Striking the right balance: understanding the strategic applications of hydrogen in transitioning to a net zero emissions economy

Transformative urban development is urgent to achieve future sustainable development and wellbeing. Transformation can benefit from shared and cumulative learning on strategies to guide urban development across local to national scales, while also reflecting the complex emergent nature of urban systems, and the need for context-specific and place-based solutions. The article addresses this challenge, drawing on extensive transdisciplinary engagement and National Strategy co-development processes for Australia. This includes generation of two frameworks as boundary objects to assist such transdisciplinary strategy development. An ‘enabling urban systems transformation’ framework comprises four generic overarching transformation enablers and a set of necessary underpinning urban capacities. This also built cumulatively on other sustainability and urban transformation studies. A complementary ‘knowledge for urban systems transformation’ framework comprises key knowledge themes that can support an integrated systems approach to mission-focused urban transformations, such as decarbonising cities. The article provides insights on the transdisciplinary processes, urban systems frameworks, and scoping of key strategies that may help those developing transformation strategies from local to national scales.Science highlights• Transdisciplinary national urban strategy development is used to distil generic frameworks and strategy scopes with potential international application.• The frameworks also build on other published framings to support convergent, cumulative and transdisciplinary urban science.• The ‘enabling transformations’ and ‘urban knowledge’ frameworks include the perspective of those developing sustainable urban systems strategies.• The enabling framework also informs ‘National Urban Policy’ and ‘Knowledge and Innovation Hub’ strategies, and prevailing power imbalances.• The knowledge framework can help frame urban challenges, missions and knowledge programs.Policy and practice recommendations• An urban ‘transformation imperative’ and ‘strategic response’ can be co-developed from local to national scales.• Local initiative is crucial to drive urban strategies, but sustained national leadership with coherent policy across sectors and scales is also key.• Diversity in engagement participation and processes generates whole-of-urban-systems and local-to-national perspectives.• Urban solutions are context-specific but generic frameworks can help collaborative issue framing and responses.• Collaborative issue framing informed by generic frameworks can bring broader perspectives to context-specific and contested policy and practice issues.

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“…Co-benefits : Renewable energy use optimised; new industry and economic growth in regional areas. (See further in Whitehead et al 2022 ). 4.…”

Section: Results: Responding To Urban Transformation Imperativesmentioning

confidence: 94%

Enabling urban systems transformations: co-developing national and local strategies

et al. 2023

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“…Generally, HER is a three-phase reaction in which the H + or H 2 O in the liquid electrolyte binds with the solid catalyst. Which then produces gaseous H 2 [ 2 , 3 ]. The phase transformation and the complex reaction mechanism inherent in the evolution from reactant to product introduce energy barriers to the reaction, so the development of a catalyst that can reduce such energy barriers and increase energy conversion efficiency during the reaction is of great interest to the academic and industrial communities [ 4 – 7 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hierarchical Interconnected NiMoN with Large Specific Surface Area and High Mechanical Strength for Efficient and Stable Alkaline Water/Seawater Hydrogen Evolution

Ning

Wang

et al. 2023

Nano-Micro Lett.

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NiMo-based nanostructures are among the most active hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) catalysts under an alkaline environment due to their strong water dissociation ability. However, these nanostructures are vulnerable to the destructive effects of H2 production, especially at industry-standard current densities. Therefore, developing a strategy to improve their mechanical strength while maintaining or even further increasing the activity of these nanocatalysts is of great interest to both the research and industrial communities. Here, a hierarchical interconnected NiMoN (HW-NiMoN-2h) with a nanorod-nanowire morphology was synthesized based on a rational combination of hydrothermal and water bath processes. HW-NiMoN-2h is found to exhibit excellent HER activity due to the accomodation of abundant active sites on its hierarchical morphology, in which nanowires connect free-standing nanorods, concurrently strengthening its structural stability to withstand H2 production at 1 A cm−2. Seawater is an attractive feedstock for water electrolysis since H2 generation and water desalination can be addressed simultaneously in a single process. The HER performance of HW-NiMoN-2h in alkaline seawater suggests that the presence of Na+ ions interferes with the reation kinetics, thus lowering its activity slightly. However, benefiting from its hierarchical and interconnected characteristics, HW-NiMoN-2h is found to deliver outstanding HER activity of 1 A cm−2 at 130 mV overpotential and to exhibit excellent stability at 1 A cm−2 over 70 h in 1 M KOH seawater.

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“…Alternative non-fossil sustainable energy sources are, therefore, currently in demand. The hydrogen economy is promising as hydrogen can be obtained from various feedstocks using different techniques. , Hydrogen can be used as an alternative in several sectors and is proposed for the decarbonization of numerous sectors such as steel production, fertilizer production, and petroleum refining. Municipal waste is a potential feedstock for producing H 2 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Restructuring Co–CoO_x Interface with Titration Rate in Co/Nb-CeO₂ Catalysts for Higher Water–Gas Shift Performance

Negi,

Kim,

Cheon

et al. 2023

ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces

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H 2 production via water−gas shift reaction (WGS) is an important process and applied widely. Cobalt-modified CeO 2 are promising catalysts for WGS reaction. Herein, a series of Co/Nb−CeO 2 catalysts were prepared by varying the rate of precipitant addition during the coprecipitation method and examined for hydrogen generation through WGS reaction. The rates of precipitant addition were 1, 5, 15, and 25 mL/min. We obtained ceria supported cobalt catalysts with different sizes and morphology such as 3, 8 nm nanoclusters, 30 nm cubic nanoparticles, and 50 nm hexagonal nanoparticles. The well dispersed small cobalt particles in Co/Nb-CeO 2 that was prepared at 5 mL/min titration rate exhibit strong interaction between cobalt oxide and CeO 2 that retards the reduction of CoO x producing Co−CoO x pairs. In contrast, 1-Co/Nb-CeO 2 and 25-Co/Nb-CeO 2 result in bigger and aggregated Co particles, resulting in fewer interfaces with CeO 2 . The Co 0 , Co δ+ , Ce 3+ , and O v species are responsible for improved reducibility in Co/Nb−CeO 2 catalysts and were quantitively measured using XPS, XAS, and Raman spectroscopy. The Co−CoO x interface assists dissociation of the H 2 O molecule; CO oxidation requires low activation energy and realizes a high turnover frequency of 9.8 s −1 . The 5-Co/Nb-CeO 2 catalyst achieved thermodynamic equilibrium equivalent CO conversion with efficient H 2 production during WGS reaction at a gas hourly space velocity of 315,282 h −1 . Successively, the 5-Co/ Nb-CeO 2 catalyst exhibited stable performance for straight 168 h attributed to stable CO−Co δ+ intermediate formation, achieving efficient inhibition of typical CO chemistry over the Co metal, suitable for hydrogen generation from waste derived synthesis gas.

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Striking the right balance: understanding the strategic applications of hydrogen in transitioning to a net zero emissions economy

Cited by 18 publications

References 18 publications

Enabling urban systems transformations: co-developing national and local strategies

Enabling urban systems transformations: co-developing national and local strategies

Hierarchical Interconnected NiMoN with Large Specific Surface Area and High Mechanical Strength for Efficient and Stable Alkaline Water/Seawater Hydrogen Evolution

Restructuring Co–CoO_x Interface with Titration Rate in Co/Nb-CeO₂ Catalysts for Higher Water–Gas Shift Performance

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Striking the right balance: understanding the strategic applications of hydrogen in transitioning to a net zero emissions economy

Cited by 18 publications

References 18 publications

Enabling urban systems transformations: co-developing national and local strategies

Enabling urban systems transformations: co-developing national and local strategies

Hierarchical Interconnected NiMoN with Large Specific Surface Area and High Mechanical Strength for Efficient and Stable Alkaline Water/Seawater Hydrogen Evolution

Restructuring Co–CoOx Interface with Titration Rate in Co/Nb-CeO2 Catalysts for Higher Water–Gas Shift Performance

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Restructuring Co–CoO_x Interface with Titration Rate in Co/Nb-CeO₂ Catalysts for Higher Water–Gas Shift Performance