IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/appene/v147y2015icp373-385.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Zero carbon infinite COP heat from fuel cell CHP

Author

Listed:
  • Staffell, Iain

Abstract

Fuel cells are a promising technology for combined heat and power (CHP); however their efficiency and carbon benefits are often overlooked because of their reliance on fossil fuels. This paper sets out the numerical methods and evidence of real-world performance needed to compare fuel cells with other low-carbon technologies. It is demonstrated that firstly, the efficiency of present-day fuel cells is high enough to outperform the best electric heat pumps, even when these are powered exclusively by the best modern power stations. The equivalent COP (coefficient of performance) of today’s fuel cells ranges from 5 to ∞, compared to 3–4 for the best ground source heat pumps. Secondly, this high efficiency means that even when fuelled with natural gas, the heat from a fuel cell is zero- or even negative-carbon when electricity from central power stations is displaced.

Suggested Citation

  • Staffell, Iain, 2015. "Zero carbon infinite COP heat from fuel cell CHP," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 373-385.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:147:y:2015:i:c:p:373-385
    DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2015.02.089
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306261915002755
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.apenergy.2015.02.089?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Saidur, R. & Abdelaziz, E.A. & Demirbas, A. & Hossain, M.S. & Mekhilef, S., 2011. "A review on biomass as a fuel for boilers," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 15(5), pages 2262-2289, June.
    2. Li, Hongtao & Burer, Meinrad & Song, Zhi-Ping & Favrat, Daniel & Marechal, Francois, 2004. "Green heating system: characteristics and illustration with multi-criteria optimization of an integrated energy system," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 29(2), pages 225-244.
    3. Evans, Annette & Strezov, Vladimir & Evans, Tim J., 2010. "Sustainability considerations for electricity generation from biomass," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 14(5), pages 1419-1427, June.
    4. Dodds, Paul E., 2014. "Integrating housing stock and energy system models as a strategy to improve heat decarbonisation assessments," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 358-369.
    5. Self, Stuart J. & Reddy, Bale V. & Rosen, Marc A., 2013. "Geothermal heat pump systems: Status review and comparison with other heating options," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 341-348.
    6. Genchi, Yutaka & Kikegawa, Yukihiro & Inaba, Atsushi, 2002. "CO2 payback-time assessment of a regional-scale heating and cooling system using a ground source heat-pump in a high energy-consumption area in Tokyo," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 71(3), pages 147-160, March.
    7. McKenna, R.C. & Norman, J.B., 2010. "Spatial modelling of industrial heat loads and recovery potentials in the UK," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(10), pages 5878-5891, October.
    8. Onovwiona, H.I. & Ugursal, V.I., 2006. "Residential cogeneration systems: review of the current technology," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 10(5), pages 389-431, October.
    9. Hawkes, A.D., 2014. "Long-run marginal CO2 emissions factors in national electricity systems," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 197-205.
    10. Lowe, Robert, 2011. "Combined heat and power considered as a virtual steam cycle heat pump," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(9), pages 5528-5534, September.
    11. Li, Hongtao & Marechal, Francois & Favrat, Daniel, 2010. "Power and cogeneration technology environomic performance typification in the context of CO2 abatement part I: Power generation," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 35(8), pages 3143-3154.
    12. Bianchi, Michele & Branchini, Lisa & De Pascale, Andrea & Peretto, Antonio, 2014. "Application of environmental performance assessment of CHP systems with local and global approaches," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 774-782.
    13. Hepbasli, Arif & Erbay, Zafer & Icier, Filiz & Colak, Neslihan & Hancioglu, Ebru, 2009. "A review of gas engine driven heat pumps (GEHPs) for residential and industrial applications," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 13(1), pages 85-99, January.
    14. Li, Hongtao & Marechal, Francois & Favrat, Daniel, 2010. "Power and cogeneration technology environomic performance typification in the context of CO2 abatement part II: Combined heat and power cogeneration," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 35(9), pages 3517-3523.
    15. Mohamed, Ayman & Hasan, Ala & Sirén, Kai, 2014. "Fulfillment of net-zero energy building (NZEB) with four metrics in a single family house with different heating alternatives," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 385-399.
    16. Adam, Alexandros & Fraga, Eric S. & Brett, Dan J.L., 2015. "Options for residential building services design using fuel cell based micro-CHP and the potential for heat integration," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 685-694.
    17. Staffell, Iain & Green, Richard, 2014. "How does wind farm performance decline with age?," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 775-786.
    18. Rogers, J.G. & Cooper, S.J.G. & O’Grady, Á. & McManus, M.C. & Howard, H.R. & Hammond, G.P., 2015. "The 20% house – An integrated assessment of options for reducing net carbon emissions from existing UK houses," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 108-120.
    19. Hawkes, A.D., 2010. "Estimating marginal CO2 emissions rates for national electricity systems," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(10), pages 5977-5987, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Fragiacomo, Petronilla & Lucarelli, Giuseppe & Genovese, Matteo & Florio, Gaetano, 2021. "Multi-objective optimization model for fuel cell-based poly-generation energy systems," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 237(C).
    2. Kim, Hyerim & Kim, Tong Seop, 2024. "Optimal design and dispatch of phosphoric acid fuel cell hybrid system with direct heat recovery through coupled calculation and artificial intelligence-based optimization," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 312(C).
    3. Johannes Full & Mathias Trauner & Robert Miehe & Alexander Sauer, 2021. "Carbon-Negative Hydrogen Production (HyBECCS) from Organic Waste Materials in Germany: How to Estimate Bioenergy and Greenhouse Gas Mitigation Potential," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-22, November.
    4. McKenna, Eoghan & Thomson, Murray, 2016. "High-resolution stochastic integrated thermal–electrical domestic demand model," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 165(C), pages 445-461.
    5. Löbberding, Laurens & Madlener, Reinhard, 2019. "Techno-economic analysis of micro fuel cell cogeneration and storage in Germany," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 235(C), pages 1603-1613.
    6. A.G. Olabi & Tabbi Wilberforce & Enas Taha Sayed & Khaled Elsaid & Mohammad Ali Abdelkareem, 2020. "Prospects of Fuel Cell Combined Heat and Power Systems," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-20, August.
    7. Kourougianni, Fanourios & Arsalis, Alexandros & Olympios, Andreas V. & Yiasoumas, Georgios & Konstantinou, Charalampos & Papanastasiou, Panos & Georghiou, George E., 2024. "A comprehensive review of green hydrogen energy systems," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 231(C).
    8. Dominik Kryzia & Marta Kuta & Dominika Matuszewska & Piotr Olczak, 2020. "Analysis of the Potential for Gas Micro-Cogeneration Development in Poland Using the Monte Carlo Method," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-24, June.
    9. Wu, Ziyao & Pei, Pucheng & Xu, Huachi & Jia, Xiaoning & Ren, Peng & Wang, Bozheng, 2019. "Study on the effect of membrane electrode assembly parameters on polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell performance by galvanostatic charging method," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 251(C), pages 1-1.
    10. Chang, Huawei & Wan, Zhongmin & Zheng, Yao & Chen, Xi & Shu, Shuiming & Tu, Zhengkai & Chan, Siew Hwa & Chen, Rui & Wang, Xiaodong, 2017. "Energy- and exergy-based working fluid selection and performance analysis of a high-temperature PEMFC-based micro combined cooling heating and power system," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 204(C), pages 446-458.
    11. Kai Zhang & Xiangxiang Dong & Chaofeng Li & Yanling Zhao & Kun Liu, 2024. "Capacity Expansion Planning of Hydrogen-Enabled Industrial Energy Systems for Carbon Dioxide Peaking," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(14), pages 1-10, July.
    12. Raluca-Andreea Felseghi & Elena Carcadea & Maria Simona Raboaca & Cătălin Nicolae TRUFIN & Constantin Filote, 2019. "Hydrogen Fuel Cell Technology for the Sustainable Future of Stationary Applications," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(23), pages 1-28, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Eksi, Guner & Karaosmanoglu, Filiz, 2017. "Combined bioheat and biopower: A technology review and an assessment for Turkey," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 1313-1332.
    2. Fabrizio, Enrico & Seguro, Federico & Filippi, Marco, 2014. "Integrated HVAC and DHW production systems for Zero Energy Buildings," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 515-541.
    3. Gabriele Loreti & Andrea Luigi Facci & Stefano Ubertini, 2021. "High-Efficiency Combined Heat and Power through a High-Temperature Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell and Gas Turbine Hybrid System," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-24, November.
    4. Souhir Ben Amor & Smaranda Sgarciu & Taimyra BatzLineiro & Felix Muesgens, 2024. "Advanced Models for Hourly Marginal CO2 Emission Factor Estimation: A Synergy between Fundamental and Statistical Approaches," Papers 2412.17379, arXiv.org.
    5. Dabwan, Yousef N. & Gang, Pei & Li, Jing & Gao, Guangtao & Feng, Junsheng, 2018. "Development and assessment of integrating parabolic trough collectors with gas turbine trigeneration system for producing electricity, chilled water, and freshwater," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 364-379.
    6. Huang, Y. & McIlveen-Wright, D.R. & Rezvani, S. & Huang, M.J. & Wang, Y.D. & Roskilly, A.P. & Hewitt, N.J., 2013. "Comparative techno-economic analysis of biomass fuelled combined heat and power for commercial buildings," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 518-525.
    7. Filippo Beltrami & Fulvio Fontini & Monica Giulietti & Luigi Grossi, 2022. "The Zonal and Seasonal CO2 Marginal Emissions Factors for the Italian Power Market," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 83(2), pages 381-411, October.
    8. Suopajärvi, Hannu & Pongrácz, Eva & Fabritius, Timo, 2013. "The potential of using biomass-based reducing agents in the blast furnace: A review of thermochemical conversion technologies and assessments related to sustainability," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 25(C), pages 511-528.
    9. Powell, Siobhan & Martin, Sonia & Rajagopal, Ram & Azevedo, Inês M.L. & de Chalendar, Jacques, 2024. "Future-proof rates for controlled electric vehicle charging: Comparing multi-year impacts of different emission factor signals," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 190(C).
    10. Im, Yong-Hoon & Liu, Jie, 2018. "Feasibility study on the low temperature district heating and cooling system with bi-lateral heat trades model," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 153(C), pages 988-999.
    11. Kavvadias, Konstantinos C. & Quoilin, Sylvain, 2018. "Exploiting waste heat potential by long distance heat transmission: Design considerations and techno-economic assessment," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 216(C), pages 452-465.
    12. Jimin Kim & Taehoon Hong & Myeongsoo Chae & Choongwan Koo & Jaemin Jeong, 2015. "An Environmental and Economic Assessment for Selecting the Optimal Ground Heat Exchanger by Considering the Entering Water Temperature," Energies, MDPI, vol. 8(8), pages 1-25, July.
    13. Fleschutz, Markus & Bohlayer, Markus & Braun, Marco & Henze, Gregor & Murphy, Michael D., 2021. "The effect of price-based demand response on carbon emissions in European electricity markets: The importance of adequate carbon prices," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 295(C).
    14. Asensio, F.J. & San Martín, J.I. & Zamora, I. & Oñederra, O., 2018. "Model for optimal management of the cooling system of a fuel cell-based combined heat and power system for developing optimization control strategies," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 211(C), pages 413-430.
    15. Karytsas, Spyridon & Choropanitis, Ioannis, 2017. "Barriers against and actions towards renewable energy technologies diffusion: A Principal Component Analysis for residential ground source heat pump (GSHP) systems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 252-271.
    16. Jeongyoon Oh & Taehoon Hong & Hakpyeong Kim & Jongbaek An & Kwangbok Jeong & Choongwan Koo, 2017. "Advanced Strategies for Net-Zero Energy Building: Focused on the Early Phase and Usage Phase of a Building’s Life Cycle," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(12), pages 1-52, December.
    17. Pereira da Cunha, Jose & Eames, Philip, 2016. "Thermal energy storage for low and medium temperature applications using phase change materials – A review," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 177(C), pages 227-238.
    18. Werner, Sven, 2017. "International review of district heating and cooling," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 617-631.
    19. Cvetinović, Dejan & Stefanović, Predrag & Marković, Zoran & Bakić, Vukman & Turanjanin, Valentina & Jovanović, Marina & Vučićević, Biljana, 2013. "GHG (Greenhouse Gases) emission inventory and mitigation measures for public district heating plants in the Republic of Serbia," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 788-795.
    20. Palander, Teijo, 2011. "Technical and economic analysis of electricity generation from forest, fossil, and wood-waste fuels in a Finnish heating plant," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(9), pages 5579-5590.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:147:y:2015:i:c:p:373-385. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/405891/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.