In this manuscript we present the results of a four-year monitor among a representative panel of Dutch citizens on the knowledge, awareness and opinions regarding hydrogen. Hydrogen has the potential to play an important role in the energy transition and therefore receives a growing attention. At the start we wanted to know how the Dutch population felt upon hydrogen and its applications. By knowing how the Dutch feel about hydrogen, we could design campaigns to inform the public better and make these campaigns more tailored on the questions or worries the public has regarding hydrogen. In this contribution we present the results of these four studies.
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The Power to Flex project aims to promote the development of storage possibilities from sustainable energy sources. Hydrogen is opted to be a feasible energy carrier, which can also be stored for prolonged times without further losses and can be transformed into electricity and heat when needed. Producing hydrogen from electrolysis processes has a low CO2 footprint, however the efficiency at both the system, stack and cell level still increases due to further research and development.Electrolysis is conventionally performed with direct current, of which the energy is usually supplied from the grid. Rectifiers are necessary to provide the energy source for electrolysis, which unfortunately waste some of the efficiency, albeit becoming more efficient. Although it is known that distortions, harmonics and ripple, in the current supply can cause decreased performance of the electrolysis, a fundamental understanding is often not provided in published research. Controlled modulation of the electrolysis process can however form a possibility to enhance the performance of electrolysis
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Social acceptance is an important aspect in the realization and implementation of various renewableenergy technologies. Our main objective with this literature review is to provide insight into publicsupport, social acceptance and societal readiness for new energy technologies in general, andhydrogen, both as an energy carrier and as an application in the built environment, in particular. 110relevant articles were identified, of which 28 have been included in this literature review, based onrelevance and year of publication (2012-2022). Generally, the findings show there is low awarenessconcerning hydrogen, as well as limited knowledge and familiarity with this new energy technology,especially concerning hydrogen storage. Despite this, there is overall moderate to high willingness toaccept hydrogen, which decreases when it comes to the local implementation of hydrogen projects.Safety and affordability were two important characteristic of a hydrogen industry that would motivatepeople to support this industry, together with climate change mitigation. Safety concerns over theflammability of hydrogen are mostly expressed when used for household activities and storage, andless so when it concerns the use of hydrogen for transportation. Communication about safety and risks,transparent interaction between all parties and the community, as well as giving the community avoice in the decision-making process, will be essential for hydrogen acceptance. Together with theresults from five case studies (deliverable 10.3 of the HyDelta 2.0 project), recommendations regardingthe elements that should and should not be included in a development and implementation strategywill be given.
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From Springer description: "We present the design considerations of an autonomous wireless sensor and discuss the fabrication and testing of the various components including the energy harvester, the active sensing devices and the power management and sensor interface circuits. A common materials platform, namely, nanowires, enables us to fabricate state-of-the-art components at reduced volume and show chemical sensing within the available energy budget. We demonstrate a photovoltaic mini-module made of silicon nanowire solar cells, each of 0.5 mm2 area, which delivers a power of 260 μW and an open circuit voltage of 2 V at one sun illumination. Using nanowire platforms two sensing applications are presented. Combining functionalised suspended Si nanowires with a novel microfluidic fluid delivery system, fully integrated microfluidic–sensor devices are examined as sensors for streptavidin and pH, whereas, using a microchip modified with Pd nanowires provides a power efficient and fast early hydrogen gas detection method. Finally, an ultra-low power, efficient solar energy harvesting and sensing microsystem augmented with a 6 mAh rechargeable battery allows for less than 20 μW power consumption and 425 h sensor operation even without energy harvesting."
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Societal aspects play an important role in successful implementation of renewable energytechnologies such as hydrogen. In Work package 10 (WP10) within the Hydelta 2.0 research program,we investigated the societal challenges and lessons learned for deploying hydrogentransport/distribution and application within the built environment in the Netherlands. Furthermore,we studied how these societal challenges can be successfully embedded within an implementationstrategy. In this deliverable (D10.3), the conducted field research of four cases, each in a differentphase of implementation (Rozenburg, Lochem, Wagenborgen, Stad aan ’t Haringvliet), is described.The central themes that we covered in this research are public support, (risk) communication, safetyand the experience of safety, and perceived success of the project. For each case, we interviewedlocal stakeholders (24 interviews in total) and residents, including people living nearby the hydrogenpilot (17 interviews, 68 questionnaires and approximately 90 conversations). The results show mostlypositive indications for public support (although this is not yet known for Stad aan ‘t Haringvliet). Inall cases, the importance of communication between stakeholders and between stakeholders andpotentially participating residents is acknowledged, even though there seems to be a lack ofcommunication with residents living in the vicinity of hydrogen pilots. This is a missed opportunityand a potential risk, as these residents may have questions and doubts, for instance about theprogress and decisions that have been made in the project. Positive attitudes concerning the safetyare partly attributed to the trust people have in the involved stakeholders. It also seems importantthat there is a contact person whom people can reach in case of questions or concerns. Additionally,in some of the cases a demonstration house, where people can experience what it means when ahouse is heated with hydrogen, seems successful. Thus, the findings emphasize the importance ofbroad and frequent communication, not only with the directly involved residents, but also withpeople who live in the vicinity of a hydrogen pilot. Communication is not only important in theplanning and implementation phase of the project, but also at the end of the implementation phase.Finally, shared ownership of the project and inclusion of all stakeholders in all phases of the projectseems important to prevent delays in the project.
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In HyDelta 2.0 WP10 we found through literature research, four local case studies and stakeholder interviews that the public perception of hydrogen developments in the Netherlands is now generally positive, nevertheless fragile. The knowledge level of the general public is not high: both concerning the technologies, vision and goals regarding hydrogen applications in the Netherlands. This lack of knowledge increases the risk of misinterpretation of information or change of perception with false information. The knowledge level can be increased with central communication about hydrogen developments, the vision and goals around hydrogen and policies. Improving central communication to the public raises the knowledge level and helps local implementation by unburdening local participation processes, which are currently extensive with first hydrogen developments and pilots. However, the fact that the entire energy system and policy framework concerning this in transition, makes communication about hydrogen developments to the public challenging. Roles and responsibilities in the sector are subject to change and there is uncertainty about what the energy system will look like in the future. This makes it challenging to provide unified information about the position of hydrogen in the future energy system. The current uncertain position of hydrogen applications in the future energy system, in combination with unclear roles and responsibilities and long lead times of permit procedures, contributes to a challenging climate for market parties to make investment decisions.In task 10.1 we did a literature review about social acceptance of hydrogen. In task 10.2 we did interviews with stakeholders along the hydrogen value chain about the societal embeddedness of hydrogen in the Netherlands and in task 10.3 we did four (local) case studies, studying public support, communication and risk and safety perception. In task 10.4 we used the results of tasks 10.1, 10.2 and 10.3 to work towards three risk governance strategies for nine societal risks occurring in four main subjects: (1.) participation, (2.) communication, (3.) policies and regulations and (4.) decision making. These strategies focus on what participation processes could look like in the coming years, how communication to the public can be optimized and what role the government could take to accelerate the development of the hydrogen value chain in The Netherlands by enabling stakeholders. The risk governance strategies have been developed in a co-creation setting. The strategies can be enhanced and improved by working out a step-wise approach and testing them in use case scenarios’.
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Wind and solar power generation will continue to grow in the energy supply of the future, but its inherent variability (intermittency) requires appropriate energy systems for storing and using power. Storage of possibly temporary excess of power as methane from hydrogen gas and carbon dioxide is a promising option. With electrolysis hydrogen gas can be generated from (renewable) power. The combination of such hydrogen with carbon dioxide results in the energy carrier methane that can be handled well and may may serve as carbon feedstock of the future. Biogas from biomass delivers both methane and carbon dioxide. Anaerobic microorganisms can make additional methane from hydrogen and carbon dioxide in a biomethanation process that compares favourably with its chemical counterpart. Biomethanation for renewable power storage and use makes appropriate use of the existing infrastructure and knowledge base for natural gas. Addition of hydrogen to a dedicated biogas reactor after fermentation optimizes the biomethanation conditions and gives maximum flexibility. The low water solubility of hydrogen gas limits the methane production rate. The use of hollow fibers, nano-bubbles or better-tailored methane-forming microorganisms may overcome this bottleneck. Analyses of patent applications on biomethanation suggest a lot of freedom to operate. Assessment of biomethanation for economic feasibility and environmental value is extremely challenging and will require future data and experiences. Currently biomethanation is not yet economically feasible, but this may be different in the energy systems of the near future.
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From the article: "A facile approach for the fabrication of large-scale interdigitated nanogap electrodes (nanogap IDEs) with a controllable gap was demonstrated with conventional micro-fabrication technology to develop chemocapacitors for gas sensing applications. In this work, interdigitated nanogap electrodes (nanogap IDEs) with gaps from 50–250 nm have been designed and processed at full wafer-scale. These nanogap IDEs were then coated with poly(4-vinyl phenol) as a sensitive layer to form gas sensors for acetone detection at low concentrations. These acetone sensors showed excellent sensing performance with a dynamic range from 1000 ppm to 10 ppm of acetone at room temperature and the observed results are compared with conventional interdigitated microelectrodes according to our previous work. Sensitivity and reproducibility of devices are discussed in detail. Our approach of fabrication of nanogap IDEs together with a simple coating method to apply the sensing layer opens up possibilities to create various nanogap devices in a cost-effective manner for gas sensing applications"
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From Science direct: One of the nanowires was covered with a 2-Hydroxyethyl methacrylate based compound to prevent hydrogen from reaching the wire. The compound was dried by a UV source and tested in chamber for comparison with previous measurements. The results shows that temperature effects can be reduced by a digital signal processing algorithm without measuring temperature near or at the substrate. With this method no additional temperature probes are necessary making this solution a candidate for ultra low power wireless applications.
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