Publications

Power from Fossil Fuels analyses the role of coal and gas power generation in the UK's future power generation mix. It is the first of three reports in Carbon Connect's 2013 research inquiry the Future Electricity Series which examines what role fossil fuels renewables and nuclear can play in providing secure sustainable and affordable electricity in the UK. The report finds that significantly decarbonising the power sector by 2030 will prove the most successful strategy on energy sustainability security and affordability grounds and that switching the UK’s reliance on coal to gas generation - while using fossil fuel power stations increasingly for backup purposes -  will be the most viable method of achieving this.  The independent report chaired by former energy minister Charles Hendry MP and Opposition Energy and Climate Change Spokesperson in the House of Lords Baroness Worthington was compiled between January and April 2013 and received contributions from over 30 experts in academia industry Parliament and Government and was launched in Parliament on the 22nd April 2013.  This independent inquiry was sponsored by the Institution of Gas Engineers and Managers

Building  the  international  hydrogen  supply  chain  requires  the  large-scale  liquefied   hydrogen(LH2) carrier. During shipping LH2 with LH2 Carrier the tank is pressurized by LH2 evaporation due to heat ingress from outside. Before unloading LH2 at the receiving terminal reducing the tank pressure is essential for the safe tank operation. However pressure reduction might cause flashing leading to rapid  vaporization  of liquefied  hydrogen  liquid  leakage.   Moreover  it  was  considered  that  pressure recovery phenomenon which was not preferred in terms of tank pressure management occurred at the beginning  of  pressure  reduction.  Hence  the   purpose  of  our  research  is  to  clarify  the phenomenon inside  the  cargo  tank  during   pressure  reduction.  The  CFD  analysis  of  the  pressure  reduction phenomenon was conducted with the   VOF based in-house CFD code utilizing the C-CUP scheme combined  with  the  hybrid   Level  Set  and  MARS  method.  In  our  previous  research  the  pressure reduction  experiments   with  the  30  m³  LH2  tank  were  simulated  and  the  results  showed  that  the pressure   recovery  was  caused  by  the  boiling  delay  and  the  tank  pressure  followed  the   saturation pressure  after  the  liquid  was  fully  stirred.  In  this  paper  the  results  were re-evaluated  in  terms  of temperature.  While  pressure  reduction  was  dominant  the  temperature  of  vapor-liquid  interface decreased.  Once  the  boiling  bubble  stirred  the  interface  its  temperature  reached  the  saturation temperature  after  pressure  recovery  occurred.  Moreover  it  was  found  that  the  liquid  temperature during  pressure  reduction  could  not  be  measured  because  of  the  boiling  from  the  wall  of  the thermometer. The CFD analysis on pressure reduction of 1250 m³ tank for the LH2 Carrier was also very could occur in the case of the 1250 m³ tank in a certain condition. These results provide new insight into the development of the LH2 carrier.

The paper presents three approaches for the sizing and control of a maritime hybrid power-plant equipped with proton exchange membrane fuel cells and batteries. The study focuses on three different power-plant configurations including the energy management strategy and the power-plant component sizing. The components sizing is performed following the definition of the energy management strategy using the sequential optimization approach. These configurations are tested using a dynamic model developed in Simulink. The simulations are carried out to validate the technical feasibility of each configuration for maritime use. Each energy management strategy is developed to allow for the optimization of a chosen set of parameters such as hydrogen consumption and fuel cell degradation. It is observed that in the hybrid power-plant optimization there are always trade-offs and the optimization should be carried out by prioritizing primary factors the ship owner considers most important for day-to-day operations.

The use of renewable energy and hydrogen technology is a sustainable solution for the intermittent feature of renewable energies. Hence the aim of the present work is to design a self-sufficient system for a one-family house by coupling a solar photovoltaic array and an anion exchange membrane water electrolyzer (AEMWE). The first step is the selection of the photovoltaic panel by using PV-SYST 7.0 software. Then the hydrogen production system is calculated by coupling the electrolyzer and photovoltaic panel current–potential curves. A fuel cell is selected to use the hydrogen produced when solar energy is not available. Finally the hydrogen storage tank is also estimated to store hydrogen for a design basis of four consecutive cloudy days according to the hydrogen consumption of the fuel cell. The whole system is designed by a simple procedure for a specific location in Ciudad Real (Spain) for January which is known as the coldest month of the year. The simple procedure described in this work could be used elsewhere and demonstrated that the hydrogen production at low scale is a suitable technology to use renewable energy for self-energy supporting in a residential application without any connection to the grid.

Metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) is promising in developing hydrogen detectors. However typical MOS materials usually work between 200-500°C which not only restricts their application in flammable and explosive gases detection but also weakens sensor stability and causes high power consumption. This paper studies the sensing properties of UV enhanced Pd-SnO2 nano-spherical composites at 80-360 ℃. In the experiment Pd of different molar ratios (0.5 2.5 5.0 10.0) was doped into uniform spherical SnO2 nanoparticles by a hydrothermal synthesis method. A xenon lamp with a filter was used as the ultraviolet excitation light source to examine the response of the spherical Pd- SnO2 nanocomposite to 50-1000 ppm H2 gas. The influence of different intensities of ultraviolet light on the gas-sensing properties of composite materials compared with dark condition was analyzed. The experiments show that the conductivity of the composites can be greatly stabilized and the thermal excitation temperature can be reduced to 180 ℃ under the effect of UV enhancement. A rapid response (4.4/ 17.4 s) to 200 ppm of H2 at 330 °C can be achieved by the Pd-SnO2 nanocomposites with UV assistance. The mechanism may be attributed to light motivated electron-hole pairs due to built-in electric fields under UV light illumination which can be captured by target gases and lead to UV controlled gas sensing performance. Catalytic active sites of hydrogen are provided on the surface of the mixed material by Pd. The results in this study can be helpful in reducing the response temperature of MOS materials and improving the performance of hydrogen detectors."

In order to limit the effects of climate change the carbon dioxide emissions associated with the energy sector need to be reduced. Significant reductions can be achieved by using appropriate technologies and policies. In the context of recent discussions about climate change and energy transition this article critically reviews some technologies policies and frequently discussed solutions. The options for carbon emission reductions are grouped into (1) generation of secondary energy carriers (2) end-use energy sectors and (3) sector interdependencies. The challenges on the way to a decarbonized energy sector are identified with respect to environmental sustainability security of energy supply economic stability and social aspects. A global carbon tax is the most promising instrument to accelerate the process of decarbonization. Nevertheless this process will be very challenging for humanity due to high capital requirements the competition among energy sectors for decarbonization options inconsistent environmental policies and public acceptance of changes in energy use.

Hydrogen presents an opportunity for Africa to not only decarbonise its own energy use and enable clean energy access for all but also to export renewable energy. This paper developed a framework for assessing renewable resources for hydrogen production and provides a new critical analysis as to how and what role hydrogen can play in the complex African energy landscape. The regional solar wind CSP and bio hydrogen potential ranges from 366 to 1311 Gt/year 162 to 1782 Gt/year 463 to 2738 Gt/year and 0.03 to 0.06 Gt/year respectively. The water availability and sensitivity results showed that the water shortages in some countries can be abated by importing water from regions with high renewable water resources. A techno-economic comparative analysis indicated that a high voltage direct current (HVDC) system presents the most cost-effective transportation system with overall costs per kg hydrogen of 0.038 $/kg followed by water pipeline with 0.084 $/kg seawater desalination 0.1 $/kg liquified hydrogen tank truck 0.12 $/kg compressed hydrogen pipeline 0.16 $/kg liquefied ammonia pipeline 0.38 $/kg liquefied ammonia tank truck 0.60 $/kg and compressed hydrogen tank truck with 0.77 $/kg. The results quantified the significance of economies of scale due to cost effectiveness of systems such as compressed hydrogen pipeline and liquefied hydrogen tank truck systems when hydrogen production is scaled up. Decentralization is favorable under some constraints e.g. compressed hydrogen and liquefied ammonia tank truck systems will be more cost effective below 800 km and 1400 km due to lower investment and operation costs.

A process where power and biomass are converted to Fischer-Tropsch liquid fuels (PBtL) is compared to a conventional Biomass-to-Liquid (BtL) process concept. Based on detailed process models it is demonstrated that the carbon efficiency of a conventional Biomass to Liquid process can be increased from 38 to more than 90% by adding hydrogen from renewable energy sources. This means that the amount of fuel can be increased by a factor of 2.4 with the same amount of biomass. Electrical power is applied to split water/steam at high temperature over solid oxide electrolysis cells (SOEC). This technology is selected because part of the required energy can be replaced by available heat. The required electrical power for the extra production is estimated to be 11.6 kWh per liter syncrude (C ) 5+ . By operating the SOEC iso-thermally close to 850 °C the electric energy may be reduced to 9.5 kWh per liter which is close to the energy density of jet fuel. A techno-economic analysis is performed where the total investments and operating costs are compared for the BtL and PBtL. With an electrical power price of 0.05 $/kWh and with SOEC investment cost of the 1000 $/kW(el) the levelized cost of producing advanced biofuel with the PBtL concept is 1.7 $/liter which is approximately 30% lower than for the conventional BtL. Converting excess renewable electric power to advanced biofuel in a PBtL plant is a sensible way of storing energy as a fuel with a relatively high energy density.

Energy system integration enables raising operational synergies by coupling the energy infrastructures for electricity methane and hydrogen. However this coupling reinforces the infrastructure interdependencies increasing the need for integrated modeling of these infrastructures. To analyze the cost-efficient sustainable and secure dispatch of applied large-scale energy infrastructures an extensive and non-linear optimization problem needs to be solved. This paper introduces a nested decomposition approach with three stages. The method enables an integrated and full-year consideration of large-scale multi-energy systems in hourly resolution taking into account physical laws of power flows in electricity and gas transmission systems as boundary conditions. For this purpose a zooming technique successively reduces the temporal scope while first increasing the spatial and last the technical resolution. A use case proves the applicability of the presented approach to large-scale energy systems. To this end the model is applied to an integrated European energy system model with a detailed focus on Germany in a challenging transport situation. The use case demonstrates the temporal regional and cross-sectoral interdependencies in the dispatch of integrated energy infrastructures and thus the benefits of the introduced approach.

Unignited hydrogen release in underground parking could be considered inherently safer if the safety strategy to avoid the formation of the flammable hydrogen-air mixture under a ceiling is followed. This strategy excludes destructive deflagrative combustion and associated pressure and thermal effects in the case of ignition. This paper aims at understanding the effects of the thermally activated pressure relieve device (TPRD) diameter and direction of release on the build-up of hydrogen flammable concentration under the ceiling in the presence of mechanical ventilation required for underground parking. The study employs the similarity law for hydrogen jet concentration decay in a free under-expanded jet to find the lower limit of TPRD diameter that excludes the formation of a flammable mixture under the ceiling during upward release. This approach is conservative and does not include the effect of mechanical ventilation providing flow velocity around a few meters per second which is significantly below velocities in hydrogen momentum-dominated under-expanded jets. Hydrogen releases downwards under a vehicle at different angles and with different air velocities due to mechanical ventilation were investigated using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). The joint effect of TPRD diameter release direction and mechanical ventilation is studied. TPRD diameters for the release of hydrogen upwards and downwards preventing the creation of flammable hydrogen-air mixture under the parking ceiling are defined for different ceiling heights and locations of TPRD above the floor. Recommendations to the design of TPRD devices to underpin the safe introduction of hydrogen fuelled vehicles in currently existing underground parking and infrastructure are formulated."

Liquid hydrogen (LH2) has the potential to form part of the UK energy strategy in the future and therefore could see widespread use due to the relatively high energy density when compared to other renewable energy sources. To study the feasibility of this the European Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH JU) funded project PRESLHY undertook pre-normative research for the safe use of cryogenic LH2 in non-industrial settings. Several key scenarios were identified as knowledge gaps and both theoretical and experimental studies were conducted to provide insight into these scenarios. This included experiments studying the effect of congestion on an ignited hydrogen plume that develops from a release of LH2; this paper describes the objectives experimental setup and a summary of the results from these activities. Characterisation of the LH2 release hydrogen concentration and temperatures measurements within the resulting gas cloud was undertaken along with pressure measurements both within the cloud and further afield. Various release conditions and congestion levels were studied. Results showed that at high levels of congestion increased overpressures occurred with the higher flow rates studied including one high order event. Data generated from these experiments is being taken forward to generate and validate theoretical models ultimately to contribute to the development of regulations codes and standards (RCS) for LH2."

A rigorous heterogeneous mathematical model is used to simulate a cascade of multi-stage fixed bed membrane reactors (MSFBMR) with inter-stage heating and fresh sweep gas for the decomposition of ammonia to produce high purity hydrogen suitable for the PEM fuel cells. Different reactor configurations are compared. The comparison between a single fixed bed reactor (FBR) and a single fixed bed membrane reactor (FBMR) shows that the FBMR is superior to the FBR and gives 60.48% ammonia conversion higher than the FBR. However 20.91% exit ammonia conversion obtained by the FBMR is considered to be poor. The FBMR is limited by the kinetics at low temperatures. The numerical results show that the MSFBMR of four beds achieve 100.0% ammonia conversion. It was found that the membrane plays the prime role in the displacement of the thermodynamic equilibrium. The results also show that a linear relationship exists between the number of beds and the feed temperature and a correlation has been developed. A critical point for an effective hydrogen permeation zone has been identified. It is observed that the diffusion limitation is confined to a slim region at the entrance of the reactor. It is also observed that the heat load assumes a maximum inflection point and explanations offered. The results show that the multi-stage configuration has a promising potential to be applied successfully on-site for ultra-clean hydrogen production.

The differences in behaviour of hydrogen when compared to natural gas under deflagration and detonation scenarios are well known. The authors currently work in the area of fire and explosion analysis and have identified what they feel are potential gaps in the current Body of Knowledge (BOK) available to the sector. This is especially related to the behaviour around secondary shock formation and interactions with surrounding structures especially with ‘open’ structures such as steel frameworks typically seen in an offshore environment and practicable methods for determining debris formation and propagation. Whilst the defence sector has extensive knowledge in these areas this is primarily in the area of high explosives where the level of shocks observed is stronger than those resulting from a hydrogen detonation. This information would need to be reviewed and assessed to ensure it is appropriate for application in the hydrogen sector. Therefore with a focus on practicality the authors have undertaken a two-phase approach. The first phase involves carrying out a through literature search and discussions within our professional networks in order to ascertain whether there is a gap in the BOK. If good research guidance and tools to support this area of assessment already exist the authors have attempted to collate and consolidate this into a form that can be made more easily available to the community. Secondly if there is indeed a gap in the BOK the authors have attempted to ensure that all relevant information is collated to act as a reference and provide a consistent baseline for future research and development activities.

Environmental issues related to greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions have pushed the development of new technologies that will allow the economic production of low-carbon energy vectors such as hydrogen (H2 ) methane (CH4 ) and liquid fuels. Dry reforming of methane (DRM) has gained increased attention since it uses CH4 and carbon dioxide (CO2 ) which are two main greenhouse gases (GHG) as feedstock for the production of syngas which is a mixture of H2 and carbon monoxide (CO) and can be used as a building block for the production of fuels. Since H2 has been identified as a key enabler of the energy transition a lot of studies have aimed to benefit from the environmental advantages of DRM and to use it as a pathway for a sustainable H2 production. However there are several challenges related to this process and to its use for H2 production such as catalyst deactivation and the low H2/CO ratio of the syngas produced which is usually below 1.0. This paper presents the recent advances in the catalyst development for H2 production via DRM the processes that could be combined with DRM to overcome these challenges and the current industrial processes using DRM. The objective is to assess in which conditions DRM could be used for H2 production and the gaps in literature data preventing better evaluation of the environmental and economic potential of this process.

With the increasing interest in hydrogen energy the stability of hydrogen storage facilities and components is emphasized. In this study we analyzed the effect of high-pressure hydrogen gas treatment in silica-filled EPDM composites with different silica contents. In detail cure characteristics crosslink density mechanical properties and hydrogen permeation properties were investigated. Results showed that material volume remaining hydrogen content and mechanical properties were changed after 96.3 MPa hydrogen gas exposure. With an increase in the silica content the crosslink density and mechanical properties increased but hydrogen permeability was decreased. After treatment high-silica-content composites showed lower volume change than low-silica-content composites. The crack damage due to the decompression caused a decrease in mechanical properties but high silica content can inhibit the reduction in mechanical properties. In particular EPDM/silica composites with a silica content of above 60 phr exhibited excellent resistance to hydrogen gas as no change in their physical and mechanical properties was observed.

Biomass gasification for hydrogen (H2) production provides outstanding advantages in terms of renewable energy resources carbon neutral high efficiency and environmental benefits. However the factors influencing H2 production from biomass gasification are complex which makes determining the optimal operating conditions challenging. Biomass gasification also poses challenges owing to the high associated tar content and low gas yield which need to be overcome. This review summarizes the influence of the gasification parameters on H2 production. Catalytic gasification technology and some of the latest catalysts such as composites and special structure catalysts are also summarized herein based on the requirements of high-purity H2 production. Moreover novel technologies such as staged gasification chemical looping gasification and adsorption-enhanced reforming for producing H2 rich gas are introduced. Finally the challenges and prospects associated with biomass gasification for H2 production are presented.

‘E-fuels’ or ‘synthetic fuels’ are hydrocarbon fuels synthesized from hydrogen (H2) and carbon dioxide (CO2) where H2 can be produced via electrolysis of water or steam reforming of natural gas and CO2 is captured from the combustion of a fossil or biogenic source or directly from the atmosphere. E-fuels are drop-in substitutes for fossil fuels but their climate change mitigation benefits are largely unclear. This study evaluates the climate change impacts of e-fuels for aviation by combining different sources of CO2 and H2 up to 2050 under two contrasting policy scenarios. The analysis includes different climate metrics and the effects of near-term climate forcers which are particularly relevant for the aviation sector. Results are produced for European average conditions and for Poland and Norway two countries with high and low emission intensity from their electricity production mix. E-fuels can either have higher or lower climate change impacts than fossil fuels depending on multiple factors such as in order of importance the electricity mix the origin of CO2 the technology for H2 production and the electrolyzer efficiency. The climate benefits are generally higher for e-fuels produced from CO2 of biogenic origin while e-fuels produced from CO2 from direct air capture or fossil fuel combustion require countries with clean electricity to outperform fossil fuels. Synthetic fuels produced from H2 derived from natural gas have higher impacts than fossil fuels even when coupled with carbon capture and storage if CO2 is sourced from fossil fuels or the atmosphere. Climate change impacts of e-fuels improve in the future and they can all achieve considerable climate change mitigation in 2050 relative to fossil jet fuel provided that strict climate policy measures are implemented to decarbonize the electricity sector. Under reduced policy efforts future climate impacts in 2050 of e-fuels from atmospheric or fossil CO2 are still higher than those of fossil jet fuels with an average European electricity mix. This study shows the conditions to maximize the climate change mitigation benefits of e-fuels which essentially depend on progressive decarbonization of the electricity sector and on reduced use of CO2 sourced from fossil fuels.

Hydrogen (H2 ) is currently a highly attractive fuel for internal combustion engines (ICEs) owing to the prospects of potentially near-zero emissions. However the production emissions and cost of H2 fuel necessitate substantial improvements in ICE thermal efficiency. This work aims to investigate a potential implementation of H2 combustion in a highly efficient double compression-expansion engine (DCEE). DICI nonpremixed H2 combustion mode is used for its superior characteristics as concluded in previous studies. The analysis is performed using a 1D GT-Power software package where different variants of the DICI H2 and diesel combustion cycles obtained experimentally and numerically (3D CFD) are imposed in the combustion cylinder of the DCEE. The results show that the low jet momentum free jet mixing dominated variants of the DICI H2 combustion concept are preferred owing to the lower heat transfer losses and relaxed requirements on the fuel injection system. Insulation of the expander and removal of the intercooling improve the engine efficiency by 1.3 and 0.5 %-points respectively but the latter leads to elevated temperatures in the high-pressure tank which makes the selection of its materials harder but allows the use of cheaper oxidation catalysts. The results also show that the DCEE performance is insensitive to combustion cylinder temperatures making it potentially suitable for other high-octane fuels such as methane methanol ammonia etc. Finally a brake thermal efficiency of 56 % is achieved with H2 combustion around 1 %-point higher than with diesel. Further efficiency improvements are also possible with a fully optimized H2 combustion system.

The search for new fuels to supersede fossil fuels has been intensified these recent decades. Among these fuels hydrogen has attracted much interest due to its advantages mainly cleanliness and availability. It can be produced from various raw materials (e.g. water biomass) using many resources mainly water electrolysis and natural gas reforming. However water electrolysis combined with renewable energy sources is the cleanest way to produce hydrogen while reducing greenhouse gases. Besides hydrogen can be used by fuel cells for producing both electrical and thermal energy. The aim of this work was towards efficient integration of this system into energy efficient buildings. The system is comprised of a photovoltaic system hydrogen electrolyzer and proton exchange membrane fuel cell operating as a cogeneration system to provide the building with both electricity and thermal energy. The system’s modeling simulations and experimentations were first conducted over a short-run period to assess the system’s performance. Reported results show the models’ accuracy in analyzing the system’s performance. We then used the developed models for long-run testing of the hybrid system. Accordingly the system’s electrical efficiency was almost 32%. Its overall efficiency reached 64.5% when taking into account both produced electricity and thermal energy.

Development of hydrogen facilities such as hydrogen refuelling stations (HRS) at scale is a fine balance between economy and safety where an optimal solution would both prevent showstoppers due to cost of increased safety measures and prevent showstoppers due to hydrogen accidents. A detailed Quantitative Risk Analysis (QRA) methodology is presented where the aim is to establish the total risk of the facility and use it to find the right level of safety features such as blast walls and layout. With upscaled hydrogen facilities comes larger area footprints and more potential leak points. These effects will cause increased possible consequence in terms of vapour cloud explosions and increased leak frequencies. Both effects contributing negative to the total risk of the hydrogen facility. At the same time as the number of such facilities is increasing rapidly the frequency of incidents can also increase. A risk-based approach is employed where inherently safe solutions is investigated and cost efficient and acceptable solutions can be established. The present QRA uses well established tools such as SAFETI FLACS and Express which are fitted for hydrogen risks. By using the established Explosion Risk Analysis tool Express the explosion risk inside the station can be found. By using CFD tools actively one can point at physical risk drivers such as equipment layout that can minimize gas cloud build-up on the station. The explosion simulations are further used to find the effects of e.g. blast wall on the pressures affecting on people on the other side of the wall. This is used together with the results from the SAFETI analysis to develop risk contours around the facility. Current standardized safety distances are discussed by considering the effects of scaling and risk drivers on the safety distances. The methodology can be used to develop certain requirement for how hydrogen facilities should be built inherently safe and in cost-efficient ways.

The development of safe dispensing equipment for the fueling of heavy duty (HD) vehicles is critical to the expansion of this newly and quickly expanding market. This paper discusses the development of a HD dispenser and nozzles assembly (nozzle hose breakaway) for these new larger vehicles where flow rates are more than double compared to light duty (LD) vehicles. This equipment must operate at nominal pressures of 700 bar -40o C gas temperature and average flow rate of 5-10 kg/min at a high throughput commercial hydrogen fueling station without leaking hydrogen. The project surveyed HD vehicle manufacturers station developers and component suppliers to determine the basic specifications of the dispensing equipment and nozzle assembly. The team also examined existing codes and standards to determine necessary changes to accommodate HD components. From this information the team developed a set of specifications which will be used to design the dispensing equipment. In order to meet these goals the team performed computational fluid dynamic pressure modelling and temperature analysis in order to determine the necessary parameters to meet existing safety standards modified for HD fueling. The team also considered user operational and maintenance requirements such as freeze lock which has been an issue which prevents the removal of the nozzle from LD vehicles. The team also performed a failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) to identify the possible failures in the design. The dispenser and nozzle assembly will be tested separately and then installed on an innovative HD fueling station which will use a HD vehicle simulator to test the entire system.

Governments and other stakeholders actively promote and facilitate the development and deployment of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies. Various strategy documents and energy forecasts outline the environmental and societal benefits of the prospective hydrogen economy. At the same time the safety related properties of hydrogen imply that it is not straightforward to achieve and document the same level of safety for hydrogen systems compared to conventional fuels. Severe accidents can have major impact on the development of energy technologies. The stakes will increase significantly as the use of hydrogen shifts from controlled environments in industrial facilities to the public domain and as the transport-related consumption extends from passenger cars and buses to trains ships and airplanes. Widespread deployment of hydrogen as an energy carrier in society will require massive investments. This implies commercial and political commitment involvement and influence on research priorities and decision-making. The legacy from accidents and the messages communicated by influential stakeholders impact not only how the public perceives hydrogen technologies but also governmental policies the development of regulations codes and standards (RCS) and ultimately the measures adopted for preventing and mitigating accidents. This paper explores whether and how selected aspects of safety are considered when distinct groups of stakeholders frame the hydrogen economy. We assess to what extent the communication is consistent with the current state-of-the-art in hydrogen safety and the contemporary strength of knowledge in risk assessments for hydrogen systems. The approach adopted entails semi-quantitative text analysis and close reading to highlight variations between diverse groups of stakeholders. The results indicate a bias in the framing of the safety-related aspects of the hydrogen economy towards procedural organisational and societal measures of risk reduction at the expense of well-known challenges and knowledge gaps associated with the implications of fundamental safety-related properties of hydrogen.

This independent cross-party report highlights the key role that political consensus can play in helping to reduce the costs of nuclear power in the UK as well as other low carbon technologies. This political consensus has never been more important than in this ‘defining decade’ for the power sector. The report highlights that an immediate challenge facing the UK’s new build programme is agreeing with the European Commission a regime for supporting new nuclear power. Changing the proposed support package would not be an impossible task if made necessary but maintaining broad political consensus and considering the implications of delay are also important. The State Aid process is an important opportunity for scrutiny with the report demonstrating that shareholders for Hinkley Point C could see bigger returns (19-21%) than those typically expected for PFI projects (12-15%). However it is too early to conclude on the value for money of the Hinkley Point C agreement. Both the negotiation process and the resulting investment contract are important but there has been little transparency over either so far and the negotiations were not competitive. The inquiry calls for more urgency and better coordination in seizing the opportunity to reuse the UK’s plutonium stockpile.



The UK’s stockpile of separated plutonium presents opportunities to tackle a number of national strategic priorities including implementing long term solutions for nuclear waste developing new technologies that could redefine the sector laying the ground for new nuclear power and pursuing nuclear non-proliferation.  Government has identified three ‘credible solutions’ for reuse and the report recommends that it now sets clearer criteria against which to assess options and identifies budgetary requirements to help expediate the process. The report also argues that Government should do more on new nuclear technologies that could redefine the sector – such as considering smaller reactors nuclear for industrial heat or hydrogen production and closed or thorium fuel cycles. The Government’s initial response to a review of nuclear R&D a year ago by the then Chief Scientific Advisor Sir John Beddington has been welcome and it needs to build on this. In particular the UK should capitalise upon its existing expertise and past experience to focus efforts where there is most strategic value. Nulcear waste. Having failed to date the Government must urgently revisit plans for finding a site to store nuclear waste underground for thousands of years. Implementing this is a crucial part of demonstrating that nuclear waste is a manageable challenge. Despite being rejected by Cumbria County Council the continuing strong support amongst communities in West Cumbria for hosting a site is a promising sign.



On affordability the report finds that it is not yet clear which electricity generation technologies will be cheapest in the 2020s and beyond. Coal and gas could get more expensive if fossil fuel and carbon prices rise whilst low carbon technologies could get cheaper as technology costs fall with more deployment. This is the main reason for adopting an ‘all of the above’ strategy including nuclear power until costs become clearer and there is broad consensus behind this general approach.  



On security of supply the inquiry says that deployment of nuclear power is likely to be influenced more by the economics of system balancing rather than technical system balancing challenges which can be met with greater deployment of existing balancing tools. The cost of maintaining system security is likely to mean that the UK maintains at least some baseload capacity such as nuclear power to limit system costs.



On sustainability the report finds that the environmental impacts of nuclear power are comparable to some generation technologies and favourable to others although the long lived nature of some radioactive nuclear waste and the dual use potential of nuclear technology for civil and military applications create unique sustainability challenges which the UK is a world leader in managing.



It is the final report of the Future Electricity Series an independent and cross party inquiry into the UK power sector sponsored by the Institution of Gas Engineers and Managers

Electrification of the heat network in buildings together with a rise in popularity of Electric Vehicles (EVs) will result in a need to make investments in the electrical energy infrastructure in order to prevent congestion. This paper discusses the influence of hydrogen in future smart microgrids on these investments. Moreover smart control strategies i.e. EV management and demand response programs are used in this paper to lower the peak of electrical energy demand resulting in the reduction of these investments. Performances of microgrid with different levels of hydrogen penetration are discussed. It is shown that an increase in the level of hydrogen in the microgrid will reduce the electric grid investments costs but is not economically more beneficial than using ‘green’ gas due to the higher total economic costs.

Fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEV) are developing quickly from passenger vehicles to trucks or fork-lifts. Policymakers are supporting an ambitious strategy to deploy fuel cell electrical vehicles with infrastructure as hydrogen refueling stations (HRS) as the European Green deal for Europe. The hydrogen fuel quality according to international standard as ISO 14687 is critical to ensure the FCEV performance and that poor hydrogen quality may not cause FCEV loss of performance. However the sampling system is only available for nozzle sampling at HRS. If a FCEV may show a lack of performance there is currently no methodology to sample hydrogen fuel from a FCEV itself. It would support the investigation to determine if hydrogen fuel may have caused any performance loss. This article presents the first FCEV sampling system and its comparison with the hydrogen fuel sampling from the HRS nozzle (as requested by international standard ISO 14687). The results showed good agreement with the hydrogen fuel sample. The results demonstrate that the prototype developed provides representative samples from the FCEV and can be an alternative to determine hydrogen fuel quality. The prototype will require improvements and a larger sampling campaign.