Energies 2023 , 16 , 280
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Figure2. Hydrogen production by source by 2050 according to different agency assessments. Based on data from Ref. [36]. Hydrogen can help tackle various critical energy challenges regarding future energy transition [37,38]. Most importantly, it offers an enabling environment to decarbonize some difficult-to-decarbonize sectors including heavy industrial sectors such as steel, ce- ment, chemicals, and aluminum, and long-distance sectors such as shipping, aviation, and long-distance road transport. Together these account for about 30% (10 Gt) of all emissions but the share could rise reaching 16 Gt by 2050 as other sectors such as power get decarbonized [39,40]. In addition, there exist several prominent studies advocating for a 100% renewable energy future—however, the immediate challenge with a 100% renewable energy scenario with complete direct electrification concerns the intermittent nature of solar and wind sources which cannot be overlooked, leading to power curtailment. Against this concern, the introduction of Power-to-X (P2X) provides a key solution to making 100% renewable energy possible. Hydrogen aids in balancing the intermittent supply and providing the required system flexibility through the coupling of various sectors. Through the use of electrolyzers, excess electricity that would have been otherwise curtailed could potentially be converted to hydrogen and re-injected into the network as electricity during power deficits or delivered to other sectors such as industry, transport, or residential. Of the available energy storage technologies currently available, P2X storage presents the most overall optimal long-term and carbon-free seasonal storage. The timespan and power capacity needed to address seasonal imbalances cannot be handled alone by the likes of batteries, supercapacitors, and compressed air. Pumped hydro storage, on the other hand, can provide long-term and large-scale energy storage but it is characterized by geographical restrictions for the remaining untapped potential and its global output capacity of 170 GW is about only 2% of the total installed electricity capacity in the world. Another role of hydro- gen concerns its ability to supply energy to areas where energy is conventionally imported. To wit, electricity can be produced in areas with high levels of solar and wind energy, and through P2X, converted to hydrogen or hydrogen-based fuels and transported to import
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