Fuel Flexibility of Solid Oxide Fuel Cells Paves Path to Hydrogen Economy, Finds IDTechEx

Fuel Cells Role In A Sustaiable Future

Fuel cells could play an important role in the future of power generation by enabling the transition from traditional hydrocarbon fuels to low- or zero-emission fuels.

The fuel flexibility of solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC) offers a competitive advantage over the currently dominant proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC), which is limited to operating on hydrogen.

Despite the hype of the hydrogen economy, it could be considered foolish to expect that an abundant supply of green or blue high-purity hydrogen will become available to fulfil all demand in the near future, presenting an opportunity for the fuel-agnostic SOFC.

The new IDTechEx report, "Solid Oxide Fuel Cells 2023-2033: Technology, Applications, and Market Forecasts", provides a comprehensive overview of the solid oxide fuel cell market, including an assessment of the key technology trends and major players. It also includes granular 10-year market forecasts for solid oxide fuel cell demand (MW) and market value (US$), segmented by application areas.

Overall, IDTechEx projects the market value to reach US$6.8 billion by 2033.

While PEMFCs can only run on hydrogen, SOFCs can run on multiple fuels such as hydrogen, LNG, biogas, methanol, ammonia, e-fuels, and more.

Liquified Natural Gas Not A Long Term Solution

Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is the most deployed fuel in many applications, but it is not a long-term low-carbon solution due to methane slip and energy-intensive cooling and re-gassing processes.

The utilisation of methane (CH4) also produces both CO and CO2, while using methanol removes the emission of CO.

However, despite the label of emitting greenhouse gases (GHG), reductions in emissions such as sulphur oxides, nitrous oxides, and organics can still be achieved with respect to coal-fueled plants.

Several fuels exist in the zero or low carbon emission sector, including hydrogen, ammonia, and e-fuels. The relative "green" nature of these fuels depends strongly on the source of the feedstock used to produce them; for example, green ammonia is primarily produced via green hydrogen.

There are major downsides with all the low-carbon frontrunners, which IDTechEx views as hydrogen, ammonia, and methane (natural gas), with the use of methane in SOFCs considered low-carbon when compared with diesel combustion engines or coal-fired power plants.

 The key issue with hydrogen is its low volumetric energy density and storage temperatures of -263°C, which are energy intensive to reach and maintain. Ammonia does not require carbon capture but does require new bunker infrastructure and is highly toxic in a spill.