Conventional Energy Technologies Research Articles

Heterojunction characteristics and photoelectrochemical performance of TiO2 nanorods sensitized by zeolitic imidazolate framework

Traditional photocatalysts suffer from inferior utilization of solar light. Therefore, developing novel photocatalyst for better solar light harvesting is much required in the wake of current environmental problems arising from conventional energy technologies. Here we report synthesis and characterization of photocatalysts based on TiO2 nanorods (TNR) and Zeolitic Imidazolate Framework-9 (ZIF-9) and their photoelectrochemical properties. The TNRs were sensitized by ZIF-9 through solvothermal method. The presence of ZIF-9 on TNR formed a p-n heterojunction which assisted in initiating efficient charge separation and promoting injection of these carriers into the electrolyte. The heterojunction catalysts also exhibited enhanced optical properties in terms of extended absorption with reduced bandgap in comparison to the TNR film. The aforementioned properties manifested in improved photoelectrochemical performance with a current density of 0.94 mA/cm2, which is four times better than TNR and an applied bias photon to current efficiency (ABPE) of 0.27 %, which is five times better than TNR film alone. These superior properties of the processed ZIF-TNR demonstrate their potential for photoelectrochemical catalysis, thus paving the way for green hydrogen generation.

Emission Spectroscopy-Based Sensor System to Correlate the In-Cylinder Combustion Temperature of a Diesel Engine to NOx Emissions.

Due to a rising importance of the reduction of pollutant, produced by conventional energy technologies, the knowledge of pollutant forming processes during a combustion is of great interest. In this study the in-cylinder temperature, of a near series diesel engine, is examined with a minimal invasive emission spectroscopy sensor. The soot, nearly a black body radiator, emits light, which is spectrally detected and evaluated with a modified function of Planck's law. The results show a good correlation between the determined temperatures and the NOx concentration, measured in the exhaust gas of the engine, during a variety of engine operating points. A standard deviation between 25 K and 49 K was obtained for the in-cylinder temperature measurements.

Investigative study of cost-effective ZrO2 nanoparticles/acrylic based diaphragm for alkaline electrolyzers

Energy is crucial to the cycle of existence in the universe and plays an important role in achieving sustainable growth. Considering the traits of the conventional approach and challenges dealing with conventional energy technologies, water electrolysis is reflected to be simple, sustainable, and green energy tool. Alkaline water electrolysis (AWE) process is mature technology of the last century for industrial hydrogen production. AWE uses asbestos as the separator medium. However, asbestos allows crossover of the produced gases therefore, low purity gas is obtained, and with limited stability. In the present study, a novel composite diaphragm separator has been synthesized using Zirconium oxide (ZrO2) with aqueous acrylic solution in different compositions and optimized for enhanced performance. The prepared composite is initially stabilized through sonication and applied on the medium with a uniform thickness using a doctor blade film applicator. The study aims to optimize the composite diaphragm to withstand the severe chemical and thermal conditions of the electrolyzer. Zirconium oxide-based diaphragms offer several advantages over other types of diaphragms, including excellent corrosion resistance, high chemical and thermal stability, and long service life. These coated separator diaphragms showed good electrolysis performance and stability in an alkaline medium.

Hot carrier extraction from 2D semiconductor photoelectrodes

Hot carrier-based energy conversion systems could double the efficiency of conventional solar energy technology or drive photochemical reactions that would not be possible using fully thermalized, "cool" carriers, but current strategies require expensive multijunction architectures. Using an unprecedented combination of photoelectrochemical and insitu transient absorption spectroscopy measurements, we demonstrate ultrafast (<50 fs) hot exciton and free carrier extraction under applied bias in a proof-of-concept photoelectrochemical solar cell made from earth-abundant and potentially inexpensive monolayer (ML) MoS2. Our approach facilitates ultrathin 7 Å charge transport distances over 1cm2 areas by intimately coupling ML-MoS2 to an electron-selective solid contact and a hole-selective electrolyte contact. Our theoretical investigations of the spatial distribution of exciton states suggest greater electronic coupling between hot exciton states located on peripheral S atoms and neighboring contacts likely facilitates ultrafast charge transfer. Our work delineates future two-dimensional (2D) semiconductor design strategies for practical implementation in ultrathin photovoltaic and solar fuel applications.

Adoption of Renewable Energy Technology on Farms for Sustainable and Efficient Production: Exploring the Role of Entrepreneurial Orientation, Farmer Perception and Government Policies

Traditional energy consumption raises greenhouse gas emissions, which is a major concern in China. Agricultural energy consumption accounts for one third of China’s greenhouse gas emissions. Thus, current patterns of energy consumption on farms are both unsustainable and inadequate since rural communities in emerging nations have limited access to energy sources. This study explores the factors affecting the adoption of renewable energy on farms and examines the effect of such adoption on technical efficiency. The data were collected from 801 farmers selected through a multistage random and purposive sampling method in a face-to-face survey in China. Logistic regression, data envelopment analysis and propensity score matching were used to analyze the data. The descriptive statistics depicted that renewable energy technology was adopted by more than 25% of the total farmers. The logistic regression results depicted that education, farm size, government financial support, perceptions of renewable energy (usefulness, cost effectiveness, environmental friendliness and information availability) and farmer entrepreneurial orientation dimensions (risk-taking, innovativeness and pro-activeness) all significantly affected the adoption of renewable energy technology on farms. Farmers who perceived renewable energy as more useful and cost-effective than conventional energy technology were 1.89 and 2.13 times more likely to adopt it on their farms, respectively. Farmers who perceived renewable energy as more environmentally friendly than traditional energy technology were 1.54 times more likely to use it on their farms. The findings also showed that innovative farmers were 2.24 times more likely to adopt renewable energy technology on their farms. The propensity score matching results showed that the technical efficiency of adopters of renewable energy was 10% higher than that of nonadopters. The study suggests that agriculture must be transformed to fulfill the existing and forthcoming demand for food and energy in an impartial and ecologically sustainable manner.

Topic Taxonomy and Metadata to Support Renewable Energy Digitalisation

Research and innovation in renewable energy, such as wind and solar, have been supporting the green transformation of energy systems, the backbone of a low-carbon climate-resilient society. The major challenge is to manage the complexity of the grid transformation to allow for higher shares of highly variable renewables while securing the safety of the stability of the grid and a stable energy supply. A great help comes from the ongoing digital transformation where digitisation of infrastructures and assets in research and industry generates multi-dimensional and multi-disciplinary digital data. However, a data user needs help to find the correct data to exploit. This has two significant facets: first, missing data management, i.e., datasets are neither findable because of missing community standard metadata and taxonomies, nor interoperable, i.e., missing standards for data formats; second, data owners having a negative perception of sharing data. To make data ready for data science exploitation, one of the necessary steps to map the existing data and their availability to facilitate their access is to create a taxonomy for the field’s topics. For this, a group of experts in different renewable technologies such as photovoltaics, wind and concentrated solar power and in transversal fields such as life cycle assessment and the EU taxonomy for sustainable activities have been gathered to propose a coherent and detailed taxonomy for renewable energy-related data. The result is a coherent classification of relevant data sources, considering both the general aspects applicable to electricity generation from selected renewable energy technologies and the specific aspects of each of them. It is based on previous relevant work and can be easily extended to other renewable resources not considered in this work and conventional energy technology.

Technology options and cost estimates of nuclear powered desalination in the United Arab Emirates

ABSTRACT The shortage of fresh water supply is a serious concern in the United Arab Emirates (UAE); such aspects make it nearly impossible to sustain the generation of potable water by strategies other than seawater desalination. With rising concerns over utilizing conventional energy technologies, nuclear desalination is seen as an effective option. The objective of this study is to evaluate the potential cost of seawater nuclear desalination for the UAE in two meteorological seasons of summer and winter. Three desalination techniques including reverse osmosis (RO), multi-effect distillation with thermal vapor compressors (MED-TVC), and a hybrid combination of MED-TVC+RO coupled to Barakah Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP) are assessed using IAEA’s DEEP-5 code. A sensitivity analysis is also conducted including a parametric variation in the interest rate, discount rate, and specific unit cost of the desalination plant. The seasonal study indicates that water costs increased in the winter, relative to summer with the MED-TVC being the highest in cost, followed by MED-TVC+RO, and RO. The power cost is found to be the only parameter affected by the interest and discount rates and, thus, the RO is the most economically competitive technology with further advantages in terms of safety aspects.

Performance improvement of ocean thermal energy conversion organic Rankine cycle under temperature glide effect

The temperature glide effect of zeotropic mixtures on ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) cycle driven by a narrow temperature difference, which is significantly different from that in conventional low-grade energy technologies, is yet to be thoroughly studied. In this study, the binary zeotropic mixtures-based OTEC cycle is investigated. Comparative analysis of the classical zeotropic ORC and six types of zeotropic ORCs configured with or without series/parallel multi-pressure evaporators and single-/dual-outlet liquid-separated condensers were conducted. The results showed that zeotropic mixtures could be beneficial in ocean thermal energy conversion. Multi-pressure evaporation could significantly reduce the irreversible loss in the heat exchanger, and the series multi-pressure evaporator-based zeotropic ORC (SMZO) performed better than the parallel cycle (PMZO), with 0.09%–0.14% higher thermal efficiency, 2.27%–3.11% higher turbine power output, and 0.89%–1.46% higher exergy efficiency. Liquid-separated condensation could improve the condensation effect by increasing the heat transfer coefficient, and liquid-separated dryness dominant the performance. Dual-outlet liquid-separated condensation could also increase cycle-levelised energy cost. Comparingly, the single-outlet liquid-separated condensation based cycle could reduce the levelised energy cost by 7.93% and 4.81%, respectively.

Progress on Platinum-Based Catalyst Layer Materials for H-PEMFC

The constant increase in energy demand and related environmental issues have made fuel cells an attractive technology as an alternative to conventional energy technologies. Like any technology, fuel cells face drawbacks that scientific society has been focused on to improve and optimize the overall technology. Thus, the cost is the main inhibitor for this technology due to the significantly high cost of the materials used in catalyst layers. The current discussion mainly focuses on the fundamental electrochemical half-cell reaction of hydrogen oxidation reaction (HOR) and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) that are taking place in the catalyst layers consisting of Platinum-based and Platinum-non noble metals. For this purpose, studies from the literature are presented and analyzed by highlighting and comparing the variations on the catalytic activity within the experimental catalyst layers and the conventional ones. Furthermore, an economic analysis of the main platinum group metals (PGMs) such as Platinum, Palladium and Ruthenium is introduced by presenting the economic trends for the last decade.

Energy efficiency implementation and Greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction by replacing air conditioners by hot water absorption chiller

Climate change impacts are burning issues now-a-days all over the world. GHG emissions are mostly due to fossil fuel burning and inefficient energy use. Energy inefficiencies occurred by use of conventional energy technologies. The textile industries are one of the major manufacturing sectors in Bangladesh and energy consumption is quite high for energy production in this sector. Due to high energy demand, most of the textile industries use non-renewable energy source like natural gas, diesel and furnace oil for energy production. This high energy demand increases high consumption of fossil fuels &amp; accelerating emission of GHGs. So, for future sustainability, energy efficiency is must to reduce GHGs and lowering the quantity of natural gas use for energy production. Moreover, purchased electricity consumption from national grid is also increasing every year. This report shows energy efficiency incorporation by using low energy consuming technologies for HVAC systems where co-generation is used i.e. using generator exhausts or hot cooling water (as a source of heat) for making cool water and use it for air cooling which will reduce dependency on air conditioners enhancing GHGs emission reduction. This will reduce the quantity of high Global warming potential refrigerants (R-22, R-134a and R407c) used in air conditioners. No extra heat source will be required in my process design &amp; reuse the hot water as heat source for air cooling cycle. Financial feasibility also has done which will ensure economic profitability in parallel to Energy savings &amp; GHG reduction. This study reveals that it is possible to reduce natural gas &amp; refrigerant’s consumption which is responsible for GHG emissions.

Design and performance analysis of a parabolic trough power plant under the climatological conditions of Tamanrasset, Algeria.

Algeria’s energy demands are tremendously growing, and on the African continent it ranks among the countries with the highest energy consumption. To counter its growing energy demand, the country is progressively adopting renewable energy technologies, although conventional energy technologies still play a central role in its electricity production. The huge solar energy potential in Algeria can be exploited and utilized to meet the country’s growing energy demand with minimal greenhouse gas production. Given that concentrating solar power is viewed as one of the most promising alternatives in the field of solar energy utilization, this study investigates the viability of a 100 MW parabolic trough-based power plant at Tamanrasset, Algeria. The plant was simulated in the System Advisor Model software considering the actual electricity load profile of the targeted location and implementing two different condenser types: evaporative and air-cooled. By comparing the plant’s electricity production to the city’s real load, the plant was in position of supplying about 78% and 60% of the city’s electricity demand during the winter and summer seasons, respectively. The results show that implementation of such CSP plants could play an important role in meeting the energy demand as well as mitigating climate change through greenhouse emissions avoided in electricity generation process.

A review on the impact of conductive nanoparticles (CNPs) in anaerobic digestion: Applications and limitations

The development of the anaerobic digestion (AD) process and its mild operating conditions of complex organic carbon distinguish it from conventional energy technologies and make it highly desirable to meet a sustainable green energy technology. Although, the effectiveness of this AD method is often constructed by few issues such as surface heterogeneity, ammonia inhibition, poor methane production, slow microbe growing rates, and slow mass transfer which needs rectification. Conductive nanoparticles (CNPs) helps to increase anaerobic digestion rates as nano-sized structures with specific physicochemical properties interact with the substrate and microorganisms. CNPs as additive have resulted in high efficiency for the AD process because of their unique physicochemical characteristics, i.e. high surface area, high active sites, high reactivity levels, high specificity, self-assembly, increased mobility, and AD media transmission. This review concentrates on the recent attempts to examine the impact of CNPs, pro and cons on biogas production while using a metal oxide, zero-valent metals, and nano-carbon materials. The traditional view of binding CNPs to living organisms and the current view of mechanisms for improving aerobic digestive performance with metal CNPs. Furthermore, the effect of the physical parameter and kinetic limitations has discussed by the mathematical modeling that essential to observe, optimize simulate, and predict the behavior of microbes at different conditions in the AD process. Later the methanogenic activity and chemical content inhibition of CNPs on the AD system was discussed. Finally, future prospects and other recommendations discussed as conclusive remarks, which help in the substantial use of CNPs to the AD process.

Preface

First Virtual International Conference on Advances in Renewable and Sustainable Energy Systems (ICARSES 2020) December 3 – 5, 2020 Edited by Dr. M. Cheralathan (Chairman) Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, SRM Institute of Science of Technology, Kattankulathur, India Renewable energy sources are hygienic sources of energy that have a much lesser negative environmental impact than conventional fossils energy technologies. The most significant feature of renewable energy is its plentiful supply and is infinite in comparison to energy from the depleting fossil fuels. Hence an awareness about renewable energy and energy conservation has to be created globally and use of renewable, environmentally friendly and energy efficient technologies have to be promoted. Collaborative efforts for promoting research between Institutions and Industry on new energy efficient products and technologies at national and international level will help in achieving sustained energy transition. As an initiative in creating awareness on these challenges, the Department of Mechanical Engineering, SRMIST is conducting the first virtual International Conference on Advances in Renewable and Sustainable Energy Systems (ICARSES 2020) during 3rd to 5th December 2020.ICARSES 2020 focuses on a range of issues related to various renewable and sustainable energy like Solar, Wind, Biogas, Geothermal, Biomass etc. The purpose of the conference is to bring together the multi - disciplinary community of engineers, scientists, and academics to discuss recent trends and future developments in Renewable Energy. The conference features invited and contributed talks organized in different sessions. The invited speakers are globally recognized experts in the respective fields’ viz., Prof. Marc Rosen. University of Ontario, Canada, Prof. R.Z. Wang,, Prof. Bidyut Baran Saha, Kyshu University, Japan, Prof. S C Kaushik, IIT Delhi, Prof. Sivasankaran Harish, University of Tokyo, Japan, Prof. R Velraj, Anna University, Chennai, India, Prof. S. Murugan, NIT, Rourkela, India, Dr. G. Kumaresan, IES, Anna University, Chennai, India, Dr. Zafar Said, University of Sharjah, UAE, Prof. K.V. Sharma, JNTU, Hyderabad, India, Prof. S. K. Tyagi, IIT Delhi, New Delhi, India, Dr. B. Chitti Babu, IITDM, Kanchipuram, Chennai, India, Dr. Ravita Lamba, MNIT Jaipur, India and Dr. Alperen Günay, University of Tokyo, Japan.List of About Srmist, About The Department, Chief Patrons, Icarses-2020 Conference Committees and Review Panel Members, are available in this pdf.

Acceptance of energy technologies in context: Comparing laypeople's risk perceptions across eight infrastructure technologies in Germany

In Carbon Capture and Utilization (CCU), CO2 captured from industrial processes replaces fossil feedstock used to produce of a variety of products, e.g., plastic products, fuels, or minerals. The roll-out of CCU will depend on the public's acceptance and risk perception. Whereas past studies exclusively focused on CCU risk perception, this study (n = 266) compared CCU to seven other infrastructure technologies (fossil, nuclear, renewable energies) to put the perceived CCU risks into perspective.The risk perception for CCU was higher than it was for renewables, but lower compared to conventional energy technologies. User factors had limited influence on the risk perception: the perceived risks of CCU were not affected by people's general risk orientation. Instead, risk judgments were guided by the risk evaluations of renewable and conventional energy technologies, indicating that CCU was “neither fish nor fowl” for laypeople. This lack of familiarity with CCU highlights the need for communication concepts which clarify the role of CCU for climate and resource protection.

Optimization of energy and economic scheduling of a hybrid energy plant by using a dynamic programming approach

An optimized energy and economic scheduling of hybrid energy plants can lead to a significant reduction of primary energy consumption and operational costs. Various optimization methods, with their own advantages and limitations, have been proposed in the literature. However, the scheduling optimization of complex hybrid energy plants that are composed of renewable, conventional and storage energy technologies is still an area which demands contribution. Dynamic programming has proved to be a powerful approach because of its ability to solve a variety of optimization problems with nonlinear objective functions and constraints, as well as to find global optimal solutions. Thus, this paper goes beyond previous analysis available in the literature by developing a novel methodology based on dynamic programming for the optimization of the energy and economic scheduling of hybrid energy plants. The hybrid energy plant considered in this paper includes renewable energy systems, fossil fuel energy systems and energy storage technologies. The actual fluctuation of the electricity prices is also considered in this work. The optimal scheduling was identified by considering the minimization of primary energy consumption or operational costs, as well as a hybrid scenario for meeting thermal, cooling and electrical energy demands of the user. Hybrid scenarios of minimizing both primary energy consumption and operational costs weighted by two different weight coefficients α and β, are also evaluated. The validity and capability of the optimization methodology is demonstrated by considering two case studies. The first case is a commercial building and the second case regards a University campus. Compared to commonly-used operation strategies, the energy scheduling optimization (α = 1 and β = 0) by means of dynamic programming allows a primary energy saving between 3.8% and 8.3% for the first case study and a saving between 0.5% and 17.4% for the second case study. Moreover, the economic scheduling optimization (α = 0 and β = 1) enables operational cost reduction in the range 11.7%–25.1% for the first case study and in the range 4.3%–14% for the second case study. For both case studies, the economic scheduling optimization shows that fulfilling the user energy demands by a combined heat and power is economically more convenient than importing electricity from the grid. Finally, unlike the operation strategies used as benchmarks, the dynamic programming methodology is flexible and able to solve scheduling optimization problems under different optimization constraints and can also allow customized hybrid solutions.

Comparative effectiveness of environmental regulation instruments: Case of the Moroccan electricity mix

&lt;abstract&gt; &lt;p&gt;Fossil fuels dominate the electricity mix of Morocco, the country is placing renewable energy at the heart of its energy strategy, to improve the security of supply and ensure environmental sustainability. However, the penetration of renewable energy technologies (RET) in the Moroccan electricity mix remains low due to an excess of investment in conventional energy technologies. This study first explores the characteristics of the Moroccan electricity mix before studying the dynamic effects of environmental regulatory instruments, in particular the carbon tax and the emission standards. To do so, we analyzed scenarios using a bottom-up linear and dynamic optimization model « OSeMOSYS» . We will therefore assess the impact of the carbon tax and the emission standards on RET adoption in the Moroccan electricity mix, over a period from 2015 to 2040. Our results suggest that environmental regulation in the electricity sector will lead to a large diversification of the Moroccan electricity mix with a large penetration of RET thus reducing the overall production of conventional energy technologies. Therefore, it follows that the carbon tax encourages the adoption of RET in the Moroccan electricity mix with significant reductions on fuel costs and operating &amp;amp; maintenance (O &amp;amp; M) costs of conventional energy technologies compared to emission standards.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/abstract&gt;

A Parametric Study of a Hybrid Photovoltaic Thermal (PVT) System Coupled with a Domestic Hot Water (DHW) Storage Tank

Photovoltaic-thermal panels are hybrid systems that combine the two types of conventional solar energy technologies (photovoltaic and thermal panels) and simultaneously generate both thermal and electrical energy in a micro-cogeneration system. Like any co-generation system, there is an optimal balance that can be achieved between the thermal and electrical energy produced. For this reason, it is important to establish the relationship and inter-connection between the two. Limited research is available on the cogeneration interaction in a PVT system, so the novelty of this article lies in the consideration of the entire energy system connected to the PVT panel, including the storage tank and the consumer demand curve, and the investigation of the thermal parametric variation. This study analyses the impact of the variation of some thermal parameters of a domestic hot water tank on the electrical efficiency of a photovoltaic-thermal panel. A model of a system of photovoltaic-thermal panels is built in a transient systems simulation program (TRNSYS) and a one-factor-at-a-time analysis is carried out for the cold-water main temperature, tank size, tank outlet flow and consumer demand curve. The results show that the variation of the outlet flow to the consumer has the highest impact on the electrical efficiency, of about 6.8%. The next highest impact factor is the size of the tank with a variation of 4.7%. Matching the profile of the consumer is also an important aspect. It was observed that the peak electrical efficiency occurs during peak consumer demand. Finally, the instantaneous variation of the thermal and electrical power of the system was analysed as a function of the temperature at the inlet of the photovoltaic-thermal panel.

The greening of South-South trade: Levels, growth, and specialization of trade in clean energy technologies between countries in the global South

Abstract Countries in the global South, or developing and emerging economies, are experiencing rapid economic growth, and increased economic integration with other countries in the global South, including trade. Some analysts have raised concerns that such South-South trade might encourage the use of outdated conventional energy technologies, and lock developing countries into high carbon growth paths. Here, trade data from the UN Comtrade database is analyzed with a gravity model of trade. Results show that levels of clean energy technologies in South-south trade were relatively low up until the first half of the 2010’s, but that these are entirely comparable to North-North or other trade flows in recent years. The analysis thus finds no evidence to support concerns that South-South trade might encourage high carbon development. South-South trade contains particularly high levels of solar PV, hydropower, and electric two-wheeler technologies, whilst exporters in the global North are more competitive in markets for wind power equipment and electric vehicles. Trade in electric vehicles is the fastest growing class of clean energy technologies, and the dominance of Northern countries in their exports may mean that South-South trade could, in the foreseeable future, once again lag behind in levels of clean energy technologies.

Current progress of Pt and Pt-based electrocatalysts used for fuel cells

Due to the growing demand for energy and impending environmental issues, fuel cells have attracted significant attention as an alternative to conventional energy technologies.

Development of a Novel Technological Readiness Assessment Tool for Fuel Cell Technology

Technology Readiness Level and Manufacturing Readiness Level evaluation methodologies have been applied for a long time by the aerospace and defense industries to systematically determine the state of readiness for their products and processes. These tools have been proven to be extremely valuable not only in assessing the stages of product development, but also in providing requirements and guidance for continuing pursuit towards final products. This paper describes the creation of a novel and unique technology readiness level methodology tool that applies specifically to fuel cell technologies. This evaluation tool used modified criteria from the above-mentioned readiness level tools and adapted them to reflect the aspects of fuel cell technology. The biggest challenge in developing the readiness evaluation tool was due to the fact that there are several different fuel cell types and many different applications. In this complex matrix of drastically different conditions and diverse components, a general evaluation tool was developed first. Subsequently, specific versions of the tool will be developed to reflect the fuel cell types and applications. The Fuel Cell Technology Readiness Level (FCTRL) methodology is developed for those skilled in the art of fuel cells, engineers, and other professionals who need to evaluate fuel cell technologies for integration into existing systems and applications, as well as for anyone interested in fuel cells and renewable energy systems in general. The tool can also be very effective for use by investors planning to fund a fuel cell projects or government panels in charge of assigning research funds. The FCTRL evaluation tool comprises seven levels and a varying number of specific criteria within each level. The application of the tool is relatively simple in the form of a checklist. The technology is assumed to progress to a higher level once all criteria in the lower level are met. An example of the application is presented for a general case of fuel cell technology and places the most advanced fuel cell product in the correct level of readiness. The FCTRL is expected to make a significant impact on understanding fuel cell technology and its role in the energy systems poised to replace conventional energy technologies.