Analysis of the existing barriers for the market development of power to hydrogen (P2H) in Italy

New technological solutions are required to control the impact of the increasing presence of renewable energy sources connected to the electric grid that are characterized by unpredictable production (i.e., wind and solar energy). Energy storage is becoming essential to stabilize the grid when a mismatch between production and demand occurs. Among the available solutions, Power to Hydrogen (P2H) is one of the most attractive options. However, despite the potential, many barriers currently hinder P2H market development. The literature reports general barriers and strategies to overcome them, but a specific analysis is fundamental to identifying how these barriers concretely arise in national and regional frameworks, since tailored solutions are needed to foster the development of P2H local market. The paper aims to identify and to analyze the existing barriers for P2H market uptake in Italy. The paper shows how several technical, regulatory and economic issues are still unsolved, resulting in a source of uncertainty for P2H investment. The paper also suggests possible approaches and solutions to address the Italian barriers and to support politics and decision-makers in the definition and implementation of the national hydrogen strategy

Techno-economic assessment of the innovative ejectors plant technology for sediment management in harbours

Purpose: The paper aims to show the monitoring results of an innovative technology, the ejectors plant, tested in the MARINAPLAN PLUS LIFE project framework for sustainable sediment management in harbours. Materials and methods: A monitoring plan has been designed to evaluate the technical, economic and environmental impact of the ejectors plant demonstrator for 15 months, located in Cervia (Italy). In particular, the demonstrator’s effectiveness and efficiency have been assessed to determine the yearly operation and maintenance costs. Results and discussion: The techno-economic analysis shows promising results in terms of efficacy and efficiency of the ejectors plant. The ejectors plant guaranteed navigability for the whole period of operation with a yearly cost reduction compared with traditional dredging. Conclusions: The innovative technology promoted by the MARINAPLAN PLUS LIFE project is a promising solution to manage sedimentation in harbours through a cost-effective and a low environmental impact technology. The monitoring actions validated the technology fully and demonstrated its efficacy and sustainability, highlighting the further improvements needed

Low temperature district heating: An expert opinion survey

Among the available solutions for building heating and cooling, district heating (DH) and district cooling (DC) systems are considered some of the best options since they can ensure a better control of pollutant emissions and greater efficiency than individual systems. Nevertheless, improvements are needed to increase their sustainability and reliability. The so-called \u201clow temperature district heating\u201d (LTDH) concept has been introduced in recent years in an attempt i) to reduce the distribution heat losses through a temperature decrease in the DH network, ii) to favor the integration with renewable energy sources, and iii) to create the conditions required for the development of future smart energy systems. However, many concerns have been raised about its implementation in both existing and new systems. For this reason, this paper aims to identify the stakeholders\u2019 ranking of the barriers against LTDH system development and implementation over the next few years. Aiming to this, a questionnaire was designed, including an analysis of current gaps and strengths, and then submitted to more than 50 Italian and international experts in the field of DH. An in-depth analysis of the received answers was performed, focusing in particular on the Italian experts\u2019 answers. Comments and suggestions on how to promote the transition to the new LTDH approach are reported

A Digital Twin-Based Approach for the Optimization of Floor-Ball Manufacturing

The increasing complexity of products and manufacturing processes, combined with the constantly advancing technological integration of the manufacturing sector, raised new challenges for world-class industries to optimize time-to-market, resources, and cost. Simulation, as an essential Industry 4.0 enabling technology, allows one to emulate the steps of a manufacturing process, thereby achieving significant improvements in all the product and process development phases. A simulation process can be implemented and improved by creating the Digital Twin of the manufacturing system, which can be realized on a single-line scale or extended to the whole factory. The Digital Twin merges physics-based system modeling and real-time process data to generate a virtual copy of an observable object to reduce and optimize the extensive time and cost of physical design, prototyping, commissioning, reconfiguration, and maintenance. This study aims to investigate how the implementation of digital twin technology can help optimize the balance between power consumption and productivity, taking into account existing barriers and limitations. By following this outline, this study shows the design and development of a digital twin for a floor-ball manufacturing line present in the Smart Factory of Ostschweizer Fachhochschule (Switzerland). The entire production process is reproduced with Siemens Technomatix Plant Simulation software 2201, and data connection and processing are handled by a tailored toolchain consisting of an agent, a database, Python packages, and the COM interface from Tecnomatix. This toolchain feeds the digital twin with data from the physical operating environment. In particular, this study compares direct power measurements with the ones expected by the digital twin to assess digital model accuracy

A New Geographic Information System (GIS) Tool for Hydrogen Value Chain Planning Optimization: Application to Italian Highways

Optimizing the hydrogen value chain is essential to ensure hydrogen market uptake in replacing traditional fossil fuel energy and to achieve energy system decarbonization in the next years. The design of new plants and infrastructures will be the first step. However, wrong decisions would result in temporal, economic losses and, in the worst case, failures. Because huge investments are expected, decision makers have to be assisted for its success. Because no tools are available for the optimum design and geographical location of power to gas (P2G) and power to hydrogen (P2H) plants, the geographic information system (GIS) and mathematical optimization approaches were combined into a new tool developed by CNR-ITAE and the University of Bologna in the SuperP2G project, aiming to support the interested stakeholders in the investigation and selection of the optimum size, location, and operations of P2H and P2G industrial plants while minimizing the levelized cost of hydrogen (LCOH). In the present study, the tool has been applied to hydrogen mobility, specifically to investigate the conversion of the existing refuelling stations on Italian highways to hydrogen refuelling stations (HRSs). Middle-term (2030) and long-term (2050) scenarios were investigated. In 2030, a potential demand of between 7000 and 10,000 tons/year was estimated in Italy, increasing to between 32,600 and 72,500 tons/year in 2050. The optimum P2H plant configuration to supply the HRS was calculated in different scenarios. Despite the optimization, even if the levelized cost of hydrogen (LCOH) reduces from 7.0-7.5 euro/kg in 2030 to 5.6-6.2 euro/kg in 2050, the results demonstrate that the replacement of the traditional fuels, i.e., gasoline, diesel, and liquefied petroleum gases (LPGs), will be disadvantaged without incentives or any other economic supporting schemes

Physico-Chemical Characterization of Keratin from Wool and Chicken Feathers Extracted Using Refined Chemical Methods

In this work, the characteristic structure of keratin extracted from two different kinds of industrial waste, namely sheep wool and chicken feathers, using the sulfitolysis method to allow film deposition, has been investigated. The structural and microscopic properties have been studied by means of scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Raman spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy (AFM), and infrared (IR) spectroscopy. Following this, small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) analysis for intermediate filaments has been performed. The results indicate that the assembly character of the fiber can be obtained by using the most suitable extraction method, to respond to hydration, thermal, and redox agents. The amorphous part of the fiber and medium range structure is variously affected by the competition between polar bonds (reversible hydrogen bonds) and disulfide bonds (DB), the covalent irreversible ones, and has been investigated by using fine structural methods such as Raman and SAXS, which have depicted in detail the intermediate filaments of keratin from the two different animal origins. The preservation of the secondary structure of the protein obtained does offer a potential for further application of the waste-obtained keratin in polymer films and, possibly, biocomposites

Segond's fracture: a biomechanical cadaveric study using navigation

Background Segond’s fracture is a well-recognised radiological sign of an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear. While previous studies evaluated the role of the anterolateral ligament (ALL) and complex injuries on rotational stability of the knee, there are no studies on the biomechanical effect of Segond’s fracture in an ACL deficient knee. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of a Segond’s fracture on knee rotation stability as evaluated by a navigation system in an ACL deficient knee. Materials and methods Three different conditions were tested on seven knee specimens: intact knee, ACL deficient knee and ACL deficient knee with Segond’s fracture. Static and dynamic measurements of anterior tibial translation (ATT) and axial tibial rotation (ATR) were recorded by the navigation system (2.2 OrthoPilot ACL navigation system B. Braun Aesculap, Tuttlingen, Germany). Results Static measurements at 30 showed that the mean ATT at 30 of knee flexion was 5.1 ± 2.7 mm in the ACL intact condition, 14.3 ± 3.1 mm after ACL cut (P = 0.005), and 15.2 ± 3.6 mm after Segond’s fracture (P = 0.08). The mean ATR at 30 of knee flexion was 20.7 ± 4.8 in the ACL intact condition, 26.9 ± 4.1 in the ACL deficient knee (P[0.05) and 30.9 ± 3.8 after Segond’s fracture (P = 0.005). Dynamic measurements during the pivot-shift showed that the mean ATT was 7.2 ± 2.7 mm in the intact knee, 9.1 ± 3.3 mm in the ACL deficient knee(P = 0.04) and 9.7 ± 4.3 mm in the ACL deficient knee with Segond’s fracture (P = 0.07). The mean ATR was 9.6 ± 1.8 in the intact knee, 12.3 ± 2.3 in the ACL deficient knee (P[0.05) and 19.1 ± 3.1 in the ACL deficient knee with Segond’s lesion (P = 0.016). Conclusion An isolated lesion of the ACL only affects ATT during static and dynamic measurements, while the addition of Segond’s fracture has a significant effect on ATR in both static and dynamic execution of the pivot-shift test, as evaluated with the aid of navigation

Hydrogen blending effect on fiscal and metrological instrumentation: A review

A green hydrogen (H2) economy requires a sustainable, efficient, safe, and widespread infrastructure for transporting and distributing H2 from production to consumption sites. Transporting a hydrogen/natural gas (H2NG) mixture, including pure H2, through the existing European natural gas (NG) infrastructure is considered a cost-effective solution, particularly in the transitional phase. Several reasons justify the H2NG blending option. The NG infrastructure can be efficiently repurposed to transport H2, by blending H2 with NG, to operate as H2 daily storage, matching production and demand and to enable large-scale seasonal H2 storage. Although many benefits exist, the potential of existing NG grids for transporting and distributing green H2 may face limitations due to technical, economic, or normative concerns. This paper focuses on the state of the art of the European NG transmission and distribution metrology normative framework and identifies the gaps to be filled in case of H2NG flowing into the existing grids. The paper was revised to provide a comprehensive analysis of the practical implications resulting from the H2NG blend option

The future of sovereignty in multilevel governance Europe: a constructivist reading

Multilevel governance presents a depiction of contemporary structures in EU Europe as consisting of overlapping authorities and competing competencies. By focusing on emerging non-anarchical structures in the international system, hence moving beyond the conventional hierarchy/anarchy dichotomy to distinguish domestic and international arenas, this seems a radical transformation of the familiar Westphalian system and to undermine state sovereignty. Paradoxically, however, the principle of sovereignty proves to be resilient despite its alleged empirical decline. This article argues that social constructivism can explain the paradox, by considering sovereign statehood as a process-dependent institutional fact, and by showing that multilevel governance can feed into this process

What is the Other of Europe?

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