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Scaling solar photocatalytic hydrogen production in China: Integrated geospatial-meteorological analysis

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  • Li, Yinan
  • Li, Lanyu
  • Yuan, Hongkuan
  • He, Keji
  • Chen, Hong
  • Xie, Jianping
  • Wang, Biao
  • Wang, Xiaonan

Abstract

Solar photocatalytic hydrogen production is considered a promising technology owing to its sustainable nature, while facing the challenges of improving and maintaining photocatalytic efficiency under prolonged variable weather conditions. Herein, we screen out the MoTe2/ZrS2 system with a theoretical solar-to‑hydrogen conversion efficiency of 10.37 %. To improve the actual efficiency among all 97,711 grid cells in China, we propose an original meteorological data-driven machine learning model to optimize photocatalytic H2 production and results show that the annual average STH efficiency gives a mean of 3.16 % within a range of 0.44 % – 4.91 %. Incorporating geospatial data, we determine that China's photocatalytic H2 potential is about 216.65 Mt./year, which has been improved by almost sixfold compared to that without optimization, and the country's 2060 hydrogen demand can be met by using 11.08 % of its total land area. Compared with photovoltaic electrolysis, a photocatalyst cost of 23 USD/m2cat/103h would make photocatalysis economically competitive. Last, considering hydrogen production fluctuations, we explore optimal operation of hydrogen storage and utilization facilities to fulfil downstream demands.

Suggested Citation

  • Li, Yinan & Li, Lanyu & Yuan, Hongkuan & He, Keji & Chen, Hong & Xie, Jianping & Wang, Biao & Wang, Xiaonan, 2025. "Scaling solar photocatalytic hydrogen production in China: Integrated geospatial-meteorological analysis," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 381(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:381:y:2025:i:c:s0306261924025637
    DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2024.125179
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