GIS and Energy System Modelling of Global Hydrogen and Ammonia Supply Chains

Project ID: 2531bd1606

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Research Theme: Energy and Decarbonisation

Research Area(s): Engineering

UCL Lead department: Bartlett School of Environment, Energy and Resources (BSEER)

Department Website

Lead Supervisor: Paul Dodds

Project Summary:

Hydrogen and ammonia have emerged as central options for deep decarbonisation of energy systems, particularly in “hard-to-abate” sectors. As the costs of renewable energy generation vary greatly between world regions, there is growing interest in exporting this energy as hydrogen or ammonia to regions with higher costs or low renewable resources (e.g. from Australia and Chile to East Asia and Europe). This PhD will explore global hydrogen and ammonia infrastructure and geopolitical trade scenarios for global decarbonisation.

There is currently no comprehensive, high-resolution global dataset for hydrogen and ammonia infrastructure, which include production facilities, storage infrastructure, transport routes, ports and end-user demands. Most existing studies rely on coarse regional aggregations or simplified assumptions. Using GIS methods and data-driven approaches, you will identify and map global infrastructure, supply and demand, for hydrogen and ammonia, and produce an open-access database with these resources. You will then incorporate this data into TIAM-UCL, which is UCL’s global energy system futures model, to explore future hydrogen and ammonia geopolitical trade scenarios for global decarbonisation.

The combination of GIS, data-driven methods, and integrated energy system modelling addresses a recognised gap in the literature and will likely attract interest from energy systems, geography, and policy research communities. Governments and international organisations are actively developing hydrogen strategies and trade frameworks. Your outputs would directly inform these efforts.

UCL is developing global hydrogen and ammonia trade scenarios in TIAM-UCL for the £13m EPSRC HI-ACT project. You will work closely with that team and you’ll be part of the HI-ACT UK-wide early career research community. Internally, you will become a member of the Energy Transitions Modelling Lab, building on recent geopolitical scenario research.

You will develop skills in energy systems optimisation modelling, and highly valued specific skills in GIS, data-driven approaches, and coding.