Applications & Pathways

Future national electricity heating cooling and transport systems need to reach zero emissions. Significant numbers of back-up power plants as well as large-scale energy storage capacity are required to guarantee the reliability of energy supply in 100 percent renewable energy systems. Electricity can be partially converted into hydrogen which can be transported via pipelines stored in large quantities in underground salt caverns to overcome seasonal effec Read More

The goal of the EU Horizon 2020 RISE project 778307 “Hydrogen fuelled utility vehicles and their support systems utilising metal hydrides” (HYDRIDE4MOBILITY) is in addressing critical issues towards a commercial implementation of hydrogen powered forklifts using metal hydride (MH) based hydrogen storage and PEM fuel cells together with the systems for their refuelling at industrial customers facilities. For these applications high spe Read More

This Discussion Paper was commissioned by Zukunft ERDGAS to contribute to the debate concerning the deep decarbonisation of the European energy sector required to meet the Paris Agreement targets. Previous discussion papers have put forward decarbonisation pathways that rely heavily on ‘All-Electric’ solutions. These depend predominantly on renewable electricity to deliver decarbonisation of all sectors. This paper offers an alternative to an ‘All- Read More

Increased use of renewable energy combined with intensified electrification could prove decisive for the world to meet key climate goals by 2050. This study from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) highlights immediately deployable cost-effective options for countries to fulfil climate commitments and limit the rise of global temperatures. The envisaged energy transformation would also reduce net costs and bring significant socio-economic Read More

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 de Read More

At present aero engine fault diagnosis is mainly based on the steady-state condition at the cruise phase and the gas path parameters in the entire flight process are not effectively used. At the same time high quality steady-state monitoring measurements are not always available and as a result the accuracy of diagnosis might be affected. There is a recognized need for real-time performance diagnosis of aero engines operating under transient conditio Read More

Today electricity & heat generation transportation and industrial sectors together produce more than 80% of energy-related CO2 emissions. Hydrogen may be used as an energy carrier and an alternative fuel in the industrial residential and transportation sectors for either heating energy production from fuel cells or direct fueling of vehicles. In particular the use of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (HFCVs) has the potential to virtually eliminate CO2 emissions Read More

Decarbonizing the current steel and power sectors through the development of the hydrogen direct-reduction iron ore–electric arc furnace route and the 100% hydrogen-fired gas turbine cycle is crucial. The current study focuses on three clusters of research works. The first cluster covers the investigation of the mass and energy balance of the route and the subsequent application of these values in experiments to optimize the reduction yield of iron or Read More

The report calls for a focus on new advanced alternative fuels in particular synthetic kerosene (efuels) which have the capacity to substantially reduce emissions and be scaled up to meet the fuel demands of the sector.For aviation to reach zero emissions sustainable advanced fuels are needed to replace fossil kerosene currently used by the sector. The European Green Deal (EGD) includes a legislative proposal which would bring about a long overdu Read More

Hydrogen fuel cell (H2FC) buses operating in every day public transport services around Europe are assessed for their sustainability against environmental economic and social criteria. As part of this assessment the buses are evaluated against diesel buses both in terms of sustainability and in terms of meeting real world requirements with respect to operational performance. The study concludes that H2FC buses meet operability and performance criteri Read More

The U.S. transportation sector accounts for 37% of total energy consumption. Automobiles are a primary application of polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells which operate under low temperature and high efficiency to reduce fossil fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. Using hydrogen fuel PEM fuel cells can reach a practical efficiency as high as 65% with water as the only byproduct. Almost all the major automakers are involved in fuel cell electric Read More

In this paper a novel process is developed to cogenerate 4741 kg/h of methanol 297.7 kW of electricity and 35.73 ton/h of hot water including a hydrogen purification system an absorption– compression refrigeration cycle (ACRC) a regenerative Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) and parabolic solar troughs. The heat produced in the methanol reactor is recovered in the ORC and ACRC. Parabolic solar troughs provide thermal power to the methanol distillation to Read More

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 tem Read More

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 aft Read More

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 n Read More

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 Read More

The U.S. energy system is evolving as society and technologies change. Renewable electricity generation—especially from wind and solar—is growing rapidly and alternative energy sources are being developed and implemented across the residential commercial transportation and industrial sectors to take advantage of their cost security and health benefits. Systemic changes present numerous challenges to grid resiliency and energy affordability cre Read More

The ambitious CO2 emission reduction targets for the transport sector set in the Paris Climate Agreement require low-carbon energy solutions that can be commissioned rapidly. The production of gasoline kerosene and diesel from renewable methanol using methanol-to-olefins (MTO) and Mobil’s Olefins to Gasoline and Distillate (MOGD) syntheses was investigated in this study via process simulation and economic analysis. The current work presents a Read More

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 Read More

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 Read More

As energy systems transition from fossil-based to low-carbon they face many challenges particularly concerning energy security and flexibility. Hydrogen may help to overcome these challenges with potential as a transport fuel for heating energy storage conversion to electricity and in industry. Despite these opportunities hydrogen has historically had a limited role in influential global energy scenarios. Whilst more recent studies are beginning to include Read More

This study investigates the integration of water electrolysis technologies in fossil-free steelmaking via the direct reduction of iron ore followed by processing in an electric arc furnace (EAF). Hydrogen (H2) production via low or high temperature electrolysis (LTE and HTE) is considered for the production of carbon-free direct reduced iron (DRI). The introduction of carbon into the DRI reduces the electricity demand of the EAF. Such carburization can be achiev Read More

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.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 a Read More

With the growth of aviation traffic and the demand for emission reduction alternative fuels like the so-called electrofuels could comprise a sustainable solution. Electrofuels are understood as those that use renewable energy for fuel synthesis and that are carbon-neutral with respect to greenhouse gas emission. In this study five potential electrofuels are discussed with respect to the potential application as aviation fuels being n-octane methanol Read More

Hydrogen fuelled vehicles can play a key role in the decarbonisation of transport and reducing emissions. To ensure the durability of fuel cells a specification has been developed (ISO 14687) setting upper limits to the amount fraction of a series of impurities. Demonstrating conformity with this standard requires demonstrating by measurement that the actual levels of the impurities are below the thresholds. Currently the industry is unable to do so for mea Read More