Fossil fuel reduction potential in Germany's transport sector by wind-to-hydrogen

Wind-to-hydrogen (WH) is a promising option for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the transport sector. Therefore, the reduction potential of fossil fuels by WH was estimated taking meteorological, geographical, and technical constraints into account. The wind resource estimation is based on the application of the high-resolution (200 m x 200 m) wind speed-wind shear model (WSWS). Together with the power curves of the six most frequently installed wind turbines in 2017, WSWS was used to assess Germany's technical wind energy potential. The WH and fossil fuel reduction potentials were calculated based on proton exchange membrane electrolysis. Results from the wind resource assessment demonstrate that in addition to the currently realized wind energy (89 TWh/yr in 2017), which is directly used for electricity generation, Germany's technical onshore potential for WH is 780 TWh/yr. This amount of renewable energy available for WH could replace 80.1% of the fossil fuels currently used in the transport sector. (C) 2018 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.