Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is broadly recognised as having the potential to play a key role in meeting climate change targets, delivering low carbon heat and power, decarbonising industry and, more recently, its ability to facilitate the net removal of CO2 from the atmosphere. However, despite this broad consensus and its technical maturity, CCS has not yet been deployed on a scale commensurate with the ambitions articulated a decade ago. Thus, in this paper we review the current state-of-the-art of CO2 capture, transport, utilisation and storage from a multi-scale perspective, moving from the global to molecular scales. In light of the COP21 commitments to limit warming to less than 2 °C, we extend the remit of this study to include the key negative emissions technologies (NETs) of bioenergy with CCS (BECCS), and direct air capture (DAC). Cognisant of the non-technical barriers to deploying CCS, we reflect on recent experience from the UK's CCS commercialisation programme and consider the commercial and political barriers to the large-scale deployment of CCS. In all areas, we focus on identifying and clearly articulating the key research challenges that could usefully be addressed in the coming decade.

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Carbon capture and storage (CCS): the way forward

Recent advances on membranes and membrane reactors for hydrogen production

Hydrogen is known as a technically viable and benign energy vector for applications ranging from the small-scale power supply in off-grid modes to large-scale chemical energy exports. However, with hydrogen being naturally unavailable in its pure form, traditionally reliant industries such as oil refining and fertilisers have sourced it through emission-intensive gasification and reforming of fossil fuels. Although the deployment of hydrogen as an alternative energy vector has long been discussed, it has not been realised because of the lack of low-cost hydrogen generation and conversion technologies. The recent tipping point in the cost of some renewable energy technologies such as wind and photovoltaics (PV) has mobilised continuing sustained interest in renewable hydrogen through water splitting. This paper presents a critical review of the current state of the arts of hydrogen supply chain as a forwarding energy vector, comprising its resources, generation and storage technologies, demand market, and economics.

Hydrogen as an energy vector

Hydrogen (H2) is currently used mainly in the chemical industry for the production of ammonia and methanol. Nevertheless, in the near future, hydrogen is expected to become a significant fuel that will largely contribute to the quality of atmospheric air. Hydrogen as a chemical element (H) is the most widespread one on the earth and as molecular dihydrogen (H2) can be obtained from a number of sources both renewable and nonrenewable by various processes. Hydrogen global production has so far been dominated by fossil fuels, with the most significant contemporary technologies being the steam reforming of hydrocarbons (e.g., natural gas). Pure hydrogen is also produced by electrolysis of water, an energy demanding process. This work reviews the current technologies used for hydrogen (H2) production from both fossil and renewable biomass resources, including reforming (steam, partial oxidation, autothermal, plasma, and aqueous phase) and pyrolysis. In addition, other methods for generating hydrogen (e.g., electrolysis of water) and purification methods, such as desulfurization and water-gas shift reactions are discussed.

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Hydrogen Production Technologies: Current State and Future Developments

Hydrogen production with CO2 capture

Development of membrane reformer system for highly efficient hydrogen production from natural gas

The effect of co-existing gases from the process of steam reforming reaction on hydrogen permeability of palladium alloy membrane at high temperatures

Surface reaction of hydrogen on a palladium alloy membrane under co-existence of H2O, CO, CO2 or CH4☆

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a hydrogen separation apparatus 23 and a hydrogen production system 23, in both of which, even when a hydrogen separation member 2 and a fixing member 5 are joined together by brazing, the joint part is good in airtightness and durability. SOLUTION: The hydrogen separation apparatus 23 has a hydrogen separation part 11 in which a hydrogen separation member 2 obtained by forming a hydrogen-permeable membrane 4 and an isolation member 6 on the surface of a porous support 3 is fixed with a fixing member 5. In the apparatus 23, at a contact part of the hydrogen separation member 2 and the fixing member 5, the isolation member 6 formed on the surface of the porous support 3 and the fixing member 5 are bonded with a wax material 7. Preferably, the bonding part of the isolation member 6 with the porous support 3 is a compact layer 6a of glass or ceramic; the bonding part with the wax material is formed with a composite material layer 6b consisting of glass or ceramic and a metal; and the wax material 7 and the hydrogen-permeable membrane 4 are isolated with the isolating member 6. The porous support 3 of the apparatus 23 is a catalyst-cum-porous support 3 having been imparted with hydrogen production function. COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Hydrogen separation apparatus and hydrogen production system

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a reformer-integrated fuel cell with a device structure extremely compact in size, capable of reducing cost with high practicality, and capable of improving power generating efficiency and durability by integrally constituting a steam reformer, a hydrogen purifier and a fuel cell of the past. SOLUTION: The reformer-integrated fuel cell is formed by arranging a barrier layer, a hydrogen separation-cum anode layer, an electrolyte layer and a cathode layer in this order on a porous reforming catalyst layer with a surface layer formed containing one or more metal out of Ni, Rh, Ru, Ir, Pd, Pt, Re, Co, Fe and Ln 1-X A X MO 3 (in a formula, Ln is a rare-earth metal, A is one or more out of Ba, Sr, and Ca, M is one or more out of Cr, and Ti, and X is in the range of 0≤X≤1). The reformer-integrated fuel cell is constituted as a reformer-integrated fuel cell of various shapes such as a cross-section circular shape, a cross-section rectangular shape, and a cross-section polygonal shape. COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Tatsuya Tsuneki

Papers

Development of membrane reformer system for highly efficient hydrogen production from natural gas

The effect of co-existing gases from the process of steam reforming reaction on hydrogen permeability of palladium alloy membrane at high temperatures

Surface reaction of hydrogen on a palladium alloy membrane under co-existence of H2O, CO, CO2 or CH4☆

Hydrogen separation apparatus and hydrogen production system

Reformer-integrated fuel cell