Water electrolysis based on renewable energy for hydrogen production

As an energy storage medium, hydrogen has drawn the attention of research institutions and industry over the past decade, motivated in part by developments in renewable energy, which have led to unused surplus wind and photovoltaic power. Hydrogen production from water electrolysis is a good option to make full use of the surplus renewable energy. Among various technologies for producing hydrogen, water electrolysis using electricity from renewable power sources shows great promise. To investigate the prospects of water electrolysis for hydrogen production, this review compares different water electrolysis processes, i.e., alkaline water electrolysis, proton exchange membrane water electrolysis, solid oxide water electrolysis, and alkaline anion exchange membrane water electrolysis. The ion transfer mechanisms, operating characteristics, energy consumption, and industrial products of different water electrolysis apparatus are introduced in this review. Prospects for new water electrolysis technologies are discussed.