Hydrogen Infrastructure Uncertainty Management for Heat Decarbonisation

Completed

Hydrogen and Fuel Cells(Hydrogen)

Basic and strategic applied research

SOCIAL SCIENCES (Economics and Econometrics)
SOCIAL SCIENCES (Business and Management Studies)
SOCIAL SCIENCES (Politics and International Studies)
ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY (Electrical and Electronic Engineering)

Systems Analysis related to energy R&D (Energy modelling)
Sociological economical and environmental impact of energy (Policy and regulation)
Other (Energy technology information dissemination)

Dr L Papageorgiou
Chemical Engineering
University College London

Standard

EPSRC

01 April 2021

31 January 2026

58 months

£1,583,260

Energy

London

Energy : Energy

Dr L Papageorgiou, Chemical Engineering, University College London

Dr V Charitopoulos, Chemical Engineering, University College London
Dr D Reiner, Judge Business School, University of Cambridge

Project Contact, Johnson Matthey Plc
Project Contact, Committee on Climate Change
Project Contact, National Grid plc
Project Contact, Keylogic

The goal of the HUMAN project is to provide the first systematic analysis on the cost of uncertainties related to the hydrogen-led decarbonisation of heat. Sustainable decarbonisation pathways require uncertainty-resilient policies. These policies can be informed by acknowledging proactively the uncertainties inflicted by technology performance, volatility in heat demand and socio-economic fluctuations. With the power sector becoming increasingly reliant on intermittent renewable sources and the Government's commitment to "Net-Zero" by 2050, the role of hydrogen towards heat decarbonisation and the related uncertainties need to be urgently explored. The project considers strategic and operational decisions related to the deployment of a hydrogen-led system and its interaction with the power grid across multiple spatial and temporal scales. Employing the tools developed within the project the optimal mix of electrification and hydrogen-based decarbonisation of heat will be explored at a UK-wide level. Using novel uncertainty modelling methods, the impact of uncertainties related to the heat sector and the hydrogen production technologies will be analysed to derive uncertainty-informed transition pathways. Finally, HUMAN proposes to disseminate an open-source platform with user-friendly interface to enhance interpretability among energy policy practitioners and enable the investigation of alternative uncertainty-informed scenarios for heat decarbonisation

07/10/21