Details
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Number of pages | 30 |
| Journal | Circular Economy and Sustainability |
| Early online date | 3 Feb 2024 |
| Publication status | E-pub ahead of print - 3 Feb 2024 |
Abstract
Green hydrogen will play a key role in the future energy system. For the production of green hydrogen, an installation of alkaline (AWE) and proton exchange membrane water electrolysis (PEMWE) of several gigawatts per year is projected in the upcoming decades. The development of the hydrogen economy is associated with a great demand for scarce and expensive resources. To reduce resource demand and avoid supply bottlenecks, actions toward a circular economy are required. In the present study, three circular economy actions (repair, reuse, and recycling) are analyzed with regard to AWE and PEMWE installation taking Germany as an example. It is found that, so far, only recycling is a viable strategy for a circular economy. For further analysis, a model is developed to assess the impact of recycling on resource demand for AWE and PEMWE scale-up. Mass flows from end-of-life recycling are intergrated into the model, and their economic value is estimated. The results imply that closed-loop recycling can reduce the cumulated primary resource demand by up to 50% in the long run. However, recycling will first be relevant after 2040, while water electrolysis capacities installed before still depend on primary materials. The outlook on the economic value of the recycling materials indicates a volume of up to 2.15 B € per decade for PEMWE and 0.98 B € per decade for AWE recycling. To realize the potential, a recycling industry specialized for those technolgies considering the whole value chain covering dismantling, collection, and recycling must be introduced.
Keywords
- 3 R’s, Alkaline water electrolysis, Circular economy, Hydrogen economy, Proton exchange membrane water electrolysis
ASJC Scopus subject areas
Sustainable Development Goals
Cite this
- Standard
- Harvard
- Apa
- Vancouver
- BibTeX
- RIS
In: Circular Economy and Sustainability, 03.02.2024.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Resource-Efficient Gigawatt Water Electrolysis in Germany
T2 - A Circular Economy Potential Analysis
AU - Matz, Levin
AU - Bensmann, Boris
AU - Hanke-Rauschenbach, Richard
AU - Minke, Christine
N1 - Funding Information: Open Access funding enabled and organized by Projekt DEAL. Christine Minke gratefully acknowledges financial funding of her junior researcher position in the Caroline Herschel Program of Leibniz University Hannover, Germany. Funding from Lower Saxony Ministry for Science and Culture originating from the “Niedersächsisches Vorab” programme within the project “H2-Wegweiser” (Grant No. ZN3770) and “InnoEly” (Grant No. ZN3771) is gratefully acknowledged.
PY - 2024/2/3
Y1 - 2024/2/3
N2 - Green hydrogen will play a key role in the future energy system. For the production of green hydrogen, an installation of alkaline (AWE) and proton exchange membrane water electrolysis (PEMWE) of several gigawatts per year is projected in the upcoming decades. The development of the hydrogen economy is associated with a great demand for scarce and expensive resources. To reduce resource demand and avoid supply bottlenecks, actions toward a circular economy are required. In the present study, three circular economy actions (repair, reuse, and recycling) are analyzed with regard to AWE and PEMWE installation taking Germany as an example. It is found that, so far, only recycling is a viable strategy for a circular economy. For further analysis, a model is developed to assess the impact of recycling on resource demand for AWE and PEMWE scale-up. Mass flows from end-of-life recycling are intergrated into the model, and their economic value is estimated. The results imply that closed-loop recycling can reduce the cumulated primary resource demand by up to 50% in the long run. However, recycling will first be relevant after 2040, while water electrolysis capacities installed before still depend on primary materials. The outlook on the economic value of the recycling materials indicates a volume of up to 2.15 B € per decade for PEMWE and 0.98 B € per decade for AWE recycling. To realize the potential, a recycling industry specialized for those technolgies considering the whole value chain covering dismantling, collection, and recycling must be introduced.
AB - Green hydrogen will play a key role in the future energy system. For the production of green hydrogen, an installation of alkaline (AWE) and proton exchange membrane water electrolysis (PEMWE) of several gigawatts per year is projected in the upcoming decades. The development of the hydrogen economy is associated with a great demand for scarce and expensive resources. To reduce resource demand and avoid supply bottlenecks, actions toward a circular economy are required. In the present study, three circular economy actions (repair, reuse, and recycling) are analyzed with regard to AWE and PEMWE installation taking Germany as an example. It is found that, so far, only recycling is a viable strategy for a circular economy. For further analysis, a model is developed to assess the impact of recycling on resource demand for AWE and PEMWE scale-up. Mass flows from end-of-life recycling are intergrated into the model, and their economic value is estimated. The results imply that closed-loop recycling can reduce the cumulated primary resource demand by up to 50% in the long run. However, recycling will first be relevant after 2040, while water electrolysis capacities installed before still depend on primary materials. The outlook on the economic value of the recycling materials indicates a volume of up to 2.15 B € per decade for PEMWE and 0.98 B € per decade for AWE recycling. To realize the potential, a recycling industry specialized for those technolgies considering the whole value chain covering dismantling, collection, and recycling must be introduced.
KW - 3 R’s
KW - Alkaline water electrolysis
KW - Circular economy
KW - Hydrogen economy
KW - Proton exchange membrane water electrolysis
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85184217415&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s43615-024-00345-x
DO - 10.1007/s43615-024-00345-x
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85184217415
JO - Circular Economy and Sustainability
JF - Circular Economy and Sustainability
SN - 2730-597X
ER -