Pagliaro M., Konstandopoulos A.G. Solar Hydrogen: Fuel of the Future

RSC Published, 2012. 184 p. — ISBN: 978-1-84973-195-9.Renewable hydrogen produced using solar energy to split water is the energy fuel of the future. Accelerated innovation in both major domains of solar energy (photovoltaics and concentrated solar power) has resulted in the rapid fall of the solar electricity price, opening the route to a number of practical applications using solar H
New thermochemical water splitting using concentrated solar power (CSP) as well as CSP coupled to electrolysis has the potential to convert and store solar energy into clean hydrogen using a tiny fraction of the world's desert area to meet our present and future global energy needs. Photovoltaics, in turn, has the versatility required for supporting the creation of a distributed energy generation infrastructure in developing countries especially now that the price of PV solar electricity has fallen to unprecedented low levels. In all these cases, solar H2 will be used to store energy and release it on demand either for fuel cells (to power homes and boats) or internal combustion engines and turbines (for powering cars, trucks and in thermoelectric power units). This book on solar hydrogen is unique in its field and is a timely treatment of a hot topic in industry, academic, political and environmental circles. With reference to many examples as well as to new technologies, this accessible book provides insight into a crucial technology for our common future and numerous colour pictures contribute to the book's readability. Written by experts in the field who are engaged at the forefront of research, the book supplies readers with last minute insight from the frontiers of research. The book will be of interest to Politicians, solar PV companies, hydrogen and sustainability researchers, environmentalists, managers in the automotive and nautical industries, undergraduate and graduate students in physics, chemistry, energy and materials science.About the Authors
Hydrogen and Solar Hydrogen
Hydrogen: Structure and Properties
Hydrogen Production and Utilization
Solar Hydrogen
Hydrogen Safety and Sustainability
Hydrogen as Energy Carrier: Exergizing the Energy System
The Hydrogen Science & Technology NetworkWater Electrolysis with Solar Electricity
Water Electrolysis
Current Electrolytic Technologies
Photovoltaic-Assisted Water Electrolysis
Economics of Water Electrolysis
Reducing the Cost of Electrolytic Hydrogen
Emerging Electrolytic Technologies
A Flexible Technology with Large Applicative PotentialThermochemical Water Splitting
Concentrating Solar Power for Heavy Energy Demand
Hydrosol: Thermochemical Water Splitting
Carbon Neutral Solar Fuels
Solar Hydrogen and the Electron EconomySolar Hydrogen Utilization
Hydrogen Fuel Cell Engines
Hydrogen Fueled Internal Combustion Engines
Hydrogen Motoring: A Dream Never Coming True?
Hydrogen Fueled Power Plants
Hydrogen Energy for Distributed Generation
Portable Devices Running on Hydrogen
An Insight into the Solar Hydrogen EconomySubject Index