Water Electrolyzers and Fuel Cells Supply Chain: Supply Chain Deep Dive Assessment

Badgett, Alex; Brauch, Joe; Buchheit, Kyle L.; Hackett, Gregory; Li, Yijin; Melaina, Marc; Ruth, Mark; Sandor, Debra; Summers, Morgan E.; Upasani, Shubhankar

doi:10.2172/1871559

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

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“…However, AE is the most resource intensive in terms of the total tonnage of materials required, representing potentially a higher CO 2 footprint associated with producing the materials for these electrolyzers (Azadi et al, 2020). Our findings suggest securing sufficient PGMs and REEs will be a key challenge to scaling green H 2 production and are consistent with recent analysis of U.S. electrolyzer supply chain vulnerabilities (Badgett et al, 2022).…”

Section: Water Electrolyzer Analysissupporting

confidence: 84%

Critical mineral demands may limit scaling of green hydrogen production

Greenwald,

Zhao,

Wicks

2024

Front. Geochem.

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Hydrogen (H2) is widely viewed as critical to the decarbonization of industry and transportation. Water electrolysis powered by renewable electricity, commonly referred to as green H2, can be used to generate H2 with low carbon dioxide emissions. Herein, we analyze the critical mineral and energy demands associated with green H2 production under three different hypothetical future demand scenarios, ranging from 100–1,000 Mtpa H2. For each scenario, we calculate the critical mineral demands required to build water electrolyzers (i.e., electrodes and electrolyte) and to build dedicated or additional renewable electricity sources (i.e., wind and solar) to power the electrolyzers. Our analysis shows that scaling electrolyzer and renewable energy technologies that use platinum group metals and rare earth elements will likely face supply constraints. Specifically, larger quantities of lanthanum, yttrium, or iridium will be needed to increase electrolyzer capacity and even more neodymium, silicon, zinc, molybdenum, aluminum, and copper will be needed to build dedicated renewable electricity sources. We find that scaling green H2 production to meet projected net-zero targets will require ∼24,000 TWh of dedicated renewable energy generation, which is roughly the total amount of solar and wind projected to be on the grid in 2050 according to some energy transition models. In summary, critical mineral constraints may hinder the scaling of green H2 to meet global net-zero emissions targets, motivating the need for the research and development of alternative, low-emission methods of generating H2.

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Section: Water Electrolyzer Analysissupporting

confidence: 84%

Critical mineral demands may limit scaling of green hydrogen production

Greenwald,

Zhao,

Wicks

2024

Front. Geochem.

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“…As of 2017, several manufacturers were producing PEM electrolyzers with MW electric inputs; a 10 MW (hydrogen production rate of about 2000 Nm 3 h −1 ) had been announced, 59 and it has now become a reality. 60 This is a signicant advancement in PEM electrolysis technology, and it has paved the way for the commercialization of renewable energy sources. Currently, PEM electrolyzers are being used in a variety of industries, from automotive to aerospace.…”

Section: Hydrogen Technologymentioning

confidence: 99%

A review of renewable hydrogen hybrid energy systems towards a sustainable energy value chain

Abdin

Khafaf

McGrath

et al. 2023

Sustainable Energy Fuels

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“…Among them, PEM-URFC is especially interesting for its higher power output and improved safety, [9][10][11] and the PEM water electrolyzers are estimated to be the main electrolytic H 2 supply in the following decades. 12 However, the way of developing an efficient, durable, and bifunctional unit is still open. Specically, the oxygen electrode is considered a limiting component due to the different requirements needed depending on the operating mode.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%