(Invited) Analytic Methods for Benchmarking Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) is involved in a number of low carbon energy conversion projects for transportation and stationary applications. The overall focus is on sustainable, economic solutions that also provide lower carbon emissions for the environment. The range of projects provide cross application insight into transforming how we think about and use energy.

NREL has worked on low carbon energy projects from renewable hydrogen production to integration of hydrogen technologies with electricity markets to end-use applications in the transportation and stationary fuel cell markets. Several different analysis tools and studies have focused on energy resource potential, costs, emissions, and logistical requirements for deployment. These projects bridge traditional market boundaries by integrating electricity services, energy storage, and transportation applications that also can lower the carbon footprint of these energy sectors. In this presentation we will review four types of crosscutting metrics to used to benchmark low-carbon technologies: (1) resource potential, (2) greenhouse gas emissions, (3) cost of delivered energy, including the impacts of different control strategies, and (4) influence of revenue streams from electrolysis units providing grid services. The results of these various analytic approaches highlight the complexity and interdisciplinary nature of efforts to benchmark low-carbon hydrogen and fuel cell technologies.