Sun, heat and electricity. A comprehensive study of non-pollutant alternatives to produce green hydrogen

Abstract

Water-based hydrogen production is currently an attractive research field, as it provides a greener method to produce hydrogen than existing alternatives. Green hydrogen is expected to progressively replace fossil fuels, which are highly harmful environmentally. This paper presents a critical analysis over time of the main water splitting technologies currently in use for sustainable hydrogen production. As a result of the critical analysis, all the studied techniques have been ordered chronologically in the way that it is possible to understand how new materials have driven to new techniques, more efficient and less expensive. This allows having a complete vision of these technologies. A high level of maturity has been reached in electrolysis, while other techniques still have a long way to go, although many improvements and relevant advancements have been made over the years. The paper offers a global and comparative vision of each technology. From this, it is possible to identify the different paths where efforts are needed to make water-based hydrogen production a mature, stable and efficient technology.