Hydrogen scenarios from production to applications

Most elements of the original six visions or futures have been integrated 

Transport only Central pipeline Hydrogen has become the dominant transport fuel, and is produced centrally from a mixture of clean coal and fossil fuels (with C-sequestration), nuclear power and large-scale renewables. Hydrogen is distributed as a gas by dedicated pipeline. 

Forecourt reforming Hydrogen produced locally from natural gas is the dominant road transport fuel. The existing natural gas network provides the delivery infrastructure, and hydrogen is generated on-site by steam methane reforming at the refuelling station. 

Synthetic liquid fuels Renewably produced hydrogen again provides the dominant transport fuel. In this case, however, it is packaged in the form of a synthetic liquid hydrocarbon, such as methanol, to overcome the difficulties of hydrogen storage and distribution. The carbon for fuel synthesis comes from biomass and from the flue gases of carbon-intensive industries. 

This listing of technologies allows the identification of the kinds of technological development that are likely to be required for the scenarios to become realistic. 

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