Development of a transitional model for a large site moving towards net-zero using renewable generation and green hydrogen.

The transition from fossil fuels to sustainable energy is a problem which will be faced worldwide, across many different industries and will require a variety of technical solutions.

The recognition that there are grey, blue, and green hydrogen sources demonstrates the challenges ahead to make hydrogen a sustainable energy source for wide scale adoption. In particular, this research will look to develop an economic and operational transitional model for a large-scale site operation, such as a university campus, using green hydrogen and complementary technologies such as solar, hydrogen fuel cells, and battery storage. Loughborough University will be used as an example.

The contribution of this research is to develop an economic and operational model for a large-scale operation, such as a university campus, combining green hydrogen, battery storage, and renewable generation, to guide the transition towards sustainable operation.

While green technologies have been studied in great detail individually, this research does not provide sufficient guidance for how to combine them effectively to supply a large site with carbon neutral energy. The primary research will be in the following areas: 1) Hydrogen generation, distribution, storage, and usage for powering a large site

2) Energy supply and demand management 3) Current GHG emission models, calculations and assumptions, and 4) Cost effective sustainable energy generation,

The methodology will be based on simulation studies, utilising existing data and efficiency models for key elements in the energy system, such as 1) The hydrogen fuel cell will use a scaled model. 2) Different hydrogen supplies will be simulated, testing grey, blue and green types and their carbon impact.

3) Techno-economic assumptions on the capital and operation cost will be derived from the literature.

The HESCET tool forms the bases of existing carbon accounting, using average carbon intensities. This will be a starting point for our research, but averages will not be sufficient to guide operational and investment decisions. Therefore, a more detailed and time varying model of the carbon intensity of different energy carries will be developed.