Applications & Pathways

The present review provides a catalogue of relevant renewable energy (RE) technologies currently available (regarding the 2030 scope) and to be available in the transition towards 2050 for the decarbonisation of Energy Intensive Industries (EIIs). RE solutions have been classified into technologies based on the use of renewable electricity and those used to produce heat for multiple industrial processes. Electrification will be key thanks to the gradual decrease in renewable power prices and the conversion of natural-gas-dependent processes. Industrial processes that are not eligible for electrification will still need a form of renewable heat. Among them the following have been identified: concentrating solar power heat pumps and geothermal energy. These can supply a broad range of needed temperatures. Biomass will be a key element not only in the decarbonisation of conventional combustion systems but also as a biofuel feedstock. Biomethane and green hydrogen are considered essential. Biomethane can allow a straightforward transition from fossil-based natural gas to renewable gas. Green hydrogen production technologies will be required to increase their maturity and availability in Europe (EU). EIIs’ decarbonisation will occur through the progressive use of an energy mix that allows EU industrial sectors to remain competitive on a global scale. Each industrial sector will require specific renewable energy solutions especially the top greenhouse gas-emitting industries. This analysis has also been conceived as a starting point for discussions with potential decision makers to facilitate a more rapid transition of EIIs to full decarbonisation.

Hydrogen is an essential element in the energy transition and can account for 24% of final energy demand and 5.4m jobs by 2050 says the new study by the FCH JU “Hydrogen Roadmap Europe: A sustainable pathway for the European Energy Transition“. Developed with input from 17 leading European industrial actors the study lays out a pathway for the large-scale deployment of hydrogen and fuel cells until 2050 and quantifies the associated socio-economic impacts.<br/>The report makes the case that hydrogen is required to address the challenges ahead. At scale decarbonisation of key segments such as the gas grid transport (particularly as relates to heavy duty vehicles) industrial processes that use high-grade heat and hydrogen as chemical feedstock require the use of hydrogen in large quantities.<br/>In addition the electrification of the economy and the large scale integration of intermittent renewable energy sources require large scale energy storage enabling seasonal storage and the efficient transport of clean energy across regions at low cost. Hydrogen is the only at scale technology capable of addressing all of these challenges.<br/>Importantly there will be important socio-economic and environmental benefits associated with this deployment such as an EUR 820B per year market and a total of 560Mt CO2 abated. The report lays out a roadmap for the ramp-up of market deployment across applications setting specific milestones between now and 2050. It also calls for a coordinated approach from policy makers industry and investors in order to achieve the 2-degree scenario.

Electric trains (ET) and hydrogen trains (HT) are considered zero emission at the point of use. True emissions are dependent upon non-tailpipe sources primarily in energy production. We present UK carbon dioxide (CO₂) operating emission model outputs for conventionally fuelled trains (CFT) ETs and HTs between 2017 and 2050 under four National Grid electricity generation scenarios.



Comparing four service categories (urban regional intercity and high speed) to private conventionally fuelled vehicles (CFV) and electric vehicles considering average distance travelled per trip under different passenger capacity levels (125% 100% 75% 50% and 25%).



Results indicate by 2050 at 100% capacity CFTs produce a fifth of the emissions of CFVs per kilometre per person. Under two degree generation scenario by 2050 ETs produced 14 times and HTs produced five times less emissions than CFTs. Policymakers should encourage shifts away from private vehicles to public transport powered by low carbon electricity.

A fuel cell—gas turbine hybrid propulsion concept is introduced and initially assessed. The concept uses the water mass flow produced by a hydrogen fuel cell in order to improve the efficiency and power output of the gas turbine engine through burner steam injection. Therefore the fuel cell product water is conditioned through a process of condensation pressurization and revaporization. The vaporization uses the waste heat of the gas turbine exhaust. The functional principles of the system concept are introduced and discussed and appropriate methodology for an initial concept evaluation is formulated. Essential technology fields are surveyed in brief. The impact of burner steam injection on gas turbine efficiency and sizing is parametrically modelled. Simplified parametric models of the fuel cell system and key components of the water treatment process are presented. Fuel cell stack efficiency and specific power levels are methodically derived from latest experimental studies at the laboratory scale. The overall concept is assessed for a liquid hydrogen fueled short-/medium range aircraft application. Block fuel savings of up to 7.1% are found for an optimum design case based on solid oxide fuel cell technology. The optimum design features a gas turbine water-to-air ratio of 6.1% in cruise and 62% reduced high-level NOx emissions.

We use a detailed solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) model for micro-grid applications to analyze the effect of failure and degradation on system performance. Design and operational constraints on a component and system level are presented. A degrees of freedom analysis identifies controlled and manipulated system variables which are important for control. Experimental data are included to model complex degradation phenomena of the SOFC unit. Rather than using a constant value a spatially distributed degradation rate as function of temperature and current density is used that allows to study trajectory based performance deterioration. The SOFC unit is assumed to consist of multiple stacks. The failure scenario studied is the loss of one individual SOFC stack e.g. due to breakage of sealing or a series of fuel cells. Simulations reveal that degradation leads to significant drifts from the design operating point. Moreover failure of individual stacks may bring the still operating power generation unit into a regime where further failures and accelerated degradation is more likely. It is shown that system design dimensioning operation and control are strongly linked. Apart from specific quantitative results perhaps the main practical contribution are the collected constraints and the degrees of freedom analysis.

Hydrogen remains an important option for long-term decarbonisation of energy and transport systems. However studying the possible transition paths and development prospects for a hydrogen energy system is challenging. The long-term nature of technological transitions inevitably means profound uncertainties diverging perspectives and contested priorities. Both modelling approaches and narrative storyline scenarios are widely used to explore the possible future of hydrogen energy but each approach has shortcomings.<br/>This paper presents a hybrid approach to assessing hydrogen transitions in the UK by confronting qualitative socio-technical scenarios with quantitative energy systems modelling through a process of ‘dialogue’ between scenario and model. Three possible transition pathways are explored each exploring different uncertainties and possible decision points. Conclusions are drawn for both the future of hydrogen and on the value of an approach that brings quantitative formal models and narrative scenario techniques into dialogue.

This paper presents the design of a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) tri-generation system that consists of an SOFC-combined heat and power subsystem an adsorption refrigeration subsystem and coupling devices between the two subsystems. Whereas typical extant designs use absorption techniques the proposed design employs adsorption refrigeration. In this paper the dynamics of adsorption refrigeration are reported in detail to evaluate the feasibility of the tri-generation system design. The design of the coupling devices and instrumentation strategies of the overall system are discussed in detail. Simulation results indicate that the proposed SOFC trigeneration system can output 4.35 kW of electrical power 2.448 kW of exhaust heat power and 1.348 kW of cooling power. The energy efficiency is 64.9% and the coefficient of performance of the refrigeration is 0.32. Varying the electrical output power results in the variation of exhaust heat power but not the cooling power; varying the cooling power affects the exhaust heat power but not the electrical power. These favorable features can be attributed to the proposed heat exchange sequence and active temperature controls of the system.

As one of the most promising alternative fuels hydrogen is expected with high hopes. The electrolysis of water is regarded as the cleanest and most efficient method of hydrogen production. Molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) is deemed as one of the most promising alternatives HER catalysts owing to its high catalytic activity and low cost. Its continuous production and efficient preparation become the key problems in future industrial production. In this work we first developed a continuous micro-reaction approach with high heat and mass transfer rates to synthesize few-layer MoS2 nanoplates with abundant active sites. The defective MoS2 ultrathin nanoplates exhibit excellent HER performance with an overpotential of 260 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm-2 small Tafel slope (53.6 mV dec-1) and prominent durability which are comparable to most reported MoS2 based catalysts. Considering the existence of continuous devices it’s suitable for the synthesis of MoS2 as high-performance electrocatalysts for the industrial water electrolysis. The novel preparation method may open up a new way to synthesize all two-dimension materials toward HER.

Currently most of the vehicles make use of fossil fuels for operations resulting in one of the largest sources of carbon dioxide emissions. The need to cut our dependency on these fossil fuels has led to an increased use of renewable energy sources (RESs) for mobility purposes. A technical and economic analysis of a one-stop charging station for battery electric vehicles (BEV) and fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEV) is investigated in this paper. The hybrid optimization model for electric renewables (HOMER) software and the heavy-duty refueling station analysis model (HDRSAM) are used to conduct the case study for a one-stop charging station at Technical University of Denmark (DTU)-Risø campus. Using HOMER a total of 42 charging station scenarios are analyzed by considering two systems (a grid-connected system and an off-grid connected system). For each system three different charging station designs (design A-hydrogen load; design B-an electrical load and design C-an integrated system consisting of both hydrogen and electrical load) are set up for analysis. Furthermore seven potential wind turbines with different capacity are selected from HOMER database for each system. Using HDRSAM a total 18 scenarios are analyzed with variation in hydrogen delivery option production volume hydrogen dispensing option and hydrogen dispensing option. The optimal solution from HOMER for a lifespan of twenty-five years is integrated into design C with the grid-connected system whose cost was $986065. For HDRSAM the optimal solution design consists of tube trailer as hydrogen delivery with cascade dispensing option at 350 bar together with high production volume and the cost of the system was $452148. The results from the two simulation tools are integrated and the overall cost of the one-stop charging station is achieved which was $2833465. The analysis demonstrated that the one-stop charging station with a grid connection is able to fulfil the charging demand cost-effectively and environmentally friendly for an integrated energy system with RESs in the investigated locations.

With the development of technologies in recent decades and the imposition of international standards to reduce greenhouse gas emissions car manufacturers have turned their attention to new technologies related to electric/hybrid vehicles and electric fuel cell vehicles. This paper focuses on electric fuel cell vehicles which optimally combine the fuel cell system with hybrid energy storage systems represented by batteries and ultracapacitors to meet the dynamic power demand required by the electric motor and auxiliary systems. This paper compares the latest proposed topologies for fuel cell electric vehicles and reveals the new technologies and DC/DC converters involved to generate up-to-date information for researchers and developers interested in this specialized field. From a software point of view the latest energy management strategies are analyzed and compared with the reference strategies taking into account performance indicators such as energy efficiency hydrogen consumption and degradation of the subsystems involved which is the main challenge for car developers. The advantages and disadvantages of three types of strategies (rule-based strategies optimization-based strategies and learning-based strategies) are discussed. Thus future software developers can focus on new control algorithms in the area of artificial intelligence developed to meet the challenges posed by new technologies for autonomous vehicles.