The role of hydrogen and fuel cells to store renewable energy in the future energy network - potentials and challenges

The penetration of renewable energy sources is expected to rapidly increase from 15% to 50% in 2050 due to their vital contribution to the global energy requirements, sustainability and quality of life in economical, environmental and health aspects. This huge rise highlights the necessity of development of energy storage systems, especially for intermittency renewable energies such as solar photovoltaic and wind turbine, in order to balance the energy network. In this study, renewable energy options including pumped hydro, pressurized air, flywheels, Li ion batteries, hydrogen and super-capacitors are compared based on a specific set of criteria. The criteria considered are energy/power density, ease of integration with the existing energy network, cost effectiveness, durability, efficiency and safety. Our study showed that storing renewable energy sources in the form of hydrogen through the electrolysis process is ranked as the most promising option considering the mentioned criteria. It brings about several benefits suggesting that hydrogen and fuel cells are promising contributors towards a more sustainable future, both in energy demand and environmental sustainability. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.