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Are electrofuels a sustainable transport fuel? Analysis of the effect of controls on carbon, curtailment, and cost of hydrogen

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  • McDonagh, Shane
  • Deane, Paul
  • Rajendran, Karthik
  • Murphy, Jerry D.

Abstract

Variable renewable electricity (VRE) decarbonises the electricity grid, but its intermittency leads to variations in price, carbon intensity, and curtailment over time. This has led to interest in utilising difficult to manage electricity to produce electrofuels (such as hydrogen via water electrolysis) for transport. The vast majority of the environmental impact of electrofuels is contained in the electricity they consume however, only consuming otherwise curtailed electricity (produced when supply exceeds demand) leads to prohibitively expensive hydrogen due to low run hours.

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  • McDonagh, Shane & Deane, Paul & Rajendran, Karthik & Murphy, Jerry D., 2019. "Are electrofuels a sustainable transport fuel? Analysis of the effect of controls on carbon, curtailment, and cost of hydrogen," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 247(C), pages 716-730.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:247:y:2019:i:c:p:716-730
    DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2019.04.060
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    11. Wu, Benteng & Lin, Richen & Kang, Xihui & Deng, Chen & Dobson, Alan D.W. & Murphy, Jerry D., 2021. "Improved robustness of ex-situ biological methanation for electro-fuel production through the addition of graphene," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    12. McDonagh, Shane & Ahmed, Shorif & Desmond, Cian & Murphy, Jerry D, 2020. "Hydrogen from offshore wind: Investor perspective on the profitability of a hybrid system including for curtailment," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 265(C).
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