Abstract
Hydrogen produced by renewable sources represents an interesting way to reduce the energetic dependence on fossil fuels in the transportation sector. This paper shows a feasibility study for the production, storage and distribution of hydrogen in the western Sicilian context, using three different renewable sources: wind, biomass and sea wave. The objective of this study is the evaluation of the hydrogen demand, needed to replace all diesel supplied buses with electrical buses equipped with fuel cells. An economic analysis is presented with the evaluation of the avoidable greenhouse gas emissions. Four different scenarios correlate the hydrogen demand for urban transport to the renewable energy resources present in the territories and to the modern technologies available for the production of hydrogen. The study focuses on the possibility of tapping into the potential of renewable energies (wind, biomass and sea wave) for the production of hydrogen by electrolysis. The use of hydrogen would reduce significantly the emissions of particulate and greenhouse gases in the urban districts under analysis.
Highlights
Among the actions that the Kyoto Protocol indicates in order to reduce CO2 emissions, innovative technologies are promoted, in particular based on the exploitation of renewable energy sources (RES)
The existing energy systems are dominated by technologies based on fossil fuels, producing the emissions of greenhouse gases and polluting the environment [2]
Average Europeans or Japanese use about half as much energy as the average North American, but have a living standard similar to the North American citizens. This underlines the fact that the living standard and welfare depends on having primary as well as secondary standards of individual preference fulfilled and this can be done in different ways with different implications for energy use [3]
Summary
Among the actions that the Kyoto Protocol indicates in order to reduce CO2 emissions, innovative technologies are promoted, in particular based on the exploitation of renewable energy sources (RES). All RES (expect geothermal) are related to solar radiation: annually the earth’s surface receives about 885 billion GWh of solar energy This huge amount of energy is equivalent to 6200 times the primary energy consumed by humankind in 2008 [1]. The existing energy systems are dominated by technologies based on fossil fuels, producing the emissions of greenhouse gases and polluting the environment [2]. Within this economically managed part of the energy sector, renewable energy sources currently provide about 25% of the energy supplied [3]. Cruenrreewnatlbyl,etshoeuErcuerso,ptheaisncoPmarelisamfroemnt passed a law on hydrogen vehicles’ homologation in an effort to protect the environment in urban centers
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