An introduction to hydrogen and fuel cell technologies

for clean, low carbon energy and transport

Kevin Fothergill
January 2018
www.hydrogenhub.org
 Hydrogen Q&A
What is hydrogen?
Hydrogen is the lightest, simplest and
most abundant chemical element in the
universe. On earth, it occurs in almost
limitless quantities as a constituent of
water (H2O) and in fossil fuels such as
natural gas (CH4) and in other organic
matter. In its molecular form (H2), it is a
colourless, odourless, non-toxic, highly
combustible gas.
How is hydrogen produced?
55 million tonnes of hydrogen are
currently produced each year. Most of this
is produced by ‘reforming’ natural gas, a
process in which gas and water are
reacted at high temperature to produce
hydrogen and carbon dioxide. Another
process, electrolysis, produces hydrogen
by passing an electric current through
water. If renewable electricity is used, no
carbon dioxide or other pollutants are
produced and this is the best method for
producing totally clean hydrogen.
Why should we use hydrogen for clean energy?
In many ways, hydrogen is the perfect fuel. In combination
with renewable electricity, it can be produced, stored and
used to generate heat and electricity without producing
any greenhouse gases or air pollutants. It has the potential
to be a completely clean, inexhaustible fuel that can act as
an energy carrier in much the same way as the fossil fuels
that we are currently used to.
Why isn’t hydrogen widely used as a fuel today?
Hydrogen is used daily by many large scale industries for
the production of petrol, chemicals, foods and electronics.
Until the early 1970s, hydrogen was widely used in the UK
as a fuel for domestic heating and cooking in the form of
town gas. Production of town gas, mostly from coal, was a
dirty process and the decline of coal reserves and discovery
of large amounts of natural gas resulted in a large scale
conversion. Historically, petroleum products have been
used as transport fuel because of their wide availability and
the ease of transporting them as liquids.
Is hydrogen dangerous?
Yes. Like all fuels, hydrogen gas is highly
flammable and it can form explosive
mixtures with air. In many ways,
hydrogen is safer than petrol and diesel.
The chance of forming explosive
mixtures is limited by the fact that
hydrogen is 14 times lighter than air. A
gaseous hydrogen "spill" diffuses away
so quickly that it escapes into space. It
does not pool on the ground around
the leak and it does not pollute the
ground or groundwater.
Hydrogen in vehicles is stored at high
pressure in highly engineered cylinders
which are extremely strong.
What is a fuel cell?
A fuel cell produces electricity through a chemical Fuel cells operate much like a
reaction, but without combustion. It converts hydrogen battery, except they don’t require
and oxygen into water, and in the process also creates electrical recharging. A battery
electricity. It’s an electro-chemical energy conversion stores all of its chemicals inside
device that produces electricity, water, and heat. and coverts the chemicals into
electricity. Once those chemicals
The reactions that produce electricity happen at the run out, the battery dies. A fuel
electrodes. Every fuel cell has two electrodes, one positive, cell, on the other hand, receives
called the anode, and one negative, called the cathode. the chemicals it uses from the
These are separated by an electrolyte barrier. Fuel goes to outside; therefore, it won’t run
the anode side, while oxygen (or just air) goes to the out. Fuel cells can generate power
cathode side. When both of these chemicals hit the almost indefinitely, as long as
electrolyte barrier, they react, split off their electrons, and they have fuel to use.
create an electric current. A chemical catalyst speeds up
the reactions here.
 Benefits of fuel cells
A Doosan Fuel Cell CHP unit (440kWe)
Versatile
Fuel cells can be of any scale, from milliwatts to
megawatts of power and can be used in
hundreds of different applications from mobile
phone chargers, to cars, buses ad as a source of
heat and electrical power for factories and
neighbourhoods. They can be static, mobile or
portable and are quiet in operation. They have
very few moving parts and require very little
maintenance.
Environmental Performance Complementary
Since hydrogen fuel cells don’t produce air Fuel cells can readily be combined with other
pollutants or greenhouse gases, they are a energy technologies, such as batteries, wind
totally sustainable option for energy turbines, solar panels, and super-capacitors.
production.
Energy Efficiency
Fuel cells are substantially more efficient
than combustion engines. For co-generation
applications, where fuel cells generate both
heat and electricity, efficiencies can be up
to 90%.
Fuel Flexibility
There are many types of fuel cells, and each
can operate in a clean manner using
different fuels including hydrogen, natural
gas, methanol, ethanol and biogas.
SFC Energy portable fuel cells
Health Benefits
 Applications & commercial status
Many fuel cell products are available today
and they are becoming a commercial option
The most commercially advanced application is in
forklift trucks for large 24/7 warehouse operations or
in cold store situations, where batteries do not work
well. They have a higher capital cost than the
conventional lead acid batteries that are widely used,
but a significantly lower operating cost.
Fuel cell cars are available in the UK from Toyota,
Honda and Hyundai. Their numbers are limited as
producers have not yet invested in large-scale, low-cost
manufacture but we can expect this to happen within 5
years. This will also give time for a hydrogen refuelling
infrastructure to be developed. Vans, buses and
vehicles like refuse trucks are a good near term
application as they often return ‘back to base’ on a
daily basis. This provides a better investment case for a
dedicated refuelling station.
Another near term application is large-scale, commercial combined heat and power (CHP). Although
they use natural gas like conventional CHP units and produce CO2, they are cleaner in operation and
more efficient on a total electricity and heat basis. This is a good option where local air quality is a
concern.
Larger HGVs, trains and ships are also being developed but these are a longer term option.
Fuel cell vehicles

Forklift trucks Cars

More than 20,000 supplied in the US to companies
such as Walmart, Toyota, Sysco and Amazon.
Products from Plug Power, Hyster Yale, Still and
Toyota.

Buses
Fast growing application with major deployments in
China and the US. In the UK, FC buses are already
operating in London (8) and Aberdeen (10) with
more planned for Birmingham and Dundee.

Delivery vans
A significant number of vans are in operation in the
UK. These are a modified Renault Kangoo battery
electric van with a fuel cell installed to extent their
range from 80 to 150km

Refuse trucks
Aside from prototypes, fuel cell refuse trucks are
not widely used today although they are expected
to be available from late 2018.
 Combined heat and power (CHP) fuel cells can operate on natural gas and biogas
Commercial Status
There are two main applications:
• Small-scale residential CHP which replaces a
domestic boiler producing hot water and electricity
from gas. More than 100,000 of these have been
installed in Japanese homes. They are expensive to
buy but the Japanese Government provides a large
subsidy to home owners to encourage their
installation. They are available in Europe but are
unlikely to be widely installed until costs come down.
• Large Commercial CHP are used to provide energy to
factories, hospitals, leisure centres and data centres.
They can be of any size but usually between 100kW
and a few MW of electricity and an equal amount of
heat. More than 250MW of large fuel cell CHP has
been installed in the USA. Systems are available in
the UK from a number of suppliers. They are
becoming commercially viable in some niche
applications.
Benefits:
• More efficient use of gas than conventional CHP gives lower cost of operation and less CO2
• No combustion means no NOx or particulates – ideal for use in urban areas with air quality problems
• Quiet operation allows siting on, near or inside buildings
• Can be used to provide power when there is a gas supply but no, or limited, electrical grid connection.
 An integrated energy system with hydrogen as the key energy carrier
Long-term A snapshot of the transition to a sustainable energy system
We have benefitted hugely from a convenient source of energy stored
in the forms of coal, oil and gas but in the future, we will need to
capture almost all our energy directly from the environment and either
use it immediately or create some means of storing it for later use. In
particular, we will need an alternative energy carrier to replace the
coal, oil and gas that we are so used to. This carrier will need to be
easily produced from renewable electricity, stored for long periods in
large quantities and transported to where it is needed. This “new” fuel
is hydrogen, produced by electrolysis using the effectively infinite
supplies of renewable energy and water. The energy system will look
very different to today. Energy generation will be much more
distributed and there will be much more integration between
production, storage and end use and many different technologies will
be involved.

Near Term
Over the next 50 years or so, we will transition to this more sustainable
situation. We are already facing the challenges of balancing supply
from renewables with demand at any point in time. In this period, we
need to make sensible choices about how we store energy. For small
amounts of storage, batteries are ideal but at larger scale and for
longer periods of time, storing energy as hydrogen makes sense. It can
be used directly for heat and electricity, as a transport fuel and can be
distributed easily by pipeline or in the existing gas network.

Industry led market development
Hydrogen and fuel cell technologies offer the UK a
unique opportunity to secure cost effective, clean,
secure energy for power, heat and transportation. The
Hydrogen Hub exists to make that vision a reality.
The Hydrogen Hub is an industry-led community of
stakeholders from across the hydrogen and fuel cell
supply chain, local authorities, businesses and current
and potential users.
To get the best results, we focus on projects that can
have a significant impact in a specific locale. The first
Hydrogen Hub, established in 2016 has focussed on
Swindon and Wiltshire, building on considerable
enthusiasm from both local government and
businesses.
2018 marks the launch of the second Hydrogen Hub, in
Oxfordshire, where there is a strong appetite for clean
and sustainable transport and energy generation. This is
demonstrated by the plan to introduce the UK’s first zero
emission zone in the city of Oxford.
The learning and experienced gained form the successful
deployment of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies will
be extended to other locations as resources permit.
The Hydrogen Hub, which is managed by Ecuity
Consulting LLC, is supported by contributions from
members and grants and funded programme income.
Ecuity is a leading provider of political policy consulting
to the sustainable energy sector.
+44 (0) 121 709 5587
Email:info@ecuity.com
Ecuity Consulting LLP
Radcliffe House,
Blenheim Court,
Solihull,
B91 2AA
www.ecuity.com