Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Schalk Cloete, Oliver Ruhnau, Jan Hendrik Cloete, Lion Hirth
Summary: This study explores trade channels between energy exporters and importers and recommends fossil fuel exporting countries to consider transitioning to a mix of blue hydrogen and climate-neutral industrial base products.
JOURNAL OF CLEANER PRODUCTION
(2022)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Sanghyun Hong, Eunsung Kim, Saerok Jeong
Summary: South Korea announced a roadmap and regulations for the hydrogen economy, but its sustainability has not been thoroughly studied. We compared the impacts of hydrogen with other energy carriers, and found that green hydrogen improves environmental sustainability and energy security. We propose policy implications such as expanding renewables, aligning clean hydrogen standards with decarbonization plans, and investing in research and development to reduce hydrogen production costs.
Review
Chemistry, Physical
Samira Hossain, Chayan Kumer Saha, Mohammad Ismail, Toufiq Reza, Kazi Bayzid Kabir, Kawnish Kirtania
Summary: The potential of a hydrogen-based energy system for Bangladesh is explored in this review, which includes a technological comparison of existing production paths, analysis of available resources and technology options, and envisioning a roadmap towards a hydrogen economy. While developed countries have already started their transition to a hydrogen economy, developing countries like Bangladesh face challenges in catching up. This study aims to provide insights and support for Bangladesh's transition to a carbon-free energy system.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HYDROGEN ENERGY
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Muhammad Mansoor, Michael Stadler, Hans Auer, Michael Zellinger
Summary: The optimal planning of microgrids including the hydrogen energy system is investigated through mixed-integer linear programming model, showing that a high share of renewable energy sources and seasonal hydrogen storage can achieve a low emission hydrogen mobility framework.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HYDROGEN ENERGY
(2021)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Jan Mutke, Leonie Sara Plaga, Valentin Bertsch
Summary: This study investigates the deployment of supply side flexibility options in the future European power system. Different scenarios are explored, and it is found that additional flexibility options are needed for moderate decarbonization levels with high shares of variable renewable energies (VRE). The deployment of power storages grows nonlinearly as the system approaches a zero-emission system, mainly driven by hydrogen storage investments.
JOURNAL OF CLEANER PRODUCTION
(2023)
Article
Energy & Fuels
Hon Chung Lau
Summary: The objective of this paper is to derive decarbonization roadmaps for the ten nations of ASEAN. The study shows that renewable energies have been losing ground to fossil energies in the last two decades and fossil fuels will likely continue to be an important part of ASEAN's energy mix. The study also identifies decarbonization technologies with high impact and high readiness for individual countries, including switching from coal to gas, using carbon capture and storage technologies, and transitioning to electric vehicles.
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Wade E. Fritzeen, Patrick R. O'Rourke, Jay G. Fuhrman, Lisa M. Colosi, Sha Yu, William M. Shobe, Scott C. Doney, Haewon C. McJeon, Andres F. Clarens
Summary: The chemical industry contributes significantly to CO2 emissions, but the implementation of emerging decarbonization strategies and processes can lead to substantial reductions. However, achieving net-zero emissions is dependent on the global deployment of carbon capture and storage (CCS), as well as alternative feedstocks and proper waste treatment of plastics.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Luka Herc, Antun Pfeifer, Neven Duic
Summary: This study focuses on the intermediate steps towards decarbonization, exploring the optimization of energy system structure and the use of various technologies to maximize renewable energy utilization and minimize carbon emissions.
Article
Thermodynamics
A. Carro, R. Chacartegui, C. Ortiz, J. Carneiro, J. A. Becerra
Summary: The use of CO2 as a working fluid in power generation and storage applications has seen significant growth in recent years, with novel combined use of supercritical CO2 cycles showing promise as energy storage systems and for carbon dioxide sequestration. These cycles demonstrate high potential for competitive electric to electric storage efficiencies and costs, while also indicating the possibility of additional CO2 storage. This concept provides an opportunity for energy storage systems, particularly when combined with carbon-intensive industries such as cement or chemicals.
APPLIED THERMAL ENGINEERING
(2021)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Andreas Dimou, Stergios Vakalis
Summary: The non-interconnected islands in Greece are transitioning to green energy, with the Ai Stratis - Green Island project on Agios Efstratios island serving as a flagship project. This study compared the proposed design of a public call with two other designs in terms of renewable energy penetration and economics, and proposed a lower-cost alternative.
Review
Chemistry, Physical
Haris Ishaq, Ibrahim Dincer, Curran Crawford
Summary: This paper critically analyzes the state-of-the-art in blue and green hydrogen production methods, utilization of hydrogen, storage, transportation, distribution, and key challenges and opportunities in the commercial deployment of such systems. It highlights the potential of hydrogen as a new energy vector that can serve multiple purposes blending the roles of fuel energy carrier and energy storage modality.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HYDROGEN ENERGY
(2022)
Article
Thermodynamics
Efstathios E. Michaelides
Summary: Carbon capture and storage involves a series of processes including separation, pressurization, transportation, storage, and monitoring, each requiring significant energy. The article calculates the minimum work requirements for separation processes and conducts a case study on a coal power plant, finding that actual energy requirements are much higher than the minimum power.
Article
Thermodynamics
Fei Wu, Renbo Gao, Cunbao Li, Jianfeng Liu
Summary: With the increasing global energy consumption, it is crucial for industrial sectors worldwide to achieve carbon reduction. This paper proposes a combined energy system consisting of wind power-photovoltaic-energy storage salt cavern with hydrogen as the energy scheduling carrier. The system optimizes the working conditions of each component using an improved particle swarm optimization algorithm, contributes to the energy system, and improves economy and renewable energy utilization rate while reducing carbon emissions.
ENERGY CONVERSION AND MANAGEMENT
(2023)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Hon Chung Lau, Steve C. Tsai
Summary: The paper proposes a decarbonization roadmap for Taiwan to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. It analyzes the status of fossil and non-fossil energies, screens applicable decarbonization technologies, and proposes an energy mix for the future. The roadmap improves on the announced net-zero emissions plan by suggesting a more achievable growth rate for renewable electricity and recommending measures such as clean coal technologies, increased reliance on gas, accelerated carbon capture and storage, delayed phaseout of nuclear energy, and the use of blue hydrogen for decarbonizing transport and industry sectors.
Article
Energy & Fuels
Askar A. Akaev, Olga I. Davydova
Summary: This work is dedicated to a mathematical description of energy transition scenarios, with three main parts focusing on modern trends and issues in the energy sector, analyzing energy consumption and the world fuel and energy balance structure, and developing a mathematical tool to calculate global temperature deviation under different scenarios. The optimal scenario to keep global warming below 1.7 degrees C was found using the suggested mathematical description.
Article
Energy & Fuels
Oliver Ruhnau
Summary: By adding flexible electricity demand, green hydrogen production can effectively and permanently halt the decline in market value of renewable energy.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Oliver Ruhnau, Staffan Qvist
Summary: This article investigates the relationship between scarcity periods of wind and solar resources and energy storage requirements in a 100% renewable electricity system. The study reveals that while scarcity periods typically do not exceed two weeks, the maximum energy deficit may persist for nine weeks. Considering storage losses and charging limitations, the period defining storage requirements may extend up to 12 weeks. The cost-optimal storage capacity needs to be large enough to supply 36 TWh of electricity.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2022)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
O. Ruhnau, M. Bucksteeg, D. Ritter, R. Schmitz, D. Boettger, M. Koch, A. Poestges, M. Wiedmann, L. Hirth
Summary: The European electricity industry is a highly studied example of carbon pricing within the world's largest cap-and-trade scheme, with numerical models used to forecast future carbon prices and emissions. Different power sector models show significant variations in estimating emissions reduction in the European power sector at different carbon prices, with differences attributed to the consideration of market-driven decommissioning of coal and lignite-fired power plants within the models.
RENEWABLE & SUSTAINABLE ENERGY REVIEWS
(2022)
Article
Thermodynamics
Carlos Arnaiz del Pozo, Schalk Cloete
Summary: This study evaluates the prospects of blue and green ammonia as future energy carriers and compares them with conventional technologies. The results show that blue ammonia is more economically attractive, while green ammonia has higher costs in technology integration and energy.
ENERGY CONVERSION AND MANAGEMENT
(2022)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Michael Bucksteeg, Michael Wiedmann, Arne Poestages, Markus Haller, Diana Boettger, Oliver Ruhnau, Richard Schmitz
Summary: The development of European power markets is influenced by integrated electricity and heat systems. This study compares five market models in the context of potential benefits of integrated electricity and heat systems in decarbonization. The models agree qualitatively but have considerable quantitative differences.
RENEWABLE & SUSTAINABLE ENERGY REVIEWS
(2022)
Article
Energy & Fuels
Arne Poestges, Michael Bucksteeg, Oliver Ruhnau, Diana Boettger, Markus Haller, Eglantine Kuenle, David Ritter, Richard Schmitz, Michael Wiedmann
Summary: The achievement of climate targets has a significant impact on energy sector modeling and decision-making processes. Various policy instruments have been developed to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, including administrative and market-based mechanisms for phasing out coal-fired generation technologies. This study compares five large-scale electricity market models and analyzes their differences in evaluating the effects of two coal phase-out strategies. The results provide insights for both modelers and decision-makers, highlighting the influence of reference scenarios and the importance of technical aspects in evaluating policy instruments.
Article
Thermodynamics
Carlos Arnaiz del Pozo, Schalk Cloete, Angel Jimenez Alvaro
Summary: Growing concerns about climate change have led to increased interest in alternative energy carriers to fossil fuels. Methanol shows promise as a potential solution for transportation and storage challenges, with an existing infrastructure and scalable synthesis process. This study assesses the techno-economic viability of producing methanol from natural gas and renewable energy with direct air capture (DAC). The results indicate that both natural gas and renewable methanol have their advantages and costs, and the deployment of renewable methanol at scale will require strong policy support.
ENERGY CONVERSION AND MANAGEMENT
(2022)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Schalk Cloete, Oliver Ruhnau, Jan Hendrik Cloete, Lion Hirth
Summary: This study explores trade channels between energy exporters and importers and recommends fossil fuel exporting countries to consider transitioning to a mix of blue hydrogen and climate-neutral industrial base products.
JOURNAL OF CLEANER PRODUCTION
(2022)
Article
Thermodynamics
Schalk Cloete, Carlos Arnaiz del Pozo, Angel Jimenez Alvaro
Summary: This study analyzes the effects of significant advances in CO2 capture and storage (CCS) technologies on future energy systems, and finds that CCS-enabled pathways offer benefits in the hydrogen sector, including reducing hydrogen prices and enabling negative CO2 emissions. Advanced blue hydrogen technologies can also reduce total system costs and increase efficiencies. Co-gasification of coal and biomass is identified as an important enabler of these results. The study suggests that CCS decarbonization pathways can incorporate substantial shares of renewable energy to reduce fossil fuel dependence and increase system resilience.
Article
Thermodynamics
Antonia Helf, Schalk Cloete, Florian Keller, Jan Hendrik Cloete, Abdelghafour Zaabout
Summary: This study investigates the prospects of a biomass-to-hydrogen process configuration for large-scale CO2 removal. The results show that the efficiency gains and the use of advanced gas treatment can significantly reduce the cost of hydrogen production. Moreover, high CO2 prices make this negative-emission technology economically attractive.
ENERGY CONVERSION AND MANAGEMENT
(2022)
Article
Thermodynamics
Carlos Arnaiz del Pozo, Angel Jimenez Alvaro, Schalk Cloete
Summary: This study provides a techno-economic assessment of methanol production from solid fuels, showing that methanol can be produced with reduced CO2 emissions through co-gasification with biomass. It is cost-competitive with gasoline and offers a solution for climate change and energy security in energy importing regions.
ENERGY CONVERSION AND MANAGEMENT
(2022)
Article
Energy & Fuels
Carlos Arnaiz del Pozo, Angel Jimenez Alvaro, Schalk Cloete, Jose Antonio Garcia del Pozo Martin de Hijas
Summary: The increasing share of wind and solar energy in decarbonized electricity systems has created a need for innovative power cycles using unconventional fuels. This study compared different large-scale power plants and their fuel supply infrastructure, specifically focusing on chemically recuperated cycles using MeOH and NH3 as fuels. The results showed that MeOH can be competitive with natural-gas-fired combined cycles at low capacity factors, while NH3 can compete with H2 at higher capacity factors. Liquid fuels present a superior solution when salt cavern storage is unavailable or multi-week fuel storage is highly valued.
Article
Thermodynamics
Carlos Arnaiz del Pozo, Schalk Cloete, Angel Jimenez Alvaro
Summary: This study investigates the potential of ammonia production from local coal and biomass resources with CO2 capture for negative emissions. Two innovative configurations are compared with a benchmark, and the results show lower and higher costs for the E-gas and MHI concepts, respectively. Benchmarking against alternative ammonia supply pathways indicates that the energy security offered by the E-gas configuration may be economically attractive to importers with rising CO2 taxes.
Article
Thermodynamics
Bart Tulkens, Schalk Cloete, Pfunzo Muvhali, Rob Bastiaans
Summary: Low-income communities face a cycle of causality between lack of energy services and insufficient income. This study proposes a novel energy system model to optimize the deployment and dispatch of energy supply and services in a South African village. The results show that optimized technology rollout can save each person over 1500 productive hours per year at a cost below 0.2 $/hour. The study also identifies the optimal order of technology deployment for driving economic development.
Article
Thermodynamics
Schalk Cloete, Carlos Arnaiz del Pozo, Jan Hendrik Cloete, Angel Jimenez Alvaro
Summary: Fuels accounted for 76% of global final energy consumption in 2021, and although efforts to electrify can reduce this share, fuels will still play a leading role in the global energy system. This study focuses on ammonia and methanol as low-carbon fuel alternatives to traditional petroleum fuels, as hydrogen faces challenges in storage and distribution. Four low-carbon fuel production pathways are compared, and it is found that electrolytic fuels struggle to compete with hydrocarbon fuels equipped with CCS. Ammonia or methanol from solid fuels are seen as attractive solutions for affordable carbon-negative energy security.
ENERGY CONVERSION AND MANAGEMENT
(2023)