Hydrogen production, storage, transportation and utilization for energy sector: A current status review

Abstract

The human-induced climate crisis is undoubtedly one of the most unrelenting global challenges we face today. Imperative and immediate policies, initiatives, and actions are vital to tackle the root causes of the problem such as greenhouse gas emissions. Hydrogen has proven to be a promising clean energy source that may play a vital part in our efforts to combat climate change. This review thoroughly explores the viability of hydrogen energy as a solution and its potential in fighting climate change. While hydrogen energy holds tremendous potential to meet the world's energy needs sustainably, it has its own set of scientific, technological, and applicability challenges that need to be addressed. There exist worldwide collaborative efforts to address issues related to i) production, ii) storage, iii) transmission and distribution, and iv) utilization of hydrogen. The risks associated with hydrogen utilization have been discussed. In this review, authors examine in detail the most recent developments in these categories. The authors emphasize the role of government policies and regulations in the mitigation and adaptation of hydrogen energy. Based on our thorough analysis, green hydrogen technology is expected to dominate hydrogen production not because of its obvious advantages in intrinsic zero carbon potential but because of governments' 2050 net zero commitments that will shape the regulations on how we produce and utilize energy.