Gaetano Squadrito, Gaetano Maggio, Agatino Nicita
04/03/2024
In the last twenty years, increasing efforts have been dedicated to green hydrogen technologies development, but still today a number of issues are claimed in justifying the delay in its large scale application and the starvation of its market. Moreover, some new questions seem ready to be put on the table for justifying the delay in green hydrogen technologies applications.
Fig. 1. Scheme for centralised hydrogen production and distribution.
In this paper, a critical analysis of recent literature and institutional reports is carried out with the aim of understanding what is the real state of the play. In particular, peculiar advantages and shortcomings of different green hydrogen technologies (biomass pyrolysis and gasification, water electrolysis, etc.) have been analysed and compared, with a focus on the electrolysis process as the most promising method for large scale and distributed generation of hydrogen.
Some geopolitical and economic aspects associated with the transition to a green hydrogen economy – including the feared exacerbation of the water crisis – have been widely examined and discussed, with the purpose of identifying approaches and solutions to accelerate the mentioned transition.
