Nuclear Production of Hydrogen, Fourth Information Exchange ...

CHANGING THE WORLD WITH HYDROGEN AND NUCLEAR: FROM PAST SUCCESSES TO SHAPING THE FUTURE
Changes in transportation model
As a result, there is currently no national plan in France to conduct research on nuclear technologies
likely to reduce oil imports and greenhouse gas emissions from industrial process heat. These
researches in our country are driven by market analyses of industrial partners. As a result the
development of hydrogen technologies in France is largely driven by European initiatives (JTI on
H 2 and Fuel Cells) and nuclear is not well interfaced yet with hydrogen in Europe (nothing like a
Nuclear Hydrogen Initiative in the United States).
On the contrary, reducing oil imports and greenhouse emissions were implicit goals of the EPAct
2005 and are today explicit goals of the US energy policy.
Decreasing emissions of CO 2 and accommodating declining natural fossil fuels resources lead to
anticipate changes in the energy system, and in particular in the transportation model. This is where
hydrogen can play a prominent role. Indeed, hydrogen is a clean energy vector that may significantly
contribute to a carbon-free energy system if it can be produced by non-CO 2 emitting energy sources
such as renewable or nuclear energies, and with water instead of fossil fuels as primary feedstock.
Hydrogen can supplement electricity and can be stored in natural tanks underground or mixed
with natural gas. Furthermore, together with electricity, hydrogen is key to make the transportation
fuel system evolve towards using heavy crude oils, manufacturing synthetic fuels from coal and
biomass, and possibly using pure hydrogen ultimately. Hydrogen is also a chemical element that is
essential to manufacture key products for our economy such as fertilisers (ammonia…) and can
replace natural gas as reducing chemical reactant in industrial processes (steel industry especially).
Hydrogen market
As a result, existing and projected applications include:
• Today: Production of ~65 M tonnes hydrogen [mainly from fossil fuels (natural gas, oil, coal…)]
at a cost of EUR ~1.8/kg [USD 2.3/kg] essentially for fertilisers and refinery of heavy crude oil.
• ~2015: Clean hydrogen for refining heavy crude oils and optimising the production of
synthetic fuels from hydrocarbon feedstock (coal, biomass…).
• ~2020: Production of hydrogen by clean power plants during off-peak hours and use as a
reserve to regulate electric grids with intermittent power sources (such as renewable energies),
as well as a substitute to natural gas as reducing agent for the industry.
• ~2025/2030: Direct utilisation of hydrogen as transportation fuel.
This development path suggests a two-stage deployment of hydrogen in the economy:
Hydrogen economy
• A hydrogen-based economy in the long term where hydrogen is the final product
(transportation fuel used in combustion engines or fuel cells, hydrogen-fuelled power plants
to regulate electrical grids with intermittent power sources…).
Economy of electricity and synthetic fuels
• An economy based on electricity and synthetic fuels in the medium term where hydrogen is a
constituent or an enabler of the final product (hydrogenated or synthetic transportation fuels,
ammonia as fertiliser, substitute to natural gas as reducing agent…). This stage prepares the
transition to the hydrogen-based economy with a smooth transition from existing
infrastructures (electrical grid, fuel services…) and technologies (combustion engines…) while
focusing innovations in a few specific areas (electric batteries, production of synthetic fuels…)
Clean energy sources will be used to produce electricity and hydrogen at all stages with a major
emphasis on electricity in the short and medium term, and a transition to hydrogen in the longer
term. Hydrogen will then be distributed via national networks of hydrogen transport pipelines and
fuelling stations.
28 NUCLEAR PRODUCTION OF HYDROGEN – © OECD/NEA 2010