In addition to Hydrogen being used as a material, lately more and more focus is on using hydrogen as a source of energy to produce power (electricity) or heat.
In order to use hydrogen as a source of energy, first it needs to be produced, then distributed to the application sites, and stored until its use. There are a number of technologies that support this process.
Hydrogen Production
In most cases, hydrogen is stored until its use. Here are several methods to store Hydrogen.
There are mainly four technologies for producing Hydrogen:
- Water electrolysis
- Reforming, from fossil fuels such as natural gas
- Reforming, using biomass such as forest residues and wastes
- By-product of industrial processes such as steel manufacturing
Currently, Hydrogen is mainly produced from fossil fuels such as natural gas, as it is the most cost efficient technology. A FCV that uses natural gas-derived hydrogen as fuel still has lower CO2 emission than a conventional gasoline vehicle.
Our plan is to produce CO2-free hydrogen in the near future by utilizing renewable energies, or using CCS technologies to capture CO2 in fossil based processes.
Transport of Hydrogen
Hydrogen is now ready to be transported from the plant to various applications.
There are mainly four technologies used in distribution of Hydrogen:
- Compressed hydrogen
- Liquefied hydrogen
- Pipelines
- Chemical hydrides
Hydrogen Storage
In most cases, hydrogen is not used immediately and needs to be stored. Here are several ways of hydrogen storage.
Hydrogen storage technology can be categorized into four.
- Compressed hydrogen
- Liquefied hydrogen
- Metal hydrides
- Chemical hydrides
Hydrogen Applications
Hydrogen can be used in a wide range of applications, including transport fuel, residential heat and power supply and industrial power generation. Here are technologies that use hydrogen as a source of energy.
There are two main technologies for Hydrogen applications:
- Fuel cells (e.g. FCV, Ene farm, and others)
- Combustion (e.g. hydrogen power generation)