The challenge
Green hydrogen presents an excellent opportunity to decarbonise multiple sectors including transportation, energy markets and industrial sectors. Barriers remain to the realisation of a hydrogen-based economy, including the cost of production, the cost of infrastructure, as well as the safe handling, transportation and storage domestically and internationally. Uncertainties in supply-demand chains also require de-risking of the sector. Our research will tackle these issues through an interdisciplinary approach that considers the relationship between multiple industries who are transitioning to hydrogen usage.
Why this research is valuable
Green hydrogen is emerging as an industry worth up to $5 billion, and demand is estimated to increase from about 90 million tonnes in 2020 to 660 million tonnes in 2050. The target cost for green hydrogen to be viable as an export commodity is $2/kg-delivered to the user while the current cost is almost three times higher. Our research will develop the framework to facilitate the cost-effective production and utilisation of green hydrogen.
Green Hydrogen – Research themes
Production, storage and utilisation of Powerfuels:
- Developing advanced catalysts for water electrolysis and fuel cells
- Efficient transition of metal/carbon water splitting electrocatalysts for hydrogen production
- Development of porous electromaterials for Hydrogen Production and Energy Storage, and Low-cost, robust, high-activity water splitting electrodes
- Sustainable production of hydrogen and fuels from solid wastes, biomass, and greenhouse gas via catalytic transformation
- Plasmonic Green H2: the green hydrogen revolution
- Developing advanced materials to store hydrogen safely
- Improving safety of H2 utilization through experiments and modelling of fuel leak dispersion and explosions
- Improving fuel cell efficiency and applications
- Designing novel fuel cell architectures for high power density.
Waste transformation research hub