Hydrogen use in an urban district: energy and environmental impact evaluation (part A)

Hydrogen technology is becoming ever more relevant because hydrogen use can help containing greenhouse gas emission if CO2 capture and storage techniques are implemented in the hydrogen production technology (when hydrogen is produced from fossil fuels). For this reason this work (part A + part B) aims at carrying out a comparative analysis of possible energy scenarios in urban districts: a medium-small Italian city is taken into consideration, and its energy consumption, both for domestic and industrial use, are evaluated. The current situation, in which conventional technologies meet the energy needs, is compared to a hypothetical scenario where clean energy vectors, namely hydrogen and electricity, are utilized together with traditional primary energy supply. Hydrogen production by means of steam-methane reforming is investigated, as well as hydrogen use in advanced energy systems for transport and for thermal and electric energy generation.