vehicles which can play a significant role in decarbonising the future transport sector. This study critically analyses the recent works related to hydrogen fuel cell integration into vehicles modelling and experimental investigations of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles with various powertrains. This study also reviews and analyses the performance energy management strategies lifecycle cost and emissions of fuel cell vehicles. Previous literature suggested that the fuel consumption and well-to-wheel greenhouse gas emissions of hydrogen fuel cell-powered vehicles are significantly lower than that of conventional internal combustion vehicles. Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles consume about 29–66 % less energy and cause approximately 31–80 % less greenhouse gas emissions than conventional vehicles. Despite this the lifecycle cost of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles has been estimated to be 1.2–12.1 times higher than conventional vehicles. Even though there has been recent progress in energy management in hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles there are a number of technical and economic challenges to the commercialisation of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. This study presents current knowledge gaps and details future research directions in relation to the research advancement of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.
Inspection of Coated Hydrogen Transportation Pipelines
Sep 2023
Publication
The growing need for hydrogen indicates that there is likely to be a demand for transporting hydrogen. Hydrogen pipelines are an economical option but the issue of hydrogen damage to pipeline steels needs to be studied and investigated. So far limited research has been dedicated to determining how the choice of inspection method for pipeline integrity management changes depending on the presence of a coating. Thus this review aims to evaluate the effectiveness of inspection methods specifically for detecting the defects formed uniquely in coated hydrogen pipelines. The discussion will begin with a background of hydrogen pipelines and the common defects seen in these pipelines. This will also include topics such as blended hydrogen-natural gas pipelines. After which the focus will shift to pipeline integrity management methods and the effectiveness of current inspection methods in the context of standards such as ASME B31.12 and BS 7910. The discussion will conclude with a summary of newly available inspection methods and future research directions.
Life Cycle Costing Approaches of Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Systems: A Literature Review
Apr 2023
Publication
Hydrogen is a versatile energy carrier which can be produced from variety of feedstocks stored and transported in various forms for multi-functional end-uses in transportation energy and manufacturing sectors. Several regional national and supra-national climate policy frameworks emphasize the need value and importance of Fuel cell and Hydrogen (FCH) technologies for deep and sector-wide decarbonization. Despite these multi-faceted advantages familiar and proven FCH technologies such as alkaline electrolysis and proton-exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) often face economic technical and societal barriers to mass-market adoption. There is no single unified standardized and globally harmonized normative definition of costs. Nevertheless the discussion and debates surrounding plausible candidates and/or constituents integral for assessing the economics and value proposition of status-quo as well as developmental FCH technologies are steadily increasing—Life Cycle Costing (LCC) being one of them if not the most important outcome of such exercises.<br/>To that end this review article seeks to improve our collective understanding of LCC of FCH technologies by scrutinizing close to a few hundred publications drawn from representative databases—SCOPUS and Web of Science encompassing several tens of technologies for production and select transportation storage and end-user utilization cases. This comprehensive review forms part of and serves as the basis for the Clean Hydrogen Partnership funded SH2E project whose ultimate goal is the methodical development a formal set of principles and guardrails for evaluating the economic environmental and social impacts of FCH technologies. Additionally the SH2E projects will also facilitate the proper comparison of different FCH technologies whilst reconciling range of technologies methodologies modelling assumptions and parameterization found in existing literature.
Establishment of Austria’s First Regional Green Hydrogen Economy: WIVA P&G HyWest
Apr 2023
Publication
The regional parliament of Tyrol in Austria adopted the climate energy and resources strategy “Tyrol 2050 energy autonomous” in 2014 with the aim to become climate neutral and energy autonomous. “Use of own resources before others do or have to do” is the main principle within this long-term strategic approach in which the “power on demand” process is a main building block and the “power-to-hydrogen” process covers the intrinsic lack of a long-term large-scale storage of electricity. Within this long-term strategy the national research and development (R&D) flagship project WIVA P&G HyWest (ongoing since 2018) aims at the establishment of the first sustainable business-case-driven regional green hydrogen economy in central Europe. This project is mainly based on the logistic principle and is a result of synergies between three ongoing complementary implementation projects. Among these three projects to date the industrial research within “MPREIS Hydrogen” resulted in the first green hydrogen economy. One hydrogen truck is operational as of January 2023 in the region of Tyrol for food distribution and related monitoring studies have been initiated. To fulfil the logistic principle as the main outcome another two complementary projects are currently being further implemented.
No more items...