Analysis of the strategies for bridging the gap towards the Hydrogen Economy

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Highlights

  • Significant mismatches exist between the early outlooks for Hydrogen Economy implementation and the current situation.

  • The strategies for introduction Hydrogen Economy should be planned in terms of convergence with other energy vectors.

  • Hydrogen will play an important role in the future energy scenario.

Abstract

The concept of “Hydrogen Economy” originated in the early 1970s as response to the first oil crisis. Consequently, its implementation needs a well-planned strategy adapted to the decay of the “Fossil Fuel Economy” allowing bridging the gap between both of them. This strategy must encompass Hydrogen production, distribution and utilization and should be built on solid grounds of established science and engineering. There is no doubt that hydrogen will play an important role in the future energy scenario but should not be thought to do so in terms of dominance but rather in competition and complementarity with other energy carriers. Therefore, the strategy for introduction should be planned not in terms of confrontation with the other energy vectors but in terms of convergence and synergies search. In this paper the current situation of the three main fields of the Hydrogen Economy: Production, Distribution and Uses are analyzed and some considerations and suggestions for action are provided.

Introduction

The concept of a “Hydrogen Economy” (HE) originated in the early 1970s, as response to the first oil crisis. The Australian chemist John Bockris first used the phrase “Hydrogen Economy” and the first World Hydrogen Conference in 1976 identified hydrogen as a clean energy carrier for the future. After two decades of slow progress, the concept was re-launched at the end of the millennium in response to the increasing social concerns about global warming. This historical evolution shows that HE has never been a “first choice” but rather a response forced by the environmental and supplying concerns generated by the current “Fossil Fuels Economy” (FFE). Consequently, the strategy for the implementation of the HE needs to be adapted to the decay of the FFE in order to bridge the gap existing between both of them. This strategy must encompass from Hydrogen production to distribution and utilization and should start as soon as possible since the transition process will not be a matter of years but of decades.

As a consequence of the apparent conflict between the hydrogen and fossil fuels economies, there has been an alignment of the social stockholders, there including policy makers, with one of them: “progressives” with hydrogen and “conservatives” with fossil. That has led in many cases to decisions based on the advice of visionaries and lobby groups (including scientist ones) and not on facts, what should be avoided in the future. A secure and sustainable energy supply cannot be based on hype and activism, but has to be built on solid grounds of established science and engineering.

In this paper the current situation of the three main fields of the Hydrogen Economy: Production, Distribution and Uses are analyzed and the main factors that will affect to their future evolution are reviewed and presented as a matter of debate.

Section snippets

The Hydrogen Economy and the hype curve

The High Level Group for Hydrogen and Fuel Cells, HLG, launched in 2003 the report “Hydrogen Energy and Fuel Cells. A vision of our future” [1] which included a Roadmap for Europe from 2000 to 2050. In this Roadmap, two different periods were considered: The first one, until 2020, characterized by public incentives and private efforts and the second one, by public rewards and private benefits. Table 1 shows the proposal for 2015 extracted from the HLG 2000–2050 Roadmap. An analysis of this

Hydrogen production

Concerning production, there has been a division, inherited from the different approaches above mentioned, between the processes that use RE as primary energy source and the ones that use fossil fuels. In general, the “Hydrogen Community” has been in favor of using RE, which is paradoxical since, according to the IEA Energy Technology Essentials, in 2007, more than 95% of hydrogen was produced from fossil resources (48% Natural Gas; 30% Refinery gas; 18% Coal). So, although it is generally

Hydrogen as energy storage

Hydrogen is essentially a “chemical reservoir”, so, it could be also used for storing electricity as chemical energy. Two very different scales must be considered: The Strategic-scale (Terawatt-hour) and the Utility-scale (KWh or some few MWh). In the first one, storage is considered a way of securing general energy supply while in the second one the target is to secure the operation of a power plant. Regarding the strategic storage, there is not at short and medium term any available

Hydrogen delivery and CSD

Delivery Pathways have not significantly changed over the time. It is generally accepted that cylinders distributed by trucks is the best option for small distances and low production whereas pipe-line is preferred for long distances (higher than 600 km) and large productions. Concerning scheduling for deployment, according to [14] delivery of compressed and liquefied Hydrogen by trucks or with mobile re-fuelers will be the best options up to 2020 and dedicated pipelines could be implemented in

Hydrogen end uses

As stated before, the initial postulates of the HLG for Hydrogen Economy, although emphasized replacing oil in the transport sector, also looked applications in the industrial and domestic sectors. This initial spirit was ignored later, but is clear now that the fact of linking Hydrogen exclusively with the transport sector in Fuel Cell Vehicles was a strategic mistake that hid the long term advantages of Hydrogen as a gas fuel and of FC as a power generator because Hydrogen can be used in

Fuel cells: distributed generation and CHP

Although FCV is the best known use of fuel cells, applications other than transport represent currently their major utilization. In particular, their use in Distributed Generation and Combined Heat and Power is gaining more and more attention. A Fuel Cell is, essentially, a very efficient device for power generation. Consequently, FC can substitute conventional generators based on ICE and gas turbines. A study carried out for the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking [24] claims that

Conclusions

Although significant mismatches exist between the early HLG outlooks for Hydrogen Economy implementation and the current situation, there is no doubt that Hydrogen will play an important role in the future energy scenario. Mismatches are attributed to economic crisis, what dramatically reduced the government supports and the social perception that EV could provide an easier approach to zero emission vehicles. The range limitations of EV, which are far from the 300 miles, and improvements in

Acronyms

CAES
Compressed Air Energy Storage
CAPEX
Capital Expenditure
CHP
Combined Heat and Power
CCGT
Combined Cycle Gas Turbine
CCS
CO2 Capture and Sequestration
CIGS
Copper Indium Gallium Selenide
CHNG
Compressed Hydrogen/Natural Gas blends
CNG
Compressed Natural Gas
CSD
Compression Storage and Dispensing
CSP
Concentrated Solar Power
DC
Direct Current
DMFC
Direct Methanol Fuel Cell
DOE
Department of Energy
EROI
Energy Return on Investment
EV
Electric Vehicles
FC
Fuel Cells
FCEV1
Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles
FCV
Fuel Cell Vehicles
FFE

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