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Hydrogen as an energy carrier: constraints and opportunities

  • Nicola Armaroli ORCID logo EMAIL logo , Elisa Bandini ORCID logo and Andrea Barbieri ORCID logo
Published/Copyright: January 5, 2024
Pure and Applied Chemistry
From the journal Pure and Applied Chemistry Volume 96 Issue 4

Abstract

The use of molecular hydrogen (H2) in the energy sector faces several technical and economic hurdles related to its chemical and physical properties, particularly volumetric energy density and mass. The production, transport and storage of hydrogen, both in gas and liquid form, are intrinsically inefficient and expensive. Moreover, the mass production of green hydrogen would preferably use surpluses of renewable electricity that will be largely available not before the next decade. To fulfill the great potential of H2 in the decarbonization of the global economy – which should greatly accelerate – applications must be carefully selected, favoring for instance hard-to-abate sectors with respect to low-temperature residential heating or long-distance transportation versus light duty vehicles. In the meantime, research on production, transportation and storage of H2 must substantially leap forward.

Keywords: Avogadro Colloquia 2022; electrolysis; energy efficiency; hard-to-abate; hydrogen; steam methane reforming
Corresponding author: Nicola Armaroli, Istituto per la Sintesi Organica e la Fotoreattività, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Via Gobetti 101, 40129 Bologna, Italy, e-mail:

Funding source: European Union, Programme NextGeneration EU

Award Identifier / Grant number: PNRR M2, C2, I3.5 Research and development of tech

Award Identifier / Grant number: PNRR M4, C2, I1.3 Network 4 Energy Sustainable Tra

Award Identifier / Grant number: PNRR M4, C2, I1.4 Ecosystem for Sustainable Transi

Acknowledgments

The authors thank the European Union, Programme NextGeneration EU, for the financial support of the projects PNRR M4, C2, I1.3 Network 4 Energy Sustainable Transition (NEST), PNRR M2, C2, I3.5 Research and development of technologies for the hydrogen supply chain (POR H2), PNRR M4, C2, I1.4 Ecosystem for Sustainable Transition in Emilia-Romagna (ECOSISTER).

  1. Research ethics: This work fullfills all relevant ethical guidelines of our Institution and is fully compliant with ethics in scientific research and publishing.

  2. Author contributions: N.A.: Research planning, data collection and elaboration, text writing. E.B.: Data discussion, text elaboration and correction. A.B.: Data discussion, figures preparation, text elaboration and correction.

  3. Competing interests: All authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

  4. Research funding: Funding for this research is obtained from the European Union in the frame of the Next Generation EU Programme, vai the projects: (a) PNRR M4, C2, I1.3 Network 4 Energy Sustainable Transition (NEST); (b) PNRR M2, C2, I3.5 Research and development of technologies for the hydrogen supply chain (POR H2); (c) PNRR M4, C2, I1.4 Ecosystem for Sustainable Transition in Emilia-Romagna (ECOSISTER).

  5. Data availability: Further details on data presented can be asked directly to the corresponding author.

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Received: 2023-08-02
Accepted: 2023-12-12
Published Online: 2024-01-05
Published in Print: 2024-04-25

© 2023 IUPAC & De Gruyter

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. In this issue
  3. Preface
  4. Avogadro Colloquia in Rome on “Vision and Opportunities of a Sustainable Hydrogen Society”
  5. Conference papers
  6. H2 in the energy transition
  7. Watching atoms at work during reactions
  8. Hydrogen production and conversion to chemicals: a zero-carbon puzzle?
  9. Rethinking chemical production with “green” hydrogen
  10. Hydrogen as an energy carrier: constraints and opportunities
  11. Shaping the future of green hydrogen: De Nora’s electrochemical technologies for fueling the energy transition
  12. In-situ and operando Grazing Incidence XAS: a novel set-up and its application to model Pd electrodes for alcohols oxidation
  13. Hydrogen storage and handling with hydrides
  14. Advanced polymer electrolyte membrane water electrolysis for power to gas applications
  15. Inkjet printed acrylate-urethane modified poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) flexible conductive films
  16. Cu(II) complexes using acylhydrazones or cyclen for biocidal antifouling coatings
  17. Randomly cross-linked amphiphilic copolymer networks of n-butyl acrylate and N,N-dimethylacrylamide: synthesis and characterization
  18. Roles of electrostatics and intermolecular electronic motions in the structural and spectroscopic features of hydrogen- and halogen-bonded systems
  19. The accurate assessment of the chemical speciation of complex systems through multi-technique approaches
https://doi.org/10.1515/pac-2023-0801
Keywords for this article
Avogadro Colloquia 2022; electrolysis; energy efficiency; hard-to-abate; hydrogen; steam methane reforming

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. In this issue
  3. Preface
  4. Avogadro Colloquia in Rome on “Vision and Opportunities of a Sustainable Hydrogen Society”
  5. Conference papers
  6. H2 in the energy transition
  7. Watching atoms at work during reactions
  8. Hydrogen production and conversion to chemicals: a zero-carbon puzzle?
  9. Rethinking chemical production with “green” hydrogen
  10. Hydrogen as an energy carrier: constraints and opportunities
  11. Shaping the future of green hydrogen: De Nora’s electrochemical technologies for fueling the energy transition
  12. In-situ and operando Grazing Incidence XAS: a novel set-up and its application to model Pd electrodes for alcohols oxidation
  13. Hydrogen storage and handling with hydrides
  14. Advanced polymer electrolyte membrane water electrolysis for power to gas applications
  15. Inkjet printed acrylate-urethane modified poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) flexible conductive films
  16. Cu(II) complexes using acylhydrazones or cyclen for biocidal antifouling coatings
  17. Randomly cross-linked amphiphilic copolymer networks of n-butyl acrylate and N,N-dimethylacrylamide: synthesis and characterization
  18. Roles of electrostatics and intermolecular electronic motions in the structural and spectroscopic features of hydrogen- and halogen-bonded systems
  19. The accurate assessment of the chemical speciation of complex systems through multi-technique approaches
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