Renewable energy driven electrolysis of water for hydrogen production, storage, and transportation

With the growing problem of climate change and rapid development of renewable energy, hydrogen as a clean and efficient fuel and energy storage medium is an ideal candidate for reducing pollutant emissions and solving the problem of energy supply and demand matching. The electrolysis of water using renewable energy to produce hydrogen is currently one of the methods with the lowest carbon emissions and the most promising large-scale application prospects among various options. However, in the face of diverse renewable energy resources, the performance characteristics and differences of various hydrogen production technologies through electrolysis of water have not been clearly elucidated. And the adaptive hydrogen storage and transportation technologies still need to be sorted out. This paper reviews the feasibility of green hydrogen supply chain, from the use of renewable energy to electrolyze water for hydrogen production, to hydrogen energy storage, and then to hydrogen transportation to end users. Firstly, the development history, technical characteristics, and application status of three types of electrolyzer technologies are introduced. Then, a comparative assessment is conducted on different renewable energy hydrogen production systems based on integration design, energy efficiency, production cost, and environmental impact. Furthermore, the methods of hydrogen storage and transportation are described in detail to meet the requirements of different scales and distances. Finally, the conclusions and prospects for the whole chain of the hydrogen industry are summarized.