Advancing the energy transition from the front lines of the Automotive and Regulatory Advocacy space, and helping Toyota achieve its environmental and sustainability targets.

Examining the intersection of modern infrastructure development and the emerging hydrogen economy, this talk covers the establishment of hubs leveraging hydrogen's clean energy potential. Emphasizing its pivotal role in decarbonizing diverse sectors, the discussion also addresses the accompanying infrastructure complexities and prospects for a sustainable future.

The versatility of hydrogen as a catalyst for accelerated decarbonization is explored. This discussion goes into hydrogen's diverse applications and pivotal role in the clean energy transition, offering insights into its potential to drive a sustainable, low-carbon future.

This presentation will provide an overview of well-to-gate carbon intensity of hydrogen production using the Greenhouse gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy use in Technologies (GREET) model, developed by Argonne National Laboratory (ANL). The presentation will cover decarbonization potential of various end use applications of clean hydrogen supply.

Hydrogen is a versatile clean energy carrier that can help solve the world's future energy needs where equitable access to low-carbon energy sources are needed to mitigate the impacts of climate change. Clean hydrogen can play a role in grid scale energy storage, as well as decarbonizing many hard to abate industries where pure electrification may not be practical.  

Mr. Lewis will provide an overview of the role and potential for hydrogen energy storage, including UT’s efforts on a DOE H2@Scale project that is developing a first-of-its-kind hydrogen proto-hub research facility. 

To achieve widespread adoption of PEM fuel cell technology in the transportation sector, cost and lifetime requirements, e.g. as defined by the DOE, must be met. Economies-of-scale and volume bundling are essential to lower the cost for BoP components, leading to standardized, yet flexible market products. To enhance the system´s lifetime, degradation caused by contamination, e.g. catalyst poisoning by harmful gases, must be prevented by application-based design of cathode air filters. The presentation will explain and demonstrate the market product approach and provide a detailed perspective on filtration and separation in PEM fuel cell systems and beyond

H2@Rescue, our zero-emission fuel cell-powered emergency vehicle capable of driving 180 miles round trip, providing 25 kW load-following exportable power for 72 hours on a single tank of hydrogen. The boxed bed is climate controlled and acts as a mobile command center or warming/cooling shelter. H2@Rescue, which produces water for use during the emergency, is a class 7 medium-duty truck weighing ~33,000 lbs. carrying 176kg of hydrogen at 700bar.

Advancements in the development of cost-effective coatings for metal substrates in electrolysis processes will be covered. We introduce innovative techniques and materials that promise to enhance the efficiency and affordability of critical hydrogen production methods.

To enhance hydrogen production efficiency in PEM water electrolyzers, the innovative Layered Coaxial Nanowire Electrode (LCANE) has surfaced. LCANE electrodes incorporate vertically-aligned coaxial nanowires adorned with Pt and IrO2 clusters on the Pt shell, improving electronic conductivity and transport efficiency. Remarkably, LCANE achieves a significant reduction in Ir loading, as low as 0.1 mg/cm², without compromising performance, offering a compelling avenue for advancing PEM electrolysis technology.

The U.S. has pledged to decarbonize its economy by 2050. Decarbonization of transportation sector is critical to achieve net-zero emissions economy by 2050. Department of Energy (DOE) has issued Hydrogen Shot aiming to produce 1 kg of hydrogen for $1 in 1 decade. This target is ambitious, as currently challenges of electrolyzers cost, durability, and scale-up to MW scale need to be addressed. Proton exchange membrane water electrolyzers are promising technologies to reach these targets. The widespread deployment of these technologies is stifled today by high catalyst cost and high catalyst loadings.

Understanding graphene's electronic structure for fuel cells is crucial. X-ray absorption (XANES) offers insights into chemistry. Soft X-rays yield surface (5-10 nm) and subsurface (100 nm) details, even operando. Scanning transmission X-ray microscopy (STXM) provides nanoscale chemical imaging, linking structure to performance. This talk at CLS highlights XANES and STXM/PEEM, focusing on C and O K-edge and transition metal L-edge XANES for non-precious metal fuel cell catalysts.