N Ational H Ydrogen

Abstract

An energy economy based on hydrogen could resolve growing concerns about America’s energy supply, security, air pollution, and greenhouse gas emissions. Hydrogen offers the long-term potential for an energy system that produces near-zero emissions and is based on domestically available resources. Before hydrogen can achieve its promise, however, stakeholders must work together to overcome an array of technical, economic, and institutional challenges. Hydrogen has the potential to play a major role in America’s future energy system. This Roadmap outlines key issues and challenges in hydrogen energy development and suggests paths that government and industry can take to expand use of hydrogen-based energy. Major F Findings indings and Conclusions Widespread use of hydrogen will affect every aspect of the U.S. energy system, from production through end-use. The individual segments of a hydrogen energy system— production, delivery, storage, conversion, and end-use applications—are closely interrelated and interdependent. Design and implementation of a hydrogen economy must carefully consider each of these segments as well as the “whole system.” Production—Government-industry coordination on hydrogen production systems is required to lower overall costs, improve efficiency, and reduce the cost of carbon sequestration. Better techniques are needed for both central-station and distributed hydrogen production. Efforts should focus on improving existing commercial processes such as steam methane reformation, multifuel gasification, and electrolysis. Development should continue on advanced production techniques such as biological methods and nuclear- or solar-powered thermochemical water-splitting. Delivery—A greatly expanded distributed infrastructure will be needed to support the expected development of hydrogen production, storage, conversion, and applications. Initial efforts should focus on the development of better components for existing delivery systems, such as hydrogen sensors, pipeline materials, compressors, and high-pressure breakaway hoses. Cost, safety, and reliability issues will influence the planning, design, and development of central versus distributed production and delivery. To address the “chicken and egg” (demand/supply) dilemma, demonstrations should test various hydrogen infrastructure components for both central and distributed systems in concert with end-use applications (e.g., fueling stations and power parks). Storage—Hydrogen storage is a key enabling technology. None of the current technologies satisfy all of the hydrogen storage attributes sought by manufacturers and end users. Government-industry coordination on research and development is needed to lower costs, improve performance, and develop advanced materials. Efforts should focus on improving existing commercial technologies, including compressed hydrogen gas and liquid hydrogen, and exploring higher-risk storage technologies involving advanced materials (such as lightweight metal hydrides and carbon nanotubes). This Roadmap outlines key issues and challenges in hydrogen energy development and suggests paths that government and industry can take to expand use of hydrogenbased energy. iv Conversion—Conversion of hydrogen into useful forms of electric and thermal energy involves use of fuel cells, reciprocating engines, turbines, and process heaters. Research and development are needed to enhance the manufacturing capabilities and lower the cost of fuel cells as well as to develop higher-efficiency, lower-cost reciprocating engines and turbines. Efforts should focus on developing profitable business models for distributed power systems, optimizing fuel cell designs for mobile and stationary applications, and expanding tests of hydrogen-natural gas blending for combustion. Research is required to expand fundamental understanding of advanced materials, electrochemistry, and fuel cell stack interfaces and to explore the fundamental properties of hydrogen combustion. Applications—Ultimately, consumers should be able to use hydrogen energy for transportation, electric power generation, and portable electronic devices such as mobile phones and laptop computers. Cost and performance issues associated with hydrogen energy systems will need to be addressed in tandem with customer awareness and acceptance. Key consumer demands include safety, convenience, affordability, and environmental friendliness. Efforts should focus on understanding consumer preferences and building them into hydrogen system designs and operations. Opportunities should be identified to use hydrogen systems in facilities for distributed generation, combined heat and power, and vehicle fleets. Supportive energy and environmental policies should be implemented at the Federal, State, and local levels. All individual segments of the hydrogen industry as well as the overall hydrogen energy system must address several cross-cutting challenges. These challenges include insuring safety, building government/industry partnerships for technology demonstration and commercialization, coordinating activities by diverse stakeholders, maintaining a strong research and development program in both fundamental science and technology development, and implementing effective public policies. Two additional cross-cutting areas could become powerful drivers to assist in addressing these challenges: customer education and the development of codes and standards. Education and outreach—Hydrogen energy development is a complex topic, and people are uncertain about impacts on the environment, public health, safety, and energy security. Ultimately, consumer preferences drive the choices made in energy markets, technology development, and public policy. Informing the public through educational and training materials, science curricula, and public outreach programs will help garner public acceptance for hydrogen-related products and services. Codes and standards—Uniform codes and standards for the design, manufacture, and operation of hydrogen energy systems, products, and services can dramatically speed the development process from the laboratory to the marketplace. Government-industry coordination can accelerate codes and standards processes, which must also span national boundaries and be accepted by international bodies to achieve global acceptance. Development of hydrogen energy technologies represents a potential long-term energy solution for America. A coordinated and focused effort is necessary to bring public and private resources to bear on evaluating the costs and benefits of the transition to a hydrogen economy. Next steps will include the development of detailed research and development plans for each of the technology areas listed above. A significant commitment and coordination of resources will be essential to the success of this effort.