Hydrogen

German scientists have tried to determine whether a PV system linked to a small electrolyzer, a fuel cell, and lithium-ion batteries could fully power a grid-connected household. Their new proposal consists of a 6.8kW PV array, a 5kW electrolyzer, a 1.24kW fuel cell system, and battery storage.

The International Renewable Energy Agency’s latest global outlook has spelled out just how ‘woefully’ far the world is from capping temperature rises at 1.5C, and lamented: ‘The stimulus and recovery efforts associated with the pandemic have also proved a missed opportunity.’

Green hydrogen cost in India could reduce by 20-30% to INR 230-240/kg with the measures announced under the National Hydrogen Policy. A further cost reduction to achieve parity with grey hydrogen by 2030 is possible, provided policymakers don’t overlook five critical areas.

An international research group has developed a solid oxide fuel cell that may be used in vehicles. The monolith device has an active cell area of around 18 cm2 and was built through common manufacturing processes. It was found to achieve a high power density of 5.6 kW/L, which the scientists said is comparable with that of the best performing fuel cells based on ceramic anodes.

Rystad Energy has joined BloombergNEF with a significant forecast for gray and blue hydrogen off the back of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. According to the analysts, the impact of the war has sent prices of fossil fuel-tied forms of hydrogen production surging, leaving the gradual but consistent downward price trend of green hydrogen now looking remarkably competitive.

“We’re not talking about incremental improvement, this is a really giant leap,” Hysata CEO Paul Barrett told pv magazine Australia. Hysata is commercializing a breakthrough made at the University of Wollongong which effectively, Barrett says, invented a “brand new category of electrolyzer,” vastly improving efficiency.

A report published by Irena hints the world’s politicians will have to get to work immediately to avoid another generation of fossil fuel-fired hydrogen, ammonia, and methanol plants being set up to run into the second half of the century.

The London-based analyst has published a series of clean tech predictions for the year which also highlighted the rising proportion of sub-5MW solar projects in the global market, and cheaper clean energy financing costs even as panel prices continue to rise.

A previous announcement by Acme indicated the port site would be able to produce around 876,000 tons of the green fuel per year but the Indian developer today said that figure would be 1.2 million tons. The 100,000-ton-per-year first phase of the facility may be operational this year.

With 90% of world economies committed to net zero targets, the disruptive nature of the energy transition is becoming clear. Climate targets require us to triple renewable energy capacity by 2030, phase out coal by 2040, end fossil fuel subsidies, and ensure support for a just transition. While hydrogen is sure to be a key technology in this energy transition, the exact role it will play is not yet clear, reports Felicia Jackson.