A Review of Green Hydrogen For Economical and Feasible Alternate Aligning With Net-Zero
A Review of Green Hydrogen For Economical and Feasible Alternate Aligning With Net-Zero
Abstract – The development of energy has led to significant source of renewable energy for countries trying to catch up
leaps in the industrialization of the global economy however it with the Paris climate agreement.
has taken place at the expense of our environmental The use of renewable energy increased by 3% in 2020
surroundings. Renewable energy lays the groundwork for a because of decline in demand of other category of fuels, the
future generation towards a sustainable green world economy
that is increasingly less reliant on non-renewable sources of
primary driver was an almost 7% growth in electricity from
energy which with high consumption has declined in proportion renewable sources. Even with decreasing electricity demand,
and has become less economically viable in the long term. The supply chain issues, and building delays in many regions of
current scenario for renewable energy dictates a high the world, long-term contracts, priority access to the grid, and
dependency on wind and hydro energy for production yet a continual installation of new plants supported the rise of
general reliance on chemical energy to store and transport. renewable energy sources [2], As a result, from 27% in 2019
These steps though implemented to meet the Paris Agreement to 29% in 2020, the proportion of renewable energy sources
an individual SDG goals are hindered by the use of chemical in the world's electricity generation increased, this is precisely
energy as a means of storage for this energy. However, Green the reason why green hydrogen has become the new subject of
Hydrogen offers an eco-friendly solution to this predicament to
help reach a better, cleaner energy mix. This paper seeks to
interest in the renewable energy market which is constantly
expand on already existing knowledge on currently existing fuel evolving and searching desperately for alternatives to the
cell technologies, industrial impact across various sectors and current energy mix. [3].
research being conducted on various techniques of hydrogen
storage as well as the case-by-case study of adoption of hydrogen II. HYDROGEN PRODUCTION PROCESS
economy in multiple regions across the globe. A. Hydrogen production
Keywords—Green Hydrogen Economy, Fuel Cells,
Electrolyzers, Decarbonization, Clean Energy, Zero Emission.
I. INTRODUCTION
A net zero energy system must include hydrogen, which also
plays a significant role in decarbonizing sectors like heavy
industrial and long-distance transportation that are
challenging to electrify.
All hydrogen types (green hydrogen), present a realistic
opportunity for reducing the carbon footprints of hard-to-
abate and hard-to-electrify sectors such as chemical, steel,
shipping, aviation, and long-haul transportation. Dependent Fig. 1: Electrolysis Steam Gas Reforming and Pyrolysis [3]
on the underlying technology used in production of this Although it is a plentiful element on Earth, hydrogen must be
hydrogen, it can be categorized into eight types labeled by converted into pure hydrogen (H2) before it can be used in
color, namely: black, brown, grey, turquoise, blue, yellow, fuel cells for electric vehicles since it is nearly always present
pink, and green hydrogen types. In these eight types, black, as a component of another chemical, such as water (H2O) or
turquoise, blue and brown hydrogen are derived from fossil methane (CH4).
fuels. Electrolysis is used to create yellow and pink hydrogen,
however electricity generated is sourced from nuclear plants
Reforming process, Electrolysis, Renewable Liquid
[1].
Reforming, and Fermentation shown in Fig. 1 are most
Green hydrogen is purely electrolysis-based, with the
widely used methods for hydrogen production from Natural
necessary electricity generated by renewable energy types
gas extraction and renewable sources. Apart from the
such as solar and wind. There is a significant amount of green
methods mentioned above there are several hydrogen
hydrogen potential in the world, which is equivalent to more
production methods are in development like High-
than 20 times the primary energy requirement in 2050.
Temperature Water Splitting, Photobiological Water
This study focuses on the potential for producing green
Splitting, and Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting [4], [5]
hydrogen as an alternative fuel in major carbon positive
sectors and expand on the potential for carbon as a driving
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B. Fuel Cell • Molecular hydrogen may be adsorbed onto or into a
substance and be held there by comparatively weak
Fuel cell systems allow for the generation of clean energy
physical van der Waals bonds.
when used in conjunction with a fuel storage system and
• Atomic hydrogen may be chemically bonded
hydrogen recycling. Hydrogen fuel cells provide a wide
(absorbed). Additionally, it is helpful to break down
variety of power capabilities, from sub-kW individual cells to
chemically based storage systems into two
MW-scale virtual power plants [6]. The efficiency of
subcategories: metal hydrides and chemical
electrolysis is between 60 and 70 percent. Diesel engines can
hydrides [9].
use roughly 40% of the energy contained in the fuel,
compared to a modern gasoline engine's efficiency of about
24% [6].
There are now six major types of hydrogen fuel cells in use.
Depending on their working temperature, these fuel cell types
can convert various gases into electricity, employ various
electrolytes, and be categorized as low, medium, or high
temperature fuel cells. The following categories shown in
table 1 are explicitly attributed to each type of fuel cell:
Table 1: Comparison of different fuel cells [6], [7]. Fig. 2: Different categories of hydrogen Storage
Technologies [9].
Type Working Performance Cell IV. USING GREEN HYDROGEN TO STORE RENEWABLE ENERGY
temperature range efficiency
The aspect of green hydrogen that has attracted the most
Alkaline fuel 20℃ - 90℃ Up to 100 60% - attention in recent years is its use case as a storage facility for
cell (AFC) kW 70% renewable energy such as solar energy, hydro energy, and
wind energy. Mitsubishi power along with fuel cell storage
Proton 20℃ - 80℃ Up to 500 50% - company magnum development are working on a project in
exchange kW 70% Utah called Advanced Clean Energy Storage (ACES) Project
membrane shown in Fig. 3, the salt caverns of the project will be ableto
fuel cell store more than 5,500 metric tons of hydrogen. One cavernhas
(PEMFC) the capacity to store 150 gigawatt hours (GWh) of carbon-
free dispatchable energy or decarbonized fuel that can be
Direct 20℃ - Up to 100 20% - utilized in other sectors of the economy. Comparatively, the
methanol fuel 130℃ kW 30% installed base of battery energy storage in the United States is
cell (DMFC) estimated by the Energy Information Administration (EIA)
2020 report to be 1.2 GWh. As a result, exploiting saltcaverns
Phosphoric 160℃ - Up to 10 55% as energy storage presents a tremendous opportunityto extend
acid fuel cell 220℃ MW the availability of energy storage resources across the United
(PAFC) States and to support the expansion of renewable energy
sources [10].
Molten 620℃ - Up to 100 65%
carbonate fuel 660℃ MW
cell (MCFC)
Storage of hydrogen in salt taverns is already in full-scale use Fig. 3: Layout of ACES project[10]
across the industry, over the course of time other options have
shown the promise to be at full scale availability. These V. INDUSTRIAL IMPACT
Hydrogen storage technologies can be majorly kept in three A. Steel Industry
main categories as shown in Fig. 2 : 1) Current scenario
• Pure molecular hydrogen may be kept in storage as
a gas or a liquid with little to no physical or chemical
bonding to other substances.
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With modern technology, a lot of coal is needed to produce
iron and steel. On average, 1.85 tons of CO2 are emitted into
the atmosphere for every ton of steel produced.
Two steps are usually included in the manufacture of steel:
Using blast furnaces, for example, iron ore is first
transformed into iron, which is subsequently transformed into
steel using the basic oxygen converter process this is shown
in Fig. 5.
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worldwide. The problem of decarbonization is made much The sector will need to adapt technologies created for the
more difficult by the fact that the level of difficulty in automotive and space industries to commercial aviation
decarbonizing differs greatly throughout the sector, Fig. 9 operations while meeting comparable or higher safety
provides a layout of the different fuels used in different standards. Direct hydrogen utilization also shows promise.
sectors. These issues necessitate immediate solutions from industry
Up until now, initiatives for reducing emissions have been executives and legislators due to the extremely long lead
centered on increasing system- and vehicle-level efficiency, times for aircraft development and certification [14].
mode switching, and electrification. VI. GREEN HYDROGEN AND ITS ECONOMICAL SETBACKS
2) Potential of green hydrogen in transportation industry
Deploying enabling infrastructure to facilitate innovation at According to a UNEP report, the developing world has been
scale and switching to low-carbon fuels are however unable to participate in the research, development, and
necessary for sector-wide decarbonization paths. Research, deployment (RDD) of hydrogen and related technologies
Development and Commercial Success of Fuel Cell Electric Because of a shortage of resources and qualified engineers,
Vehicles (FCEVs) is key to unlocking the true potential of many emerging nations will experience the shift to a
green hydrogen [14]. hydrogen economy at a subsequently delayed pace.
This assumption is supported by the geography of the
implemented and proposed hydrogen policies.
An overall map of the amount of activity/level of growth in
the development of hydrogen strategies is shown in Fig. 9
below, along with a tabular representation of countries and
their total annual funding potentially available for hydrogen
(Table 2). This graph conclusively shows that, in comparison
to the rest of the globe, the hydrogen economic growth in
Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, and Southeast Asia is
significantly different from that in the rest of the world [1].
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United <0.5 <0.25 ~0.5 billion electricity as energy storage for export purposes. This region
States is well suited for solar technologies like concentrated solar
Table 2: Average annual funding potentially available for power and photovoltaics due to its characteristics of high
hydrogen projects, 2020(in billions) [16]. solar irradiance and vast empty lands as demonstrated by Fig.
11 displaying the vast expanse of solar energy applicable
This can aggravate the issues of poverty and malnutrition in areas in the UAE. The management of concentrated solar
the corresponding areas and result in even bigger disparity power and photovoltaics in the UAE, as well as the
between the per capita income levels of advanced and optimization of hydrogen distribution routes based on the
developing countries. The UNEP experts propose a potential locations of hydrogen production sites, may spur further
remedy: wide ranging support from international advancement in the United Arab Emirates' usage of green
organizations, particularly international development hydrogen [17], [18].
agencies, for the introduction of hydrogen in underdeveloped
nations [1]. B. Africa
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[3] “Production of hydrogen: process and color theory,”
D. North America & South America
TUV NORD.
1) USA [4] US Department of Energy, “Hydrogen production
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