Technical and Economic Analysis of Hydrogen Production from Renewable Energy

Technical and Economic Analysis of Hydrogen Production from Renewable Energy  Werner F. Schnurnberger Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR) Institute of Technical Thermodynamics, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany werner.schnurnberger@dlr.de

  < align="center">Abstract Hydrogen is the ultimate fuel to replace today’s fossil fuels. The key arguments supporting this statement are based on both technical and economic reasons, and related to the global energy policy with consistently growing utilization of renewable energy. Hydrogen is the key to sustainable transportation systems using fuel cells, and local integrated power systems with high efficiency even for small systems. The basic technologies of hydrogen production and industrial utilization have been known for decades: hydrogen is a key element of chemical and petrochemical industry, and millions of tons are being produced, transported and used today. However, the efficient hydrogen production from a variety of sustainable primary energy sources is still a challenge for both fundamental research and process development. Hydrogen, in combination with renewable energy sources and efficient conversion technologies like fuel cells, is likely to play a major role in future global energy supply. Hydrogen is a complementary energy carrier to electricity, both being intrinsically clean. Advanced technologies to produce hydrogen are the key to open the door for a sustainable energy economy. Although significant progress has been made in the development of hydrogen technologies and fuel cells, there remain substantial barriers to successful commercialisation. This contribution gives a technical and economic analysis of advanced hydrogen production routes. Hydrogen is being produced commercially using in the atmoconventional – CO₂ emitting - technologies for nearly a century by steam methane reforming, coal gasification and partial oxidation of hydrocarbons. For the production of “clean” hydrogen from fossil resources, the technologies of CO₂ sequestration are actually being investigated thoroughly as one possible approach to limit the accumulation of greenhouse gases sphere. Production of hydrogen using renewable energy sources, in centralised facilities or at decentralised locations where it will be used onsite, can be divided into three main categories: electrochemical, biological and thermochemical processes. The economic potential of these advanced hydrogen production technologies will be presented and development needs to move towards commercialisation are analyzed. Hydrogen is the best available link between renewable energy source and the end-user – and fuel cells are the technology linking today’s fossil energy systems to hydrogen. Technologies pave the way to a sustainable energy future: renewable hydrogen, fuel cells, small cogeneration units acting together as virtual power plants and many other concepts will move the borders of today's energy economy. < align="center">