The legal regulation of the H2 as a strategy for public policy in Mexico from the consolidation of the National Council of the hydrogen

There are few efforts have been made to translate the theoretical contributions of hydrogen technology in to public policy schemes. This problem is reflected in the lack of an effective public policies in Mexico, which, despite the efforts to be placed on the boom of the hydrogen economy, that continues to legal bias and little social recognition. The main objective of the research was to analyze the Mexican legal framework for H₂ regulation and Mexican public policies that consider H₂ as an energy source. Thus far, the H₂ has not been incorporated as an alternative energy source, because does not exist Regulation of storage and also there is a lack of regulations to regulate H₂ in final applications, as is the case of fuel cell and it is observed that there is no regulation for safety and properties relevant to H₂. Is appropriate to propose Public policy strategy with the creation of the National Hydrogen Council.     

Air emissions scenarios from ethanol as a gasoline oxygenate in Mexico City Metropolitan Area

The Mexican Biofuel Introduction Program states that during year 2010 the three biggest Mexican cities will have a gasoline blending with 6% ethanol available for all gasoline on-road vehicle fleet. Also in 2010 Mexican government has programmed to start the substitution of Tier 1 – the adopted US emission standards – by Tier 2, which are more stringent emission standards for motor vehicles and gasoline sulfur control requirements. How will the air emissions in the Mexico City Metropolitan Area (MCMA) be modified by using this blending? Four scenarios up to year 2030 were constructed and simulated using the Long-Range Energy Alternatives Planning model. Beginning with a BAU or reference scenario, in this scenario the current available fuel is a blending composed by 5% methyl tertiary butyl ether and 95% gasoline (MTBE5). Then, three alternative scenarios that use ethanol as an oxygenate are considered, one with the already programmed E6 blending (6% anhydride ethanol, 94% gasoline), for the sake of comparison the E10 blending (10% anhydride ethanol, 90% gasoline), and the other alternative to compare, ETBE13.7 (13.7% ethyl tertiary butyl ether, 86.3% gasoline; where ETBE is an ether composed by 48% anhydride ethanol and 52% isobutene). Emissions of carbon dioxide (CO₂), carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxides (NOx), particulate matter (PM10), sulfur dioxide (SO₂), total hydrocarbons (THC), benzene, formaldehyde, acetaldehyde and 1,3-butadiene were calculated using emission factors previously calculated using the adapted US-EPA computer model called MOBILE6-Mexico. Results show that Tier 1 and Tier 2 standards effectively lowers all emissions in all studied scenarios with the exception of PM10 and CO₂ emissions. The alternative scenario E10 has the most total avoided emissions by weight but it is not the best when considering some individual pollutants. The greatest environmental benefit of ethanol in its final use as a gasoline oxygenate is for avoiding CO₂ emissions.     

The regulatory framework of the hydrogen market in Mexico: A look at energy governance

The global context suggests need to move towards decarbonization as part of international climate change commitments promoting clean energy and social welfare actions. The hydrogen market is a global trend because it responds to energy needs and to be feasible requires effective regulatory and policy frameworks. Mexico has a presence in the hydrogen market, but it is still limited and presents challenges in energy governance. The objective of this study was to analyze the importance of the legality and legitimacy of the current conditions of the hydrogen market in Mexico. A systematic search of the literature was conducted through scientific platforms and various federal laws and policies associated with the hydrogen market were reviewed. The main findings suggest that Mexican regulations present commercial, ecological, human, economic, and technological challenges, that may run counter to international agreements and challenge energy governance by discouraging the hydrogen market and curbing expected decarbonization.     

Solar hydrogen production in urban areas of Mexico: towards hydrogen cities

Many efforts have been made to assess the potential of green hydrogen production at global, regional, and national levels using Geographic Information Systems (GIS); however, many dismiss the possibility of producing hydrogen in urban settlements. In order to reveal the true potential of these areas, it is essential to provide arguments that allow evaluation of the feasibility of promoting and impulsing the concept of hydrogen cities. Based on this idea, this work assesses the monthly and annual potential of solar hydrogen in urban areas of Mexico using actual measurements of sunshine duration as electrolyzer production times. Moreover, as light transportation is crucial for cities, we examine the substitution of gasoline with hydrogen and its cost throughout the year. These constitute the main contribution of the present work.This study departs from the geographical and technical potential of solar energy, and by using GIS, the amount of hydrogen production per unit of area (Ton/(km² year)) was computed. The levelized cost of hydrogen production (LCOH) is also evaluated, using two of the most popular and commercial electrolysis technologies: PEM and Alkaline.Our results revealed that Mexican urban areas have a high potential to produce solar hydrogen, having an average annual production that varies from 1991.8 Ton/km² to 4338.3 Ton/km² according to the region. The total solar hydrogen potential of all Mexican urban places is 9.39 MTon/year, which could satisfy up to 42.6 times the 2020 hydrogen demand of Mexico. We found that the national gasoline consumption could be replaced by H₂, requiring between 42% and 52% of the total urban production.Additionally, the national average of LCOH was found to be about 6.25 USD/kg for alkaline electrolyzer and 9.50 USD/kg for PEM technology, considering the yearly average sunshine duration of 3237 h/year, which means that Mexico could be competitive at large-scale hydrogen production by using Alkaline technology. Our findings have the potential to impact positively on the country since they provide information to facilitate the derivation of public policies from a rigorous and technical perspective.     

Reducing CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> emissions of cars in the EU: analyzing the underlying mechanisms of standards,registration taxes and fuel taxes

Road transport, especially passenger car transport, is one of the largest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions. The major elements of the strategy of the European Union (EU) in order to reduce car emissions—such as CO₂ emission regulations from new passenger cars, vehicle-related fiscal measures and fuel economy labelling—have not resulted in significant reductions of greenhouse gas emissions over the last two decades. We focus in this paper on the theoretical understanding of how different policy instruments affect the decisions of (rational) consumers with an emphasis on registration taxes. Our major conclusions are as follows: (i) Theoretical analyses of the effects of taxes and standards in car transport are already very informative for policy design, even before quantitative assessments with observed data are available; (ii) CO₂ emission standards will not deliver the theoretically possible CO₂ reduction due to the rebound effect, and they are questionable for regulating the average car as applied in the context of EU to car manufacturers; (iii) the rebound effect of standards depends on the service price elasticity, which plays also a crucial role how fuel taxes affect demand; the magnitude of the service price elasticity determines which of these instruments is more effective with respect to energy conservation; (iv) combining fuel taxes and standards may allow for a win-win situation for the environment and car drivers but not for the current kind of EU regulation; and (v) a registration tax is equivalent to a standard binding consumers’ decisions (this does not apply to the current EU regulation), in particular, both lead to demand rebounds.     

Optimization of alternative options for SO2 emissions control in the Mexican electrical sector

This article develops a least-cost optimization model in terms of the projected SO₂ abatement costs of nine selected options for SO₂ emissions control in the 10 most polluting power plants of the Mexican electrical sector (MES)—including SO₂ scrubbing technologies, fuel oil hydrotreating desulphurization and fuel substitutions. The model not only finds the optimal combination of SO₂ control options and generating units at 10% reduction intervals referred to the total SO₂ emissions but also meets the restriction imposed in the NOM-085-ECOL-1994 (Mexican Official Norm) for allowable emission levels within critical zones. Similarly, two schemes are studied and analysed in this model: the first case considers the economical benefits derived from the substitution of fuel oil by imported low sulphur content coal in the Petacalco power plant and; the second case does not considered such economical benefits. Finally, results are obtained for these two cases in terms of the corresponding costs—investment, O&M, fuel—, abatement costs and the SO₂ emissions reduction.     

Preparation of gas standards for quality assurance of hydrogen fuel

This study has developed traceable standards for evaluating impurities in hydrogen fuel according to ISO 14687. Impurities in raw H₂, including sub μmol/mol levels of CO, CO₂, and CH₄, were analyzed using multiple detectors while avoiding contamination. The gravimetric standards prepared included mixtures of the following nominal concentrations: 1, 2, 3–5, 8–11, 17–23, and 47–65 μmol/mol for CO₂, CH₄ and CO, O₂, N₂, Ar, and He, respectively. The expanded uncertainty ranges were 0.8% for Ar, N₂, and He, 1% for CH₄ and CO, and 2% for CO₂ and O₂. These standards were stable, while that for CO varied by only 0.5% during a time span of three years. The prepared standards are useful for evaluating the compliance of H₂ fuel in service stations with ISO 14687 quality requirements.     

Saving energy is not easy: An impact assessment of Dutch policy to reduce the energy requirements of buildings

The Dutch Government stimulates the application of energy efficiency measures to reduce the energy requirements of buildings, which are responsible for about 20% of the Dutch CO₂ emissions. For our assessment, we followed a qualitative approach, due to a lack of data. We reviewed the mix of policy instruments and used stakeholder surveys and interviews. We found that energy use is not very likely to decline fast enough to achieve the Dutch policy targets for 2020. For new buildings, the policy mix works well, but its contribution to the policy targets is limited. For non-residential buildings the current Act, which obliges enterprises to take cost-effective measures, could be enforced to a greater degree. For privately owned homes a more compelling policy is needed. An alternative policy option would be to make taxation dependent on the energy label of residential houses. This would stimulate residents to take action while retaining the desired autonomy. For rental housing, binding agreements between municipalities and housing corporations may lead to more energy saving measures. Finally, we conclude that the Dutch energy tax is an important pillar of the current policy. It provides higher cost-effectiveness of energy saving measures and legitimates more strict energy efficiency standards.     

CO2 and energy efficiency car standards in the EU in the context of a decarbonisation strategy: A model-based policy assessment

The European Union introduced CO₂ emission standards on cars as an obligation to manufacturers to reduce carbon footprint of cars in EU transportation. The car industry is already marketing low carbon emitting technologies to adjust to the 95 gCO₂/km target set for 2020. An alternative policy option is setting energy efficiency standards, measured as energy consumption per kilometre. A policy based on a long-term commitment on continuously decreasing standards and the choice of the focus between CO₂ or energy efficiency will strongly influence car technology choice. The aim of this paper is to assess these candidate policies for the EU in terms of effectiveness, costs and emission implications until 2050 on the basis of scenarios quantified using the PRIMES-TREMOVE energy economic transport model. The scenarios assume various configurations of the standards and the assessment draws on comparisons to a Reference scenario which does not strengthen standards after 2025. The analysis shows that restructuring the EU car fleet towards significant reductions of energy consumption and CO₂ emissions is affordable provided that preconditions are met regarding technology progress and development of refuelling/recharging infrastructure. CO₂ standards allow a diversified use of technologies, while efficiency standards are more “risky” favouring a single technology.     

Distributional effects of subsidy removal and implementation of carbon taxes in Mexican households

This paper presents a microsimulation using data from the National Households Income and Expenditure Survey (NHIES) from 1994 to 2010 to determine the distributional effects of the price changes arising from energy and environmental policies and their impact on Mexican households.We reported simulations of several changes in energy prices as a result of partial or total energy subsidy removal, including carbon tax. In order to examine whether the subsidy mechanism and carbon tax tend to be progressive or regressive, we evaluated the households' burden in different income levels.These simulations respond to the need for an assessment of economic and environmental impacts of energy subsidies in Mexico. This is of great importance for Mexico because of effort that has been taken in the development of energy policies, and the rising interest of the Mexican government in mitigating carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions and their concomitant environmental damage.     

Towards a low carbon growth in Mexico: Is a double dividend possible? A dynamic general equilibrium assessment

This paper simulates the medium- and long-term impact of proposed and expected energy policy on the environment and on the Mexican economy. The analysis has been conducted with a Multi-sector Macroeconomic Model for the Evaluation of Environmental and Energy policy (Three-ME). This model is well suited for policy assessment purposes in the context of developing economies as it indicates the transitional effects of policy intervention. Three-ME estimates the carbon tax required to meet emissions reduction targets within the Mexican “Climate Change Law”, and assesses alternative policy scenarios, each reflecting a different strategy for the recycling of tax revenues. With no compensation, the taxation policy would reduce CO₂ emissions by more than 75% by 2050 with respect to Business as Usual (BAU), but at high economic costs. Under full redistribution of carbon tax revenues, a double dividend arises: the policy appears beneficial both in terms of GDP and CO₂ emissions reduction.     

The cost of pipelining climate change mitigation: An overview of the economics of CH4, CO2 and H2 transportation

Gases like CH₄, CO₂ and H₂ may play a key role in establishing a sustainable energy system: CH₄ is the least carbon-intensive fossil energy resource; CO₂ capture and storage can significantly reduce the climate footprint of especially fossil-based electricity generation; and the use of H₂ as energy carrier could enable carbon-free automotive transportation. Yet the construction of large pipeline infrastructures usually constitutes a major and time-consuming undertaking, because of safety and environmental issues, legal and (geo)political siting arguments, technically un-trivial installation processes, and/or high investment cost requirements. In this article we focus on the latter and present an overview of both the total costs and cost components of the distribution of these three gases via pipelines. Possible intricacies and external factors that strongly influence these costs, like the choice of location and terrain, are also included in our analysis. Our distribution cost breakdown estimates are based on transportation data for CH₄, which we adjust for CO₂ and H₂ in order to account for the specific additional characteristics of these two gases. The overall trend is that pipeline construction is no longer subject to significant cost reductions. For the purpose of designing energy and climate policy we therefore know in principle with reasonable certainty what the minimum distribution cost components of future energy systems are that rely on pipelining these gases. We describe the reasons why we observe limited learning-by-doing and explain why negligible construction cost reductions for future CH₄, CO₂ and H₂ pipeline projects can be expected. Cost data of individual pipeline projects may strongly deviate from the global average because of national or regional effects related to the type of terrain, but also to varying costs of labor and fluctuating market prices of components like steel.     

Isotopic effects on the permeation of all hydrogen isotopologues through MFI-ZSM-5 zeolite membranes

In a fusion reactor, tritium will be continuously produced in the breeding blanket and a dedicated tritium extraction and removal system (TERS) is used to recover the newly bred tritium. In the TERS for the solid blanket, zeolite membranes are proposed to be used to pre-concentrate HT/H₂ in He before Pd/Ag membranes. Therefore, permeation experiments were carried out using two experimental facilities to determine the permeances of all hydrogen isotopologues (Q₂ = H₂, HD, D₂, HT, DT, T₂) through MFI-ZSM-5 membranes. This study aimed at investigating the existence of isotopic effects on the Q₂ permeation and hence on the separation of Q₂ from He. The results exhibit a strong dependency of the permeance with the mass of the isotopologue: the selectivity decreases from around 1.8 for H₂/He to 1.3 for D₂/He down to 1.1 for T₂/He. This phenomenon is attributed to the existence of defects in the zeolite structure through which the molecules permeate according to Knudsen diffusion. These results were observed for inactive and active Q₂ mixtures and no other effects related to the dipole moment of the asymmetric isotopologues (HD, HT, DT) or tritium decay were observed. Moreover, these results were obtained for three MFI-ZSM-5 membranes, showing a high reproducibility. Our results demonstrate that the pre-concentration of Q₂ in He with MFI-ZSM-5 membranes appears to be challenging in the scope of the TERS.     

Investigation on the existence of optimum interlayer distance for H2 uptake using pillared-graphene oxide

In order to prove the existence of an optimum interlayer distance for H₂ uptake, we have obtained H₂ isotherms with respect to the interlayer distance of pillared-graphene oxide (GO) at 1.0 bar and 77 K. Interlayer distances of GO were changed by intercalation of three kinds of diaminoalkanes with a different number of carbon atoms (NH₂(CH₂)_nNH₂, n = 2, 6, 10) as pillars and changing the subsequent thermal annealing conditions. We found an optimum GO interlayer distance for maximum H₂ uptake at 6.3 Å similar to the predicted distance from first-principles calculations for graphitic materials, and the value obtained from thermally modulated GO. Our results experimentally corroborate the existence of an optimum interlayer distance and demonstrate the importance of an interlayer distance for the design of materials for H₂ storage.     

Life cycle cost analysis to examine the economical feasibility of hydrogen as an alternative fuel

This study uses a life cycle costing (LCC) methodology to identify when hydrogen can become economically feasible compared to the conventional fuels and which energy policy is the most effective at fostering the penetration of hydrogen in the competitive fuel market. The target hydrogen pathways in this study are H₂ via natural gas steam reforming (NG SR), H₂ via naphtha steam reforming (Naphtha SR), H₂ via liquefied petroleum gas steam reforming (LPG SR), and H₂ via water electrolysis (WE). In addition, the conventional fuels (gasoline, diesel) are also included for the comparison with the H₂ pathways.     

Potential of biodiesel from waste cooking oil in Mexico

The aim of this study is to evaluate the potential use of biodiesel produced from waste cooking oil (WCO) in Mexico and its CO₂ emission reduction potential for the Mexican transport sector and associated costs. The results show, based on 2010 data, that the potential of biodiesel from WCO is between 7.8 PJ and 17.7 PJ that represent between 1.5% and 3.3% of petro-diesel consumption for the road transport sector and can reduce between 0.51 and 1.02 Mt of CO₂, (1.0%–2.7% of CO₂-associated emissions), depending on the recovery ratio of WCO from vegetable oil consumption for cooking and considering CO₂ emissions for biodiesel production and methanol emissions during production and combustion in the blend. Primary energy used to produce 1 MJ of WCO-biodiesel is 0.8727 MJ, while literature reports 1.2007 MJ to produce 1 MJ of petro-diesel. Biodiesel costs are similar to petro-diesel costs if WCO is free. The paper offers suggestions for policies that promote increased recollection of WCO for biodiesel production and reduced illegal marketing of WCO, which is the main barrier to increase biodiesel production from WCO. The data used for the analysis is based on a case study of a WCO biodiesel plant that operates in Mexico City.     

Comparative performance of commercial polymeric membranes in the recovery of industrial hydrogen waste gas streams

The application of membrane separation processes to industrial hydrogen-rich waste gases promotes the efficient recovery of this clean fuel. The first step to address and overcome this waste of resources is to assess the real performance of commercially available polymeric membranes for hydrogen separation in terms of hydrogen purity that meets the quality standards to be used in hydrogen-based applications. Therefore, this work makes a comparison of the performance of commercial flat hydrogen-selective membranes based on non-porous polymeric materials through the experimental assessment in a lab-scale set up that contains a gas permeation cell with the aim of recovering hydrogen from the most suitable multicomponent waste gaseous streams. To assess the mixed-gas permeation performance, the influence of the feed gas composition, temperature and pressure was examined. The results of experimental tests indicated that there is a strong dependency of H₂ permeability on CO₂ concentration, that induces a decay of H₂/CO₂ selectivity in mixed-gas experiments for the membranes under study. Accordingly, the permeability-selectivity trade-off in the state-of-the-art membranes defines the balance between H₂ recovery and the product purity. Finally, it is worth noting that although H₂ purities obtained are higher than 98% vol. H₂ for APG and COG mixtures, which may indeed be used as a commodity chemical in many industrial processes, they are still far from fuel cell requirements.     

State-of-the art CAPEX data for water electrolysers,and their impact on renewable hydrogen price settings

Within the framework of the Hydrogen Implementing Agreement (HIA) of the International Energy Agency (IEA), a new Task 38 was started early 2016, entitled "Power-to-Hydrogen and Hydrogen-to-X: System Analysis of techno-economic, legal and regulatory conditions". Within this framework, a specific task force was set-up for the compilation of state-of-the-art technical and economical data on large-scale water electrolyser systems, both based on PEM and alkaline technology. The objectives set forward have been twofold. Firstly, to offer policy makers and industry with comprehensive trends and guidelines for further electrolyser cost reduction (CAPEX, in Euro/kW) into the MW-scale. Secondly, to provide objective technological & economic arguments for converging towards a realistic electrolytic (and hence renewable) H₂ market price (in Euro/kg). This should help water electrolysis to become competitive with SMR technology for (local) H₂ production, and hence to start making H₂ a competitive fuel.     

Investigation of H2O2/UV advanced oxidation process on the removal rate of coliforms from the industrial effluent: A pilot-scale study

Wastewater recycling and reuse is very important, specially in countries with water shortage problem. Disinfection is very crucial step of wastewater treatment, particulary from the reuse and environmental protection point of view. In this research, the efficiency of the advanced oxidation process using UV and H₂O₂ combination was investigated on fecal coliform (FC) inactivation from a real industrial effluent; furthermore, the optimal condition for disinfection of the effluent using various parameters such as pH, H₂O₂ concentration, and contact time was determined. Based on the acquired outcomes, by pH decline from 11 to 7 and 3 inactivation rate increased (6.7% and 20.9%, sequentially), indicating the efficacy of acidic condition on the process. Increasing H₂O₂ concentration from 5 mg/L to 15 mg/L, 25 mg/L, and 35 mg/L, was led to increase FC inactivation by 16.6%, 29.75%, and 36.33%, respectively. Considering contcat time impact on the process performance, our findings revealed that the best efficiency obtained after 40 (s) contact time. It can be concluded that the combined UV/H₂O₂ is more potent than single UV and H₂O₂ process, making it possible to reach irrigation standards.     

Domestic offset projects in the built environment

Emission reduction activities in the European Union (EU) in- and outside the European Trading System (ETS) thus far have largely taken place separately. One possibility to combine the two is through linking Non-ETS offset project-based crediting schemes in the form of Joint Implementation or domestic offset (DO) projects with the EU ETS. Linking would allow non-ETS offset project-based CO₂ credits to be traded within the ETS market. This paper discusses the merits and drawbacks of the implementation of a DO scheme in the built environment in the Netherlands. The built environment can be characterised as a sector with a great diversity and significant energy savings potential. Emphasis is paid on the modalities for estimating energy savings under DO projects. The authors discuss if next to existing EU, national or regional policies in the Netherlands, DO could spur initiatives in sub-sectors or market areas that are difficult to reach with conventional policy instruments. Thus, despite the existing policy framework in this sector, there could be still space for DO to reach the untapped energy savings potential. DO can support activities and technologies that are not covered by other policy instruments, either because they are not part of the instruments focus or are above the minimum requirements of the incumbent policy targets. It is expected that some lessons from this study in the Netherlands can be taken into account also by other countries facing similar market circumstances, which have implemented several policy instruments and are considering DO schemes as an alternative for capturing part of the untapped energy saving potential in their end use sectors. Another possible advantage of DO is that is has the potential to reduce public spending on existing policy goals, when it is considered in conjunction with existing public financing instruments. In order to tap into this potential, there are a series of hurdles in place, like additionality and the current CO₂ price levels, while transaction and administration costs must be kept low.