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Edited by
Tom Smolinka
Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE, Freiburg, Germany
Juergen Garche
Ulm University, Ulm, Germany
Elsevier
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ISBN: 978-0-12-819424-9
Contributors...........................................................................................................................................xv
v
vi Contents
5.5 Materials...................................................................................................................174
5.5.1 Separators.......................................................................................................175
5.5.2 Electrodes.......................................................................................................177
5.5.3 Operating conditions.......................................................................................181
5.6 Degradation effects in alkaline electrolyzers............................................................183
5.7 Anion exchange membrane water electrolysis.........................................................185
5.8 Description of technical plants.................................................................................188
5.8.1 Components of an alkaline electrolysis plant.................................................188
5.9 Alkaline electrolysis—future prospects....................................................................190
Abbreviations............................................................................................................192
References.................................................................................................................193
Index................................................................................................................................................... 487
Contributors
Gidon Amikam
Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Haifa,
Israel
Asif S. Ansar
German Aerospace Center (DLR), Institute of Engineering Thermodynamics, Electrochemical
Energy Technology, Stuttgart, Germany
Kathy Ayers
NEL Hydrogen, Wallingford, CT, United States
Alex Badgett
National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, Denver, CO, United States
Alejandro O. Barnett
Hystar, Oslo, Norway; SINTEF Industry, Trondheim, Norway
Henry Bergmann
Anhalt University of Applied Sciences, Köthen, Germany
Dmitri Bessarabov
North-West University, HySA Infrastructure Centre of Competence, Faculty of Engineering,
Potchefstroom, South Africa
Annabelle Brisse
European Institute for Energy Research, Emmy-Noether-Strasse, Karlsruhe, Germany
Claudio Corgnale
Greenway Energy, Aiken, SC, United States
Nicolaas Engelbrecht
North-West University, HySA Infrastructure Centre of Competence, Faculty of Engineering,
Potchefstroom, South Africa
Kaspar Andreas Friedrich
German Aerospace Center (DLR), Institute of Engineering Thermodynamics, Electrochemical
Energy Technology, Stuttgart, Germany; University of Stuttgart, Institute of Building Energetics,
Thermal Engineering and Energy Storage (IGTE), Stuttgart, Germany
Aldo S. Gago
German Aerospace Center (DLR), Institute of Engineering Thermodynamics, Electrochemical
Energy Technology, Stuttgart, Germany
Juergen Garche
Ulm University, Ulm, Germany
Youri Gendel
Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Haifa,
Israel
xv
xvi Contributors
Maximilian B. Gorensek
Savannah River National Laboratory, Aiken, SC, United States
Gideon S. Grader
Department of Chemical Engineering, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel
David Hart
E4tech Sarl, Lausanne, Switzerland
Hiroshi Ito
National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Tsukuba, Japan
Thulile Khoza
SINTEF Industry, Trondheim, Norway
Mihails Kusnezoff
Fraunhofer Institute for Ceramic Technologies and Systems IKTS, Dresden, Germany
Avigail Landman
Department of Chemical Engineering, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel
Henrietta W. Langmi
University of Pretoria, Department of Chemistry, Hatfield, South Africa
Franz Lehner
E4tech Sarl, Lausanne, Switzerland
Aline Léon
European Institute for Energy Research, Emmy-Noether-Strasse, Karlsruhe, Germany
Akiyoshi Manabe
De Nora Permelec Ltd., Fujisawa, Japan
Pierre Millet
Paris-Saclay University, ICMMO-Eriee, UMR CNRS 8182, Orsay, France
Phillimon M. Modisha
North-West University, HySA Infrastructure Centre of Competence, Faculty of Engineering,
Potchefstroom, South Africa
Paz Nativ
Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Haifa,
Israel
Maria Assunta Navarra
Sapienza University, Rome, Italy
Stefania Panero
Sapienza University, Rome, Italy
Bryan Pivovar
National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, Denver, CO, United States
Fatemeh Razmjooei
German Aerospace Center (DLR), Institute of Engineering Thermodynamics, Electrochemical
Energy Technology, Stuttgart, Germany
Contributors xvii
Regine Reißner
German Aerospace Center (DLR), Institute of Engineering Thermodynamics, Electrochemical
Energy Technology, Stuttgart, Germany
Anita H. Reksten
SINTEF Industry, Oslo, Norway
Avner Rothschild
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology,
Haifa, Israel
Mark Ruth
National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, Denver, CO, United States
Josef Schefold
European Institute for Energy Research, Emmy-Noether-Strasse, Karlsruhe, Germany
Bruno Scrosati
Elettrochimica & Energia, Rome, Italy
Tom Smolinka
Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE, Freiburg, Germany
John A. Staser
Ohio University, Athens, OH, United States
Magnus S. Thomassen
SINTEF Industry, Oslo, Norway; Hystar, Oslo, Norway
John W. Weidner
University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, United States
Ziqi Xu
German Aerospace Center (DLR), Institute of Engineering Thermodynamics, Electrochemical
Energy Technology, Stuttgart, Germany
CHAPTER
Chapter Outline
1.1 Introduction........................................................................................................................................ 1
1.1.1 Chapter structure..........................................................................................................1
1.1.2 Hydrogen and water electrolysis.....................................................................................2
1.1.3 Hydrogen production and use today................................................................................2
1.1.4 Does hydrogen have a color?..........................................................................................3
1.2 Motivation and key drivers for hydrogen in the future energy system..................................................... 5
1.2.1 Historic interest in hydrogen: defossilization....................................................................5
1.2.2 The contemporary drive for hydrogen: decarbonization......................................................6
1.2.3 Net zero versus defossilization versus 100% renewable energy supply................................9
1.2.4 Regional drivers for hydrogen.......................................................................................10
1.3 Hydrogen in global energy future scenarios....................................................................................... 11
1.3.1 Published energy scenarios with detail on hydrogen.......................................................11
1.3.2 Different net-zero strategies and what they mean for hydrogen........................................14
1.4 Water electrolysis in a net-zero future............................................................................................... 19
1.4.1 Hydrogen by production pathway in net-zero scenarios...................................................19
1.4.2 Required water electrolyzer capacity in net-zero scenarios...............................................20
1.4.3 Are there limitations to solar and wind deployment?.......................................................21
1.4.4 Green versus blue hydrogen–renewable versus fossil energy.............................................24
1.5 Summary and outlook to 2030........................................................................................................... 25
1.5.1 Unprecedented drive for water electrolysis as a transition enabler....................................25
1.5.2 Best use of green hydrogen from early water electrolyzer projects....................................26
1.5.3 Deployment of water electrolysis in the 2030 timeframe.................................................27
1.5.4 Green hydrogen as an accelerator of the energy transition...............................................28
1.1 Introduction
1.1.1 Chapter structure
This chapter sets the scene for the potential role of water electrolysis in the global future energy system.
Firstly, hydrogen, water electrolysis, and other hydrogen production routes are briefly introduced.
Electrochemical Power Sources: Fundamentals, Systems, and Applications. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-819424-9.00008-2 1
Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
2 Chapter 1 The importance of water electrolysis for our future energy system
Secondly, historic and contemporary drivers for hydrogen are identified and discussed. In the third
section, an overview of the role of hydrogen in publicly available global energy system models is
provided, suggested options for decarbonization are analyzed, and the amount of hydrogen they need
is compared. The fourth section discusses the drivers that determine the amount of water electrolysis
needed in different energy futures and provides an overview of quantifications in public studies. This
chapter then closes with developments in water electrolysis at the beginning of the 2020s and an
outlook to 2030.