Applications & Pathways

Extreme halophiles offer the advantage to save on the costs of sterilization and water for biohydrogen production from lignocellulosic waste after the pretreatment process with their ability to withstand extreme salt concentrations. This study identifies the dominant hydrogen-producing genera and species among the acclimatized extremely halotolerant microbial communities taken from two salt-damaged soil locations in Khon Kaen and one location from the salt evaporation pond in Samut Sakhon Thailand. The microbial communities’ V3–V4 regions of 16srRNA were analyzed using high-throughput amplicon sequencing. A total of 345 operational taxonomic units were obtained and the high-throughput sequencing confirmed that Firmicutes was the dominant phyla of the three communities. Halanaerobium fermentans and Halanaerobacter lacunarum were the dominant hydrogen-producing species of the communities. Spatial proximity was not found to be a determining factor for similarities between these extremely halophilic microbial communities. Through the study of the microbial communities strategies can be developed to increase biohydrogen molar yield.

At the present stage of electric power industry development special attention is being paid to the development and research of new efficient energy sources. The use of hydrogen fuel cells is promising for remote autonomous power supply systems. The authors of the paper have developed the structure and determined the optimal composition of a hybrid generation system based on hydrogen fuel cells and battery storage and have conducted studies of its operating modes and for remote consumers’ power supply efficiency. A simulation of the electromagnetic processes was carried out to check the operability of the proposed hybrid generation system structure. The simulation results confirmed the operability of the structure under consideration the calculation of its parameters reliability and the high quality of the output voltage. The electricity cost of a hybrid generation system was estimated according to the LCOE (levelized cost of energy) indicator its value being 1.17 USD/kWh. The factors influencing the electricity cost of a hydrogen generation system have been determined and ways for reducing its cost identified.

The hydrogen storage tank is a key parameter of the hydrogen storage system in hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (HFCVs) as its safety determines the commercialization of HFCVs. Compared with other types the type IV hydrogen storage tank which consists of a polymer liner has the advantages of low cost lightweight and low storage energy consumption but meanwhile higher hydrogen permeability. A detailed review of the existing research on hydrogen permeability of the liner material of type IV hydrogen storage tanks can improve the understanding of the hydrogen permeation mechanism and provide references for following-up researchers and research on the safety of HFCVs. The process of hydrogen permeation and test methods are firstly discussed in detail. This paper then analyzes the factors that affect the process of hydrogen permeation and the barrier mechanism of the liner material and summarizes the prediction models of gas permeation. In addition to the above analysis and comments future research on the permeability of the liner material of the type IV hydrogen storage tank is prospected.

To reduce the climate impact of shipping the introduction of alternative fuels is required. There is a range of different marine fuel options but ammonia a potential zero carbon fuel has recently received a lot of attention. The purpose of this paper is to assess the prospects for ammonia as a future fuel for the shipping sector in relation to other marine fuels. The assessment is based on a synthesis of knowledge in combination with: (i) energy systems modeling including the cost-effectiveness of ammonia as marine fuel in relation to other fuels for reaching global climate targets; and (ii) a multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) approach ranking marine fuel options while considering estimated fuel performance and the importance of criteria based on maritime stakeholder preferences. In the long-term and to reach global GHG reduction the energy systems modeled indicate that the use of hydrogen represents a more cost-effective marine fuel option than ammonia. However in the MCDA covering more aspects we find that ammonia may be almost as interesting for shipping related stakeholders as hydrogen and various biomass-based fuels. Ammonia may to some extent be an interesting future marine fuel option but many issues remain to be solved before large-scale introduction.

Densified liquid hydrogen/liquid oxygen is a promising propulsion fuel in the future. In order to systematically demonstrate the benefits and challenges of densified liquid hydrogen/liquid oxygen a transient thermodynamical model considering the heat leakage temperature rise engine thrust pressurization pressure of the tank and wall thickness of tank is developed in the present paper and the performance of densified liquid hydrogen/liquid oxygen as propulsion fuel is further evaluated in actual application. For liquid hydrogen/liquid oxygen tanks at different structural dimensions the effects of many factors such as temperature rise during propellant ground parking lift of engine thrust mass reduction of the tank structure and extension of spacecraft in‐orbit time are analyzed to demonstrate the comprehensive performance of liquid hydrogen/liquid oxygen after densification. Meanwhile the problem of subcooling combination matching of liquid hydro‐ gen/liquid oxygen is proposed for the first time. Combining the fuel consumption and engine thrust lifting the subcooling combination matching of liquid hydrogen/liquid oxygen at different mixing ratios and constant mixing ratios are discussed respectively. The results show that the relative engine thrust enhances by 6.96% compared with the normal boiling point state in the condition of slush hydrogen with 50% solid content and enough liquid oxygen. The in‐orbit time of spacecraft can extend about 2–6.5 days and 24–95 days for slush hydrogen with 50% solid content and liquid oxygen in the triple point state in different cryogenic tanks respectively. Due to temperature rise during parking the existing adiabatic storage scheme and filling scheme for densification LH2 need to be redesigned and for densification LO2 are suitable. It is found that there is an optimal subcooling matching relation after densification of liquid hydrogen/liquid oxygen as propulsion fuel. In other words the subcooling temperature of liquid hydrogen/liquid oxygen is not the lower the bet‐ ter but the matching relationship between LH2 subcooling degree and LO2 subcooling degree needs to be considered at the same time. It is necessary that the LO2 was cooled to 69.2 K and 54.5 K when the LH2 of 13.9 K and SH2 with 45% was adopted respectively. This research provides theoretical support for the promotion and application of densification cryogenic propellants.

The development of public transport systems is related to the implementation of modern and low-carbon vehicles. Over the last several years there has been a clear progress in this field. The number of electric buses has increased and the first solutions in the area of hydrogen fuel cells have been implemented. Unfortunately the implementation of these technologies is connected with significant financial expenditure. The goal of the article is the analysis of effectiveness of financial investment consisting in the purchase of 30 new public transport buses (together with the necessary infrastructure–charging stations). The analysis has been performed using the NPV method for the period of 10 years. Discount rate was determined on 4% as recommended by the European Commission for this type of project. It is based on the case study of the investment project carried out by Metropolis GZM in Poland. The article determines and compares the efficiency ratios for three investment options-purchase of diesel-powered battery-powered and hydrogen fuel-cell electric vehicles. The results of the analysis indicate that the currently high costs of vehicle purchase and charging infrastructure are a significant barrier for the implementation of battery-powered and hydrogen fuel-cell buses. In order to meet the transport policy goals related to the exchange of traditional bus stock to more eco-friendly vehicles it is necessary to involve public funds for the purpose of financing the investment activities.

Wind and solar energies present a time and space disparity that generally leads to a mismatch between the demand and the supply. To harvest their maximum potentials one of the main challenges is the storage and transport of these energies. This challenge can be tackled by electrofuels such as hydrogen methane and methanol. They offer three main advantages: compatibility with existing distribution networks or technologies of conversion economical storage solution for high capacity and ability to couple sectors (i.e. electricity to transport to heat or to industry). However the level of contribution of electric-energy carriers is unknown. To assess their role in the future we used whole-energy system modelling (EnergyScope Typical Days) to study the case of Belgium in 2050. This model is multi-energy and multi-sector. It optimises the design of the overall system to minimise its costs and emissions. Such a model relies on many parameters (e.g. price of natural gas efficiency of heat pump) to represent as closely as possible the future energy system. However these parameters can be highly uncertain especially for long-term planning. Consequently this work uses the polynomial chaos expansion method to integrate a global sensitivity analysis in order to highlight the influence of the parameters on the total cost of the system. The outcome of this analysis points out that compared to the deterministic cost-optimum situation the system cost accounting for uncertainties becomes higher (+17%) and twice more uncertain at carbon neutrality and that electrofuels are a major contribution to the uncertainty (up to 53% in the variation of the costs) due to their importance in the energy system and their high uncertainties their higher price and uncertainty.

In the present study hydrogen utilization as diesel engine fuel at low load operation was investigated. Hydrogen cannot be used directly in a diesel engine due to its auto ignition temperature higher than that of diesel fuel. One alternative method is to use hydrogen in enrichment or induction. To investigate the combustion characteristics of this dual fuel engine a single cylinder diesel research engine was converted to utilize hydrogen as fuel. Hydrogen was introduced to the intake manifold using a mixer before entering the combustion chamber. The engine was run at a constant speed of 2000 rpm and 10 Nm load. Hydrogen was introduced at the flow rate of 21.4 36.2 and 49.6 liter/minute. Specific energy consumption indicated efficiency and cylinder pressure were investigated. At this low load the hydrogen enrichment reduced the cylinder peak pressure and the engine efficiency. The reaction progress variable and combustion rate of reaction were slower as shown by the CFD calculation.

The volatility of renewable energy sources (RES) poses a growing problem for operation of electricity grids. In contrary the necessary decarbonisation of sectors such as heat supply and transport requires a rapid expansion of RES. Load management in the context of power-to-heat systems can help to simultaneously couple the electricity and heat sectors and stabilise the electricity grid thus enabling a higher share of RES. In addition power-to-hydrogen offers the possibility of long-term energy storage options. Within this work we present a novel optimization approach for heat pump operation with the aim to counteract the volatility and enable a higher usage of RES. For this purpose a detailed simulation model of buildings and their energy supply systems is created calibrated and validated based on a plus energy settlement. Subsequently the potential of optimized operation is determined with regard to PV and small wind turbine self-consumption. In addition the potential of seasonal hydrogen storage is examined. The results show that on a daily basis a 33% reduction of electricity demand from grid is possible. However the average optimization potential is reduced significantly by prediction inaccuracy. The addition of a hydrogen system for seasonal energy storage basically eliminates the carbon dioxide emissions of the cluster. However this comes at high carbon dioxide prevention costs of 1.76 e kg−1 .

Heat decarbonisation is one of the main challenges of energy system decarbonisation. However existing energy planning models struggle to compare heat decarbonisation approaches because they rarely capture trade-offs between heat supply end-use technologies and network infrastructure at sufficient spatial resolution. A new optimisation model is presented that addresses this by including trade-offs between gas electricity and heat infrastructure together with related supply and end-use technologies with high spatial granularity. The model is applied in case studies for the UK. For the case modelled it is shown that electrification of heat is most cost-effective via district level heat pumps that supply heat networks instead of individual building heat pumps. This is because the cost of reinforcing the electricity grid for installing individual heat pumps does not sufficiently offset heat infrastructure costs. This demonstrates the importance of considering infrastructure trade-offs. When modelling the utilisation of a decarbonised gas the penetration of heat networks and location of district level heat supply technologies was shown to be dependent on linear heat density and on zone topology. This shows the importance of spatial aspects. Scenario-specific linear heat density thresholds for heat network penetration were identified. For the base case penetration of high temperature heat networks was over 50% and 60% by 2050 for linear heat densities over 1500 and 2500 kWh/m. For the case when medium heat temperature networks were additionally available a mix of both networks was observed. Medium temperature heat network penetration was over 20% 30% and 40% for linear heat densities of over 1500 2500 and 3000 kWh/m while high temperature heat network penetration was over 20% and 30% for linear heat densities of under 2000 and 1500 kWh/m respectively.

Research into novel internal combustion engines requires consideration of the diversity in future fuels in an attempt to reduce drastically CO2 emissions from vehicles and promote energy sustainability. Hydrogen has been proposed as a possible fuel for future internal combustion engines and can be produced from renewable sources. Hydrogen’s wide flammability range allows higher engine efficiency than conventional fuels with both reduced toxic emissions and no CO2 gases. Most previous work on hydrogen engines has focused on spark-ignition operation. The current paper presents results from an optical study of controlled autoignition (or homogeneous charge compression ignition) of hydrogen in an engine of latest spark-ignition pentroof combustion chamber geometry with direct injection of hydrogen (100 bar). This was achieved by a combination of inlet air preheating in the range 200–400 C and residual gas recirculated internally by negative valve overlap. Hydrogen fuelling was set to various values of equivalence ratio typically in the range / = 0.40–0.63. Crank-angle resolved flame chemiluminescence images were acquired for a series of consecutive cycles at 1000 RPM in order to calculate in-cylinder rates of flame expansion and motion. Planar Laser Induced Fluorescence (LIF) of OH was also applied to record more detailed features of the autoignition pattern. Single and double (i.e. ‘split’ per cycle) hydrogen injection strategies were employed in order to identify the effect of mixture preparation on autoignition’s timing and spatial development. An attempt was also made to review relevant in-cylinder phenomena from the limited literature on hydrogen-fuelled spark-ignition optical engines and make comparisons were appropriate.

The effects of climate change and global warming are arising a new awareness on the impact of our daily life. Power generation for transportation and mobility as well as in industry is the main responsible for the greenhouse gas emissions. Indeed currently 80% of the energy is still produced by combustion of fossil fuels; thus great efforts need to be spent to make combustion greener and safer than in the past. For this reason a review of the most recent gas turbines combustion strategy with a focus on fuels combustion techniques and burners is presented here. A new generation of fuels for gas turbines are currently under investigation by the academic community with a specific concern about production and storage. Among them biofuels represent a trustworthy and valuable solution in the next decades during the transition to zero carbon fuels (e.g. hydrogen and ammonia). Promising combustion techniques explored in the past and then abandoned due to their technological complexity are now receiving renewed attention (e.g. MILD PVC) thanks to their effectiveness in improving the efficiency and reducing emissions of standard gas turbine cycles. Finally many advances are illustrated in terms of new burners developed for both aviation and power generation. This overview points out promising solutions for the next generation combustion and opens the way to a fast transition toward zero emissions power generation.

Background: Synthetic fuels based on renewable hydrogen and CO2 are a currently highly discussed piece of the puzzle to defossilize the transport sector. In this regard CO2 can play a positive role in shaping a sustainable future. Large potentials are available as a product of biogas production however occurring in small scales and in thin spatial distributions. This work aims to evaluate suitable synthetic fuel products to be produced at farm sites.<br/>Methods: A thermodynamic analysis to assess the energetic efficiency of synthesis pathways and a qualitative assessment of product handling issues is carried out.<br/>Results: Regarding the technical and safety-related advantages in storage liquid products are the superior option for fuel production at decentralized sites. Due to the economy of scale multi-stage synthesis processes lose economic performance with rising complexity. A method was shown which covers a principle sketch of all necessary reaction separation steps and all compression and heat exchanger units. The figures showed that methanol and butanol are the most suitable candidates in contrast to OME3-5 for implementation in existing transportation and fuel systems. These results were underpin by a Gibbs energy analysis.<br/>Conclusions: As long as safety regulations are met and the farm can guarantee safe storage and transport farm-site production for all intermediates can be realized technically. Ultimately this work points out that the process must be kept as simple as possible favoring methanol production at farm site and its further processing to more complicated fuels in large units for several fuel pathways.

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.

The exponentially growing contribution of renewable energy sources in the electricity mix requires large systems for energy storage to tackle resources intermittency. In this context the technologies for hydrogen production offer a clean and versatile alternative to boost renewables penetration and energy security. Hydrogen production as a strategy for the decarbonization of the energy sources mix has been investigated since the beginning of the 1990s. The stationary sector i.e. all parts of the economy excluding the transportation sector accounts for almost three-quarters of greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions (mass of CO2-eq) in the world associated with power generation. While several publications focus on the hybridization of renewables with traditional energy storage systems or in different pathways of hydrogen use (mainly power-to-gas) this study provides an insightful analysis of the state of art and evolution of renewable hydrogen-based systems (RHS) to power the stationary sector. The analysis started with a thorough review of RHS deployments for power-to-power stationary applications such as in power generation industry residence commercial building and critical infrastructure. Then a detailed evaluation of relevant techno-economic parameters such as levelized cost of energy (LCOE) hydrogen roundtrip efficiency (HRE) loss of power supply probability (LPSP) self-sufficiency ratio (SSR) or renewable fraction (fRES) is provided. Subsequently lab-scale plants and pilot projects together with current market trends and commercial uptake of RHS and fuel cell systems are examined. Finally the future techno-economic barriers and challenges for short and medium-term deployment of RHS are identified and discussed.

Clean renewable energy for Chinese cities is a priority in air quality improvement. This paper describes the recent Chinese advances in Polymer Electrolyte Membrane (PEM) hydrogen-fuel-cell-battery vehicles including buses and trucks. Following the 2016 Chinese government plan for new energy vehicles bus production in Foshan has now overtaken that in the EU USA and Japan combined. Hydrogen infrastructure requires much advance to catch up but numbers of filling stations are now increasing rapidly in the large cities. A particular benefit in China is the large number of battery manufacturing companies which fit well into the energy storage plan for hybrid fuel cell buses. The first city to manufacture thousands of PEM-battery hybrid buses is Foshan where the Feichi (Allenbus) company has built a new factory next to a novel fuel cell production line capable of producing 500 MW of fuel cell units per year. Hundreds of these buses are running on local Foshan routes this year while production of city delivery trucks has also been substantial. Results for energy consumption of these vehicles are presented and fitted to the Coulomb theory previously delineated.

The transition to hydrogen as a fuel source presents several challenges. One of the major hurdles is the cost-effective production of hydrogen in small quantities (less than 1MMscf/month). In the early demonstration phase hydrogen can be provided by bulk distribution of liquid or compressed gas from central production plants; however the next phase to fostering the hydrogen economy will likely include onsite generation and extensive pipeline networks to help effect a pervasive infrastructure. Providing inexpensive hydrogen at a fleet operator’s garage or local fuelling station is a key enabling technology for direct hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicles (FCVs). The objective of this project was to develop a comprehensive turnkey stand-alone commercial hydrogen fuelling station for FCVs with state-of-the-art technology that is cost-competitive with current hydrocarbon fuels. Such a station would promote the advent of the hydrogen fuel economy for buses fleet vehicles and ultimately personal vehicles. Air Products partnering with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) The Pennsylvania State University Harvest Energy Technology and QuestAir developed a turnkey hydrogen fuelling station on the Penn State campus. Air Products aimed at designing a station that would have 65% overall station efficiency 82% PSA (pressure swing adsorption) efficiency and the capability of producing hydrogen at $3.00/kg (gge) H₂ at mass production rates. Air Products designed a fuelling station at Penn State from the ground up. This project was implemented in three phases. The first phase evaluated the various technologies available in hydrogen generation compression storage and gas dispensing. In the second phase Air Products designed the components chosen from the technologies examined. Finally phase three entailed a several-month period of data collection full-scale operation maintenance of the station and optimization of system reliability and performance. Based on field data analysis it was determined by a proprietary hydrogen-analysis model that hydrogen produced from the station at a rate of 1500 kg/day and when produced at 1000 stations per year would be able to deliver hydrogen at a price of $3.03/kg (gge) H₂. The station’s efficiency was measured to be 65.1% and the PSA was tested and ran at an efficiency of 82.1% thus meeting the project targets. From the study it was determined that more research was needed in the area of hydrogen fuelling. The overall cost of the hydrogen energy station when combined with the required plot size for scaled-up hydrogen demands demonstrated that a station using steam methane reforming technology as a means to produce on–site hydrogen would have limited utility in the marketplace. Alternative hydrogen supplies such as liquid or pipeline delivery to a refuelling station need to be included in the exploration of alternative energy site layouts. These avenues need to be explored before a definitive refuelling station configuration and commercialization pathway can be determined.

These two joint reports required under the Environment (Wales) Act 2016 provide ministers with advice on Wales’ climate targets between now and 2050 and assess progress on reducing emissions to date. Our advice to the Welsh Government is set out in two parts:

Advice Report: The path to a Net Zero Wales provides recommendations on the actions that are needed in Wales including the legislation of a Net Zero target and package of policies to deliver it.

Progress Report: Reducing emissions in Wales looks back at the progress made in Wales since the 2016 Environment (Wales) Act was passed and assesses whether Wales is on track to meet its currently legislated emissions reductions targets.

This work is based on an extensive programme of analysis consultation and consideration by the Committee and its staff building on the evidence published last year for our Net Zero report. It is compatible with our advice on the UK’s Sixth Carbon Budget. In support of the advice in this report we have also published:

• All the charts and data behind the report as well as a separate dataset for the scenarios which sets out more details and data on the pathways than can be included in this report.
• A public Call for Evidence several new research projects three expert advisory groups and deep dives into the roles of local authorities and businesses.

The hydrogen fuel cell (HFC) vehicle is an important clean energy vehicle which has prospects for development. The behavior of the hydrogen fuel cell (HFC) vehicle power system and in particular the proton-exchange membrane fuel cell has been extensively studied as of recent. The development of the dynamic system modeling technology is of paramount importance for HFC vehicle studies; however it is hampered by the separation of the electrochemical properties and dynamic properties. In addition the established model matching the follow-up control method lacks applicability. In attempts to counter these obstructions we proposed an improved fuzzy (Proportional Integral Derivative) PID control method considering HFC voltage-output characteristics. By developing both the electrochemical and dynamic model for HFC vehicle we can realize the coordinated control of HFC and power cell. The simulation results are in good agreement with the experimental results in the two models. The proposed control algorithm has a good control effect in all stages of HFC vehicle operation.

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.

Considering the targets of the Paris agreement rapid decarbonisation of the power system is needed. In order to study cost-optimal and reliable zero and negative carbon power systems a power system model of Western Europe for 2050 is developed. Realistic future technology costs demand levels and generator flexibility constraints are considered. The optimised portfolios are tested for both favourable and unfavourable future weather conditions using results from a global climate model accounting for the potential impacts of climate change on Europe’s weather. The cost optimal mix for zero or negative carbon power systems consists of firm low-carbon capacity intermittent renewable energy sources and flexibility capacity. In most scenarios the amount of low-carbon firm capacity is around 75% of peak load providing roughly 65% of the electricity demand. Furthermore it is found that with a high penetration of intermittent renewable energy sources a high dependence on cross border transmission batteries and a shift to new types of ancillary services is required to maintain a reliable power system. Despite relatively small changes in the total generation from intermittent renewable energy sources between favourable and unfavourable weather years of 6% emissions differ up to 70 MtCO2 yr−1 and variable systems costs up to 25%. In a highly interconnected power system with significant flexible capacity in the portfolio and minimal curtailment of intermittent renewables the potential role of green hydrogen as a means of electricity storage appears to be limited.

The achievement of a carbon-free emissions economy is one of the main goals to reduce climate change and its negative effects. Scientists and technological improvements have followed this trend improving efficiency and reducing carbon and other compounds that foment climate change. Since the main contributor of these emissions is transportation detaching this sector from fossil fuels is a necessary step towards an environmentally friendly future. Therefore an evaluation of alternative fuels will be needed to find a suitable replacement for traditional fossil-based fuels. In this scenario hydrogen appears as a possible solution. However the existence of the drawbacks associated with the application of H2 -ICE redirects the solution to dual-fuel strategies which consist of mixing different fuels to reduce negative aspects of their separate use while enhancing the benefits. In this work a new combustion modelling approach based on machine learning (ML) modeling is proposed for predicting the burning rate of different mixtures of methane (CH4 ) and hydrogen (H2). Laminar flame speed calculations have been performed to train the ML model finding a faster way to obtain good results in comparison with actual models applied to SI engines in the virtual engine model framework.

Considering energy crises and pollution problems today much work has been done for alternative fuels for fossil fuels and lowering the toxic components in the combustion products. Expert studies proved that hydrogen one of the prominent alternative energy source which has many excellent combustion properties that can be used for improving combustion and emissions performance of gasoline-fuelled spark ignition (SI) engines. This article experimentally investigated the performance and emission characteristics of a high speed single cylinder SI engine operating with different hydrogen gasoline blends. For this purpose the conventional carburetted high speed SI engine was modified into an electronically controllable engine with help of electronic control unit (ECU) which dedicatedly used to control the injection timings and injection durations of gasoline. Various hydrogen enrichment levels were selected to investigate the effect of hydrogen addition on engine brake mean effective pressure (Bmep) brake thermal efficiency volumetric efficiency and emission characteristics. The test results demonstrated that combustion performances fuel consumption and brake mean effective pressure were eased with hydrogen enrichment. The experimental results also showed that the brake thermal efficiency was higher than that for the pure gasoline operation. Moreover HC and CO emissions were all reduced after hydrogen enrichment.

The demand for fossil fuels is increasing because of globalization and rising energy demands. As a result many nations are exploring alternative energy sources and hydrogen is an efficient and practical alternative fuel. In the transportation industry the development of hydrogen-powered cars aims to maximize fuel efficiency and significantly reduce exhaust gas emission and concentration. The impact of using hydrogen as a supplementary fuel for spark ignition (SI) and compression ignition (CI) engines on engine performance and gas emissions was investigated in this study. By adding hydrogen as a fuel in internal combustion engines the torque power and brake thermal efficiency of the engines decrease while their brake-specific fuel consumption increase. This study suggests that using hydrogen will reduce the emissions of CO UHC CO2 and soot; however NOx emission is expected to increase. Due to the reduction of environmental pollutants for most engines and the related environmental benefits hydrogen fuel is a clean and sustainable energy source and its use should be expanded.

Sets out our vision for the future of heat in buildings and the actions we are taking in the buildings sector to deliver our climate change commitments maximise economic opportunities and ensure a just transition including helping address fuel poverty.

In this paper a kind of on-board liquid hydrogen (LH2 ) cold energy utilization system for a heavy-duty fuel cell hybrid truck is proposed. Through this system the cold energy of LH2 is used for cooling the inlet air of a compressor and the coolant of the accessories cooling system sequentially to reduce the parasitic power including the air compressor water pump and radiator fan power. To estimate the cold energy utilization ratio and parasitic power saving capabilities of this system a model based on AMESim software was established and simulated under different ambient temperatures and fuel cell stack loads. The simulation results show that cold energy utilization ratio can keep at a high level except under extremely low ambient temperature and light load. Compared to the original LH2 system without cold energy utilization the total parasitic power consumption can be saved by up to 15% (namely 1.8 kW).

The energy supply in Austria is significantly based on fossil natural gas. Due to the necessary decarbonization of the heat and energy sector a switch to a green substitute is necessary to limit CO2 emissions. Especially innovative concepts such as power-to-gas establish the connection between the storage of volatile renewable energy and its conversion into green gases. In this paper different methanation strategies are applied on syngas from biomass gasification. The investigated syngas compositions range from traditional steam gasification sorption-enhanced reforming to the innovative CO2 gasification. As the producer gases show different compositions regarding the H2/COx ratio three possible methanation strategies (direct sub-stoichiometric and over-stoichiometric methanation) are defined and assessed with technological evaluation tools for possible future large-scale set-ups consisting of a gasification an electrolysis and a methanation unit. Due to its relative high share of hydrogen and the high technical maturity of this gasification mode syngas from steam gasification represents the most promising gas composition for downstream methanation. Sub-stoichiometric operation of this syngas with limited H2 dosage represents an attractive methanation strategy since the hydrogen utilization is optimized. The overall efficiency of the sub-stoichiometric methanation lies at 59.9%. Determined by laboratory methanation experiments a share of nearly 17 mol.% of CO2 needs to be separated to make injection into the natural gas grid possible. A technical feasible alternative avoiding possible carbon formation in the methanation reactor is the direct methanation of sorption-enhanced reforming syngas with an overall process efficiency in large-scale applications of 55.9%.

An adaptive response renewable energy plant (AREP) that provides grid balancing services and XeV station fuelling services (where “X” is any type) using renewable energy located in urban centres is described. The AREP has its own primary renewable energy sources and adapts operation in the short term to changing levels of excess or deficient energy on LV and MV electricity grids. The AREP adaptively responds by (1) storing excess energy in batteries for the short term and in hydrogen tanks after energy conversion by electrolysers for the long term; (2) returning power to the grid from either the AREP’s own primary (electron-based) energy sources or batteries and/or from hydrogen via conversion in fuel cells; (3) providing electricity for fast charging BeVs and PHeVs and hydrogen for FCeVs; and (4) exporting excess stored energy as hydrogen to domestic markets. The AREP also adapts over the long term by predictive planning of charging capacity such that the type and capacity of renewable energy equipment is optimised for future operations. A key advantage of this AREP configuration is a flexible “plug and play” capability with modular extension of energy assets. If the AREP footprint is constrained interaction with neighbouring AREPs as a mini-VPP-AREP network can assist in balancing short-term operating requirements. The benefits of this grid balancing and XeV renewable energy filling station or AREP are environmental social and economic through efficient functionality of appropriately sized components. AREPs provide a net zero emissions electricity solution to an existing network with short and long-term storage options as well as a net zero emissions fuel alternative to the transport sector while leveraging existing infrastructure with minimal upfront CAPEX. AREPs can give the flexibility a grid needs to enable high levels of renewable installations while developing green hydrogen production.

Mass-produced off-the-shelf automotive air compressors cannot be directly used for boosting a fuel cell vehicle (FCV) application in the same way that they are used in internal combustion engines since the requirements are different. These include a high pressure ratio a low mass flow rate a high efficiency requirement and a compact size. From the established fuel cell types the most promising for application in passenger cars or light commercial vehicle applications is the proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) operating at around 80 ◦C. In this case an electric-assisted turbocharger (E-turbocharger) and electric supercharger (single or two-stage) are more suitable than screw and scroll compressors. In order to determine which type of these boosting options is the most suitable for FCV application and assess their individual merits a co-simulation of FCV powertrains between GT-SUITE and MATLAB/SIMULINK is realised to compare vehicle performance on the Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure (WLTP) driving cycle. The results showed that the vehicle equipped with an E-turbocharger had higher performance than the vehicle equipped with a two-stage compressor in the aspects of electric system efficiency (+1.6%) and driving range (+3.7%); however for the same maximal output power the vehicle’s stack was 12.5% heavier and larger. Then due to the existence of the turbine the E-turbocharger led to higher performance than the single-stage compressor for the same stack size. The solid oxide fuel cell is also promising for transportation application especially for a use as range extender. The results show that a 24-kWh electric vehicle can increase its driving range by 252% due to a 5 kW solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) stack and a gas turbine recovery system. The WLTP driving range depends on the charge cycle but with a pure hydrogen tank of 6.2 kg the vehicle can reach more than 600 km.

Ethanol and palm oil biodiesel blended with diesel fuel have the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions such as carbon dioxide (CO2) and can gradually decrease dependence on fossil fuels. However the combustion products from these fuels such as oxides of nitrogen (NOx) total hydrocarbons (THC) and particulate matter (PM) require to be examined and any beneficial or detrimental effect to the environment needs to be assessed. This study investigates the hydrocarbon selective catalyst reduction (HC-SCR) activities by the effect of combustion using renewable fuels (biodiesel-ethanol-diesel) blends and the effect of hydrogen addition to the catalyst with the various diesel engine operating conditions. Lower values rate of heat released were recorded as the ethanol fraction increases resulting in trade-off where lower NOx was produced while greater concentration of carbon monoxide (CO) and THC was measured in the exhaust. Consequently increasing the THC/NOx promoting the NOx reduction activity (up to 43%). Additionally the HC-SCR performance was greatly heightened when hydrogen was added into the catalyst and able to improve the NOx reduction activity up to 73%. The experiment demonstrated plausible alternatives to improve the HC-SCR performance through the aids from fuel blends and hydrogen addition.

This paper presents a new model of fuel cells for two different modes of operation: constant fuel utilization control (constant stoichiometry condition) and constant fuel flow control (constant flow rate condition). The model solves the long-standing problem of mixing reversible and irreversible potentials (equilibrium and non-equilibrium states) in the Nernst voltage expression. Specifically a Nernstian gain term is introduced for the constant fuel utilization condition and it is shown that the Nernstian gain is an irreversibility in the computation of the output voltage of the fuel cell. A Nernstian loss term accounts for an irreversibility for the constant fuel flow operation. Simulation results are presented. The model has been validated against experimental data from the literature.

Carbonate looping (CaL) has been shown to be less energy-intensive when compared to mature carbon capture technologies. Further reduction in the efficiency penalties can be achieved by employing a more efficient source of heat for the calcination process instead of oxy-fuel combustion. In this study a kW-scale solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC)-integrated calciner was designed and developed to evaluate the technical feasibility of simultaneously generating power and driving the calcination process using the high-grade heat of the anode off-gas. Such a system can be integrated with CaL systems or employed as a negative-emission technology where the calcines are used to capture CO₂ from the atmosphere. The demonstration unit consisted of a planar SOFC stack operating at 750 °C and a combined afterburner/calciner to combust hydrogen slip from the anode off-gas and thermally decompose magnesite dolomite and limestone. The demonstrator generated up to 2 kWelDC power achieved a temperature in the range of 530–550 °C at the inlet of the afterburner and up to 678 °C in the calciner which was sufficient to demonstrate full calcination of magnesite and partial calcination of dolomite. However in order to achieve the temperature required for calcination of limestone further scale-up and heat integration are needed. These results confirmed technical feasibility of the SOFC-calciner concept for production of calcined materials either for the market or for direct air capture (DAC).

Green hydrogen for mobility represents an alternative to conventional fuel to decarbonize the transportation sector. Nevertheless the thermodynamic properties make the transport and the storage of this energy carrier at standard conditions inefficient. Therefore this study deploys a georeferenced optimal transport infrastructure for four base case scenarios in France and Germany that differs by production distribution based on wind power potential and demand capacities for the mobility sector at different penetration shares for 2030 and 2050. The restrained transport network to the road infrastructure allows focusing on the optimum combination of trucks operating at different states of aggregations and storage technologies and its impact on the annual cost and hydrogen flow using linear programming. Furthermore four other scenarios with production cost investigate the impact of upstream supply chain cost and eight scenarios with daily transport and storage optimization analyse the modeling method sensitivity. The results show that compressed hydrogen gas at a high presser level around 500 bar was on average a better option. However at an early stage of hydrogen fuel penetration substituting compressed gas at low to medium pressure levels by liquid organic hydrogen carrier minimizes the transport and storage costs. Finally in France hydrogen production matches population distribution in contrast to Germany which suffers from supply and demand disparity.

The need to reduce the climate impact of the transport sector has led to an increasing interest in the utilisation of alternative fuels. Producing advanced fuels through the integration of anaerobic digestion and power-to-fuel technologies may offer a solution to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from difficult to decarbonise modes of transport such as heavy goods vehicles shipping and commercial aviation while also offering wider system benefits. This paper investigates the energy balance of power-to-fuel (power-to-methane power-to-methanol power-to-Fischer-Tropsch fuels) production integrated with a biogas facility co-digesting grass silage and dairy slurry. Through the integration of power-to-methane with anaerobic digestion an increase in system gross energy of 62.6% was found. Power-to-methanol integration with the biogas system increased the gross energy by 50% while power-to-Fischer-Tropsch fuels increased the gross energy yield by 32%. The parasitic energy demand for hydrogen production was highlighted as the most significant factor for integrated biogas and power-to-fuel facilities. Consuming electricity that would otherwise have been curtailed and optimising the anaerobic digestion process were identified as key to improving the energetic efficiency of all system configurations. However the broad cross-sectoral benefits of the overarching cascading circular economy system such as providing electrical grid stability and utilising waste resources must also be considered for a comprehensive perspective on the integration of anaerobic digestion and power-to-fuel.

Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) produce electricity with high electrical efficiency and fuel flexibility without pollution for example CO₂ NO_x SO_x and particles. Still numerous issues hindered the large‐scale commercialization of fuel cell at a large scale such as fuel storage mechanical failure catalytic degradation electrode poisoning from fuel and air for example lifetime in relation to cost. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) couples various physical fields which is vital to reduce the redundant workload required for SOFC development. Modeling of SOFCs includes the coupling of charge transfer electrochemical reactions fluid flow energy transport and species transport. The Butler‐Volmer equation is frequently used to describe the coupling of electrochemical reactions with current density. The most frequently used is the activation‐ and diffusion‐controlled Butler‐Volmer equation. Three different electrode reaction models are examined in the study which is named case 1 case 2 and case 3 respectively. Case 1 is activation controlled while cases 2 and 3 are diffusion‐controlled which take the concentration of redox species into account. It is shown that case 1 gives the highest reaction rate followed by case 2 and case 3. Case 3 gives the lowest reaction rate and thus has a much lower current density and temperature. The change of activation overpotential does not follow the change of current density and temperature at the interface of the anode and electrolyte and interface of cathode and electrolyte which demonstrates the non‐linearity of the model. This study provides a reference to build electrochemical models of SOFCs and gives a deep understanding of the involved electrochemistry.

The Australian transport sector is under increasing pressure to reduce carbon emissions whilst also managing a fuel supply chain that relies heavily on foreign import partners.



Transport in Australia equates to a significant proportion (approximately 18%) of the country’s total greenhouse gas emissions. Due to ongoing population growth these emissions have been steadily rising with the increase of cars on our roads and freight trucks in transit. Coupled with this the transport fuel supply chain is highly reliant on overseas partners – Australia currently imports 90% of its liquid fuel. These two challenges present an interesting dichotomy for the industry incentivising research and development into new technologies that can address one or both of these issues.



Hydrogen is one technology that has the potential to provide a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions as well as a more reliable domestic fuel supply. Hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) are an emerging zero-emission alternative for the transport sector which offer a variety of benefits.



Available from the Energy Ministers Website link here

A research is under development at the Department of Agro-Environmental Sciences of the University of Bari “Aldo Moro” in order to investigate the suitable solutions of a power system based on solar energy (photovoltaic) and hydrogen integrated with a geothermal heat pump for powering a self sustained heated greenhouse. The electrical energy for heat pump operation is provided by a purpose-built array of solar photovoltaic modules which supplies also a water electrolyser system controlled by embedded pc; the generated dry hydrogen gas is conserved in suitable pressured storage tank. The hydrogen is used to produce electricity in a fuel cell in order to meet the above mentioned heat pump power demand when the photovoltaic system is inactive during winter night-time or the solar radiation level is insufficient to meet the electrical demand. The present work reports some theoretical and observed data about the electrolyzer operation. Indeed the electrolyzer has required particular attention because during the experimental tests it did not show a stable operation and it was registered a performance not properly consistent with the predicted performance by means of the theoretical study.

The House of Lords Science and Technology Committee will hear from leading researchers about anticipated developments in batteries and fuel cells over the next ten years that could contribute to meeting the net-zero target.

The Committee continues its inquiry into the Role of batteries and fuel cells in achieving Net Zero. It will ask a panel of experts about batteries hearing about the current state-of-the-art in technologies that are currently in deployment primarily lithium-ion batteries. It will also explore the potential of next generation technologies currently in development and the challenges in scaling them up to manufacture.

The Committee will then question a second panel about fuel cells hearing about the different types available and their applications. It will explore challenges that need to be overcome in the development of the technology and will consider the UK’s international standing in the sector.

Meeting details

At 10.00am: Oral evidence

Professor Serena Corr Chair in Functional Nanomaterials and Director of Research Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at University of Sheffield

Professor Paul Shearing Professor in Chemical Engineering at University College London

Dr Jerry Barker Founder and Chief Technology Officer at Faradion Limited

Dr Melanie Loveridge Associate Professor Warwick Manufacturing Group at University of Warwick

At 11.00am: Oral evidence

Professor Andrea Russell Professor of Physical Electrochemistry at University of Southampton

Professor Anthony Kucernak Professor of Physical Chemistry Faculty of Natural Sciences at Imperial College London

Professor John Irvine Professor School of Chemistry at University of St Andrews

Possible questions

• What contribution are battery and fuel cell technologies currently making towards decarbonization in the UK?
• What advances do we expect to see in battery and fuel cell technologies and over what timeframes?
• How quickly can UK battery and fuel cell manufacture be scaled up to meet electrification demands?
• What are the challenges facing technological innovation and deployment in heavy transport?
• Are there any sectors where battery and fuel cell technologies are not currently used but could contribute to decarbonisation?
• What are the life cycle environmental impacts of batteries and fuel cells?

Parliament TV video of the meeting

This is part two of a three part enquiry.

Part one can be found here and part three can be found here.

The House of Lords Science and Technology Committee will question experts on the role of batteries and fuel cells for decarbonisation and how much they can contribute to meeting the net-zero target.

Tuesday’s evidence session will be the first of the committee’s new decarbonisation inquiry which was launched on Wednesday 3 March and is currently accepting written evidence submissions.

The session will give an overview of battery and fuel cell technologies and their applications in transport and other sectors. The Committee will ask how battery manufacture can be scaled up to meet wide-scale deployment of electric vehicles and whether technical challenges can be overcome to allow batteries and fuel cells to be used in HGVs and trains. The Committee will also investigate the wider use of batteries and fuel cells in various sectors including integration into power grids and heating systems.

Inquiry Role of batteries and fuel cells in achieving Net Zero

Professor Nigel Brandon Dean of the Faculty of Engineering at Imperial College London

Professor Mauro Pasta Associate Professor of Materials at University of Oxford

Professor Pam Thomas CEO at Faraday Institution and Pro Vice Chancellor for Research at University of Warwick

Mr Amer Gaffar Director of Manchester Fuel Cell Innovation Centre at Manchester Metropolitan University



Possible questions

What contribution are battery and fuel cell technologies currently making towards decarbonization in the UK?

What advances do we expect to see in battery and fuel cell technologies and over what timeframes?

How quickly can UK battery and fuel cell manufacture be scaled up to meet electrification demands?

What are the challenges facing technological innovation and deployment in heavy transport?

Are there any sectors where battery and fuel cell technologies are not currently used but could contribute to decarbonisation?

What are the life cycle environmental impacts of batteries and fuel cells?

Parliament TV video of the meeting​​​

This is part one of a three part enquiry.

Part two can be found here and part three can be found here.

The House of Lords Science and Technology Committee will hear from officials research funders and leading research consortia about the UK’s strategy for research and development of batteries and fuel cells to help meet the net-zero target.



The Committee will question officials from government departments and research councils about the UK’s increased support for battery development and how the initiatives and funding will evolve. The Committee will compare the support given to fuel cell research and ask how this technology will be developed for applications such as heavy transport. For both technologies it will ask how training will be delivered to provide a skilled workforce.



The Committee will also hear from leaders of research consortia asking them about support for their research sectors and how this compares with countries leading the development of the technologies. The Committee will explore coordination between research into batteries fuel cells and wider strategies such as for hydrogen and whether research for transport can be transferred to applications in other sectors such as power grids and heating.



At 10.00am: Oral evidence 

Mr Tony Harper Industrial Strategy Challenge Director Faraday Battery Challenge at UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) at University of Central Lancashire

Dr Lucy Martin Deputy Director of Cross-Council Programmes and lead for Net Zero at University of Central Lancashire

Dr Bob Moran Deputy Director Head of Environment Strategy at University of Central Lancashire

Professor Paul Monks Chief Scientific Adviser at University of Central Lancashire



At 11.00am: Oral evidence

Professor Philip Taylor Director at EPSRC Supergen Energy Networks Hub and Pro-Vice Chancellor for Research and Enterprise at University of Bristol

Professor David Greenwood CEO High Value Manufacturing Catapult at University of Central Lancashire Director Industrial Engagement at University of Central Lancashire and Professor of Advanced Propulsion Systems at University of Warwick

Professor Paul Dodds Professor of Energy Systems at University of Central Lancashire



Possible questions

• On which aspects of battery and fuel cell research and development is the UK focusing and why?
• How successful have the UK’s new research initiatives been in advancing battery science and application?
• Does battery research receive greater public funding than fuel cell research? If so why?
• What technologies are seen as the most likely options for heavy transport i.e. HGVs buses and trains?
• What is the Government’s strategy for supporting the growth of skilled workers for battery and fuel cell research and development?
• To what extent is battery and fuel cell research and development coordinated in the UK? If so who is responsible for this coordination?

Parliament TV video of the meeting



This is part three of a three part enquiry.

Part one can be found here and part two can be found here.

Current developments of non-relativistic quantum mechanics appear to predict and reveal counter-intuitive dynamical effects of hydrogen in nanostructured materials that are of considerable importance for basic research as well as for technological applications. In this review the experimental focus is on H₂O and H molecules in carbon nanotubes and other nanocavities that have been experimentally investigated using the well-established technique of incoherent inelastic neutron scattering (INS). For instance the momentum and energy transfers as obtained from the commonly used standard data analysis techniques from a

(I) H₂ molecule in a C-nanotube resulting in a roto-translational motion along the nanotube axis seems to (1) either violate the standard conservation laws or (2) to attribute to the H molecule undergoing translation the effective mass a.m.u. (atomic mass units) instead of the expected 2 a.m.u. A similar striking anomalous effect has been found in the neutron-H scattering from the

(II) H₂O molecules in nano-channels of some solid materials in which O-H stretching vibrations along the channel axis are created.

The results of this scattering process seem to once again either violate the standard conservation laws or to attribute to the effective mass of the struck H₂ molecule as a.m.u. instead of the expected value of 1 a.m.u. We show that these counterintuitive observations from the INS studies have no conventional interpretation within the standard non-relativistic scattering theory. However they can be qualitatively interpreted “from first principles” within the framework of modern theories of

(III) time-symmetric quantum dynamics as provided by the weak values (WV) and two-state- vector formalism (TSVF)

and/or

(IV) quantum correlations especially quantum discord (QD) and quantum thermodynamics (QTD).

The theoretical analysis provides an intuitive understanding of the experimental results gives strong evidence that the nano-structured cavities do represent quantum systems which participate significantly in the dynamics of the neutron-H scattering and surprisingly shows that new physical information can be derived from the experimental data. This latter point may also have far-reaching consequences for technology and material sciences (e.g. fuel cells H storage materials etc.). Moreover novel insights into the short-lived quantum dynamics and/or quantum information theory can be gained.

A compact air-breathing jet hybrid-electric engine coupled with solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC) is proposed to develop the propulsion system with high power-weight ratios and specific thrust. The heat exchanger for preheating air is integrated with nozzles. Therefore the exhaust in the nozzle expands during the heat exchange with compressed air. The nozzle inlet temperature is obviously improved. SOFCs can directly utilize the fuel of liquid natural gas after being heated. The performance parameters of the engine are acquired according to the built thermodynamic and mass models. The main conclusions are as follows. 1) The specific thrust of the engine is improved by 20.25% compared with that of the traditional jet engine. As pressure ratios rise the specific thrust increases up to 1.7 kN/(kg·s⁻¹). Meanwhile the nozzle inlet temperature decreases. However the temperature increases for the traditional combustion engine. 2) The power-weight ratio of the engine is superior to that of internal combustion engines and inferior to that of turbine engines when the power density of SOFC would be assumed to be that predicted for 2030. 3) The total pressure recovery coefficients of SOFCs combustors and preheaters have an obvious influence on the specific thrust of the engine and the power-weight ratio of the engine is strongly affected by the power density of SOFCs.

Europe has built up one of the best gas distribution infrastructures in the world. There’s one problem though. It distributes natural gas a fuel that we will hardly be able to use if we’re to reach our net zero targets. Can we use the infrastructure instead for clean hydrogen – either blended with natural gas as a stepping stone or with pure hydrogen in the future? In this episode we put aside discussion on the extent to which we should do this – and focus on whether or not we can do this and what’s involved in doing so.

Jon Slowe is joined by Eva Hennig Head of Department for EU Energy Policy at Thüga an alliance of German municipal energy companies (as well as chair of Eurogas’s distribution committee); Keith Owen Head of Systems Development and Energy Strategy at Northern Gas Networks in the UK; and Delta-EE expert Rob Castek.  

The Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH JU) has supported a range of initiatives in recent years designed to develop hydrogen fuel cell buses to a point where they can fulfil their promise as a mainstream zero emission vehicle for public transport.<br/>Within this study 90 different European cities and regions have been supported in understanding the business case of fuel cell bus deployment and across these locations. The study analyses the funding and financing for fuel cell bus deployment to make them become a mainstream zero emission choice for public transport providers in cities and regions across Europe. It also outlines possible solutions for further deployment of FC buses beyond the subsidised phase.<br/>In the light of the experience of the joint tender process in the UK and in Germany the study highlights best practices for ordering fuel cell buses. Other innovative instruments explored in other countries for the orders of large quantities of fuel cells buses are presented: Special Purpose Vehicles and centralised purchase office. Finally the study deeply analyses the funding and financing for fuel cell bus deployment to make them become a mainstream zero emission choice for public transport providers in cities and regions across Europe.

With the rapid development of hydrogen vehicle technology and large scale fuel cell vehicle (FCV) demonstration project worldwide more hydrogen refueling stations need to be built. Safety distances of hydrogen refueling stations have always been a public concern and have become a critical issue to further implementation of hydrogen station. In this paper safety distances for 35MPa and 70MPa gaseous hydrogen refueling station are evaluated on the basis of the maximum consequences likely to occur. Four typical consequences of hydrogen release are considered in modeling: physical explosion jet fire flash fire and confined vapor cloud explosion. Results show that physical explosion and the worst case of confined vapor cloud explosion produce the longest harm effect distances for instantaneous and continuous release respectively indicating that they may be considered as leading consequences for the determination of safety distances. For both 35MPa station and 70MPa station safety measures must be implemented because the calculated safety distances of most hydrogen facilities can not meet the criteria in national code if without sufficient mitigation measures. In order to reduce the safety distances to meet the national code some mitigation measures are investigated including elevation of hydrogen facilities using smaller vessel and pipe work and setting enclosure around compressors. Results show that these measures are effective to improve safety but each has different effectiveness on safety distance reduction. The combination of these safety measures may effectively eliminate the hazard of 35MPa station however may be not enough for 70MPa station. Further improvements need to be studied for compressors inside 70MPa station.

Protonic ceramic fuel cells (PCFCs) are promising electrochemical devices for the efficient and clean conversion of hydrogen and low hydrocarbons into electrical energy. Their intermediate operation temperature (500–800 °C) proffers advantages in terms of greater component compatibility unnecessity of expensive noble metals for the electrocatalyst and no dilution of the fuel electrode due to water formation. Nevertheless the lower operating temperature in comparison to classic solid oxide fuel cells places significant demands on the cathode as the reaction kinetics are slower than those related to fuel oxidation in the anode or ion migration in the electrolyte. Cathode design and composition are therefore of crucial importance for the cell performance at low temperature. The different approaches that have been adopted for cathode materials research can be broadly classified into the categories of protonic–electronic conductors oxide-ionic–electronic conductors triple-conducting oxides and composite electrodes composed of oxides from two of the other categories. Here we review the relatively short history of PCFC cathode research discussing trends highlights and recent progress. Current understanding of reaction mechanisms is also discussed.

Hydrogen and its energy carriers such as liquid hydrogen (LH2) methylcyclohexane (MCH) and ammonia (NH3) are essential components of low-carbon energy systems. To utilize hydrogen energy the complete environmental merits of its supply chain should be evaluated. To understand the expected environmental benefit under the uncertainty of hydrogen technology development we conducted life-cycle inventory analysis and calculated CO2 emissions and their uncertainties attributed to the entire supply chain of hydrogen and NH3 power generation (co-firing and mono-firing) in Japan. Hydrogen was assumed to be produced from overseas renewable energy sources with LH2/MCH as the carrier and NH3 from natural gas or renewable energy sources. The Japanese life-cycle inventory database was used to calculate emissions. Monte Carlo simulations were performed to evaluate emission uncertainty and mitigation factors using hydrogen energy. For LH2 CO2 emission uncertainty during hydrogen liquefaction can be reduced by using low-carbon fuel. For MCH CO2 emissions were not significantly affected by power consumption of overseas processes; however it can be reduced by implementing low-carbon fuel and waste-heat utilization during MCH dehydrogenation. Low-carbon NH3 production processes significantly affected power generation whereas carbon capture and storage during NH3 production showed the greatest reduction in CO2 emission. In conclusion reducing CO2 emissions during the production of hydrogen and NH3 is key to realize low-carbon hydrogen energy systems.

Many Unmanned Air Vehicle (UAV) applications require vertical take-off and landing and very long-range capabilities. Fixed-wing aircraft need long runways to land and electric energy is still a bottleneck for helicopters which are not range efficient. In this paper we introduce the NederDrone a hybrid lift hybrid energy hydrogen-powered UAV that can perform vertical take-off and landings using its 12 propellers while flying efficiently in forward flight thanks to its fixed wings. The energy is supplied from a combination of hydrogen-driven Polymer Electrolyte Membrane fuel-cells for endurance and lithium batteries for high-power situations. The hydrogen is stored in a pressurized cylinder around which the UAV is optimized. This work analyses the selection of the concept the implemented safety elements the electronics and flight control and shows flight data including a 3h38 flight at sea while starting and landing from a small moving ship.

Managing the concentration of atmospheric CO₂ requires a multifaceted engineering strategy which remains a highly challenging task. Reducing atmospheric CO₂ (CO2R) by converting it to value-added chemicals in a carbon neutral footprint manner must be the ultimate goal. The latest progress in CO2R through either abiotic (artificial catalysts) or biotic (natural enzymes) processes is reviewed herein. Abiotic CO2R can be conducted in the aqueous phase that usually leads to the formation of a mixture of CO formic acid and hydrogen. By contrast a wide spectrum of hydrocarbon species is often observed by abiotic CO2R in the gaseous phase. On the other hand biotic CO2R is often conducted in the aqueous phase and a wide spectrum of value-added chemicals are obtained. Key to the success of the abiotic process is understanding the surface chemistry of catalysts which significantly governs the reactivity and selectivity of CO2R. However in biotic CO2R operation conditions and reactor design are crucial to reaching a neutral carbon footprint. Future research needs to look toward neutral or even negative carbon footprint CO2R processes. Having a deep insight into the scientific and technological aspect of both abiotic and biotic CO2R would advance in designing efficient catalysts and microalgae farming systems. Integrating the abiotic and biotic CO2R such as microbial fuel cells further diversifies the spectrum of CO2R.

This paper discusses the numerical modeling of an automobile fuel cell system using a two-stage turbo-compressor for air supply. The numerical model incorporates essential input parameters for air and hydrogen flow. The model also performed mass and energy balances across different components such as pump fan heat-exchanger air compressor and keeps in consideration the pressure losses across flow pipes and various mechanical parts. The compressor design process initiates with numerical analysis of the preliminary design of a highly efficient two-stage turbo compressor with an expander as a single-stage compressor has several limitations in terms of efficiency and pressure ratio. The compressor’s design parameters were carefully studied and analyzed with respect to the highly efficient fuel cell stack (FCS) used in modern hydrogen vehicles. The model is solved to evaluate the overall performance of PEM FCS. The final compressor has a total pressure and temperature of 4.2 bar and 149.3°C whereas the required power is 20.08kW with 3.18kW power losses and having a combined efficiency of 70.8%. According to the FC model with and without expander the net-power outputs are 98.15kW and 88.27kW respectively and the maximum efficiencies are 65.1% and 59.1% respectively. Therefore it can be concluded that a two-stage turbo compressor with a turbo-expander can have significant effects on overall system power and efficiency. The model can be used to predict and optimize system performance for PEM FCS at different operating conditions.