Abstract
Due to its characteristics, hydrogen is considered the energy carrier of the future. Its use as a fuel generates reduced pollution, as if burned it almost exclusively produces water vapor. Hydrogen can be produced from numerous sources, both of fossil and renewable origin, and with as many production processes, which can use renewable or non-renewable energy sources. To achieve carbon neutrality, the sources must necessarily be renewable, and the production processes themselves must use renewable energy sources. In this review article the main characteristics of the most used hydrogen production methods are summarized, mainly focusing on renewable feedstocks, furthermore a series of relevant articles published in the last year, are reviewed. The production methods are grouped according to the type of energy they use; and at the end of each section the strengths and limitations of the processes are highlighted. The conclusions compare the main characteristics of the production processes studied and contextualize their possible use.
Highlights
In 2012 the UN Secretary-General stated that ‘Energy is the Golden Thread’, which connects economic growth, social equity, and environmental sustainability [1]
This review aims to provide an overview of the major hydrogen production processes, mainly but focusing on those that make use of renewable sources, for each process some relevant articles published in the last year are reviewed
It has recently been shown that the application of a uniform positive electric field is able to modify the catalytic behavior of Ni-based catalysts during methane steam reforming by improving the methane activation at the surface while reducing the coke formation [22]
Summary
In 2012 the UN Secretary-General stated that ‘Energy is the Golden Thread’, which connects economic growth, social equity, and environmental sustainability [1]. The 2018 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) special report [3] on the impacts of global warming of 1.5 ◦ C above pre-industrial levels and on the effects of global greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), has pointed out the need to drastically reduce these emissions. To effectively counteract the climate change, greenhouse gas emissions need to be reduced by at least 45% by 2030 [4], and carbon neutrality reached by 2050 [5] to stay below +1.5 ◦ C of global warming. Despite a wide variety of energy sources, fossil fuels (coal, oil and natural gas) still provide most of the energy needed to support human activities [6], but to achieve carbon neutrality the sources can only be renewable; it is necessary to reduce the consumption of fossil sources
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