Energetic, economic and environmental sustainability of integrated techniques for energy production in buildings using hydrogen as storage system

Abstract

In present days increasing attention must be paid to the control of the use of fossil fuels, major cause of greenhouse gas emission and climate change; particularly, a significant portion of total energy is consumed in buildings and could be significantly reduced both increasing energy efficiency and using renewable sources. At the moment, the intrinsic discontinuity of renewable energy limits its widespread use in buildings: anyway, integration of plants with energy storage systems could efficiently satisfy building energy demand. Within this frame, hydrogen has shown to be particularly fit in order to be used as an energetic carrier. In this aim in the paper the energetic, economic and environmental sustainability of an auto-sufficient system for energy production in buildings, based on photovoltaic panels, hydrogen storage and fuel cells is presented.