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Green hydrogen potential as a clean energy carrier presents promising prospects in the fight against climate change. The most efficient method of producing decarbonized hydrogen is through electrolysis, which involves splitting water molecules using renewable sources of electricity. Morocco boasts various advantages that enable it to play a pivotal role in bringing this vision to fruition. Lately, the nation has devised an ambitious strategy for green hydrogen and implemented significant changes related to industry and water resource management. This document presents a thorough examination of Morocco's energy sector, with a special focus on the substantial hurdles that must be surmounted to establish an economy centered on green hydrogen, with the capacity to generate employment opportunities and achieve carbon neutrality. Numerous impediments require cooperation with Europe and other international allies to establish a green hydrogen industry in Morocco. These challenges encompass bolstering the competitiveness of green hydrogen, scaling up production, and cultivating the requisite expertise. • Morocco is identified as one of the countries with the highest potential for green hydrogen export. • Green hydrogen roadmap for Morocco is presented and analyzed. • Technological, economical, environmental and societal challenges for green hydrogen development in Morocco are outlined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ensuring that electricity systems maintain reliable power supplies is critical to sustaining political support for the low-carbon energy transition. Therefore, it is crucial to analyze the recent electricity disruptions in China and evaluate the government's response. Since 2020, China has faced three unprecedented power outage affecting multiple provinces for weeks. This study investigates the interplay of various factors contributing to China's power crisis and examines the government's policies aimed at addressing immediate issues while advancing broader reforms. Key policy measures involve adjusting the electricity market to allow greater price fluctuations for coal-fired electricity and opening the wholesale market to industrial and commercial users. While this reform is expected to boost market competitiveness, the present market structure falls short of what is likely needed to ensure that power sector dispatch, pricing, and investment can work together to ensure reliable electricity supply in the context of China's transition towards carbon neutrality. To create an advanced, resilient, and flexible renewable energy grid, more intricate reforms across the electricity system, market, regulatory framework, and institutions will be essential. [Display omitted] • Power reliability is critical to keeping political support for energy transition. • A combination of factors led to power curtailments in China in recent times. • Policy responses to address China's power crisis are examined. • Implications of these policy changes are assessed. • An integrated solution framework is recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Novel data-driven platform to predict and evaluate energy transition policies. • Quantitatively evaluate impacts of energy transition policies. • Make effective forecasting and timely adjustment in energy policies. • Powerfulness of platform is demonstrated in representative metropolitan regions. • Adjustment recommendations for different stakeholders in energy industry. To meet widely recognised carbon neutrality targets, over the last decade metropolitan regions around the world have implemented policies to promote the generation and use of sustainable energy. Nevertheless, there is an availability gap in formulating and evaluating these policies in a timely manner, since sustainable energy capacity and generation are dynamically determined by various factors along dimensions based on local economic prosperity and societal green ambitions. We develop a novel data-driven platform to predict and evaluate energy transition policies by applying an artificial neural network and a technology diffusion model. Using Singapore, London, and California as case studies of metropolitan regions at distinctive stages of energy transition, we show that in addition to forecasting renewable energy generation and capacity, the platform is particularly powerful in formulating future policy scenarios. We recommend global application of the proposed methodology to future sustainable energy transition in smart regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since energy-related carbon dioxide emissions represent two-thirds of all greenhouse gases, a transition towards cleaner and renewable energy is imperative. Moreover, the carbon neutrality targets set by countries hinge upon increased uptake of renewable energy and storage. Some of these energy transition (ET) interventions are highly mineral intensive and depend upon critical minerals (CM), which are scarce and face supply challenges. However, what is meant by 'critical' is not uniform and static. The interface between ET and minerals is still an emerging area in policy studies literature. This paper presents a systematic and comprehensive review of 68 studies from a policy perspective studying the critical minerals – ET nexus. Most literature has approached the issue from the perspective of economics or geopolitics, followed by a broad governance approach. Very little attention has been given to legal and institutional aspects and justice in particular. The review suggests that the main challenges associated with the subject relate to the criticality of minerals, raw material security, trade and geopolitics, circular economy strategies, environmental and social impacts, and energy justice. • In-depth review on critical minerals-energy transition relationship from a policy perspective. • Discussion on key issues & challenges around minerals - energy transition interface. • Highlights the need for more research on legal & institutional issues on the subject. • Discussion on complexities in defining 'criticality'. • A review of 68 policy studies on parameters such as geography, intervention, theme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Full decarbonization strategies to achieve a carbon neutrality by 2050. • Microalgae-based hydrogen technologies have high potentials as a renewable energy. • Large-scale hydrogen production is achievable by improving current technologies. • Recent perspectives, future challenges, and key technologies of biohydrogen. The ever-increasing quantity of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere can be attributed to the rapid increase in the world population as well as the expansion of globalization. Hence, achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 stands as a challenging task to accomplish. Global industrialization had necessitated the need to enhance the current production systems to reduce greenhouse gases emission, whilst promoting the capture of carbon dioxide from atmosphere. Hydrogen is often touted as the fuel of future via substituting fossil-based fuels. In this regard, renewable hydrogen happens to be a niche sector of novel technologies in achieving carbon neutrality. Microalgae-based biohydrogen technologies could be a sustainable and economical approach to produce hydrogen from a renewable source, while simultaneously promoting the absorption of carbon dioxide. This review highlights the current perspectives of biohydrogen production as an alternate source of energy. In addition, future challenges associated with biohydrogen production at large-scale application, storage and transportation are included. Key technologies in producing biohydrogen are finally described in building a carbon–neutral future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • H 2 , above all the green H 2 , will play a key role in the future energy transition. • Many countries are adopting hydrogen policies towards the net-zero GHG. • Storage and distribution are key enabling technologies for widespread H 2 deployment. • Hydrogen deployment in a real CCGT proves a remarkable reduction of CO 2 emissions. • H 2 leads to carbon footprint reduction in Power to Gas and Gas to Electricity fields. Hydrogen is gaining momentum in the current global energy transition framework. In fact a great and widespread enthusiasm is growing up towards it, as indicated by the current worldwide economic and political strategies, which endorse the carbon neutrality by 2030 and a fast transition to clean energy. Green hydrogen has the potential to create a virtuous cycle for the future renewables-based electricity grids, as it can provide the much-needed flexibility to power systems, acting as a buffer to non-dispatchable renewable generation. Indeed, the excess energy, provided by conventional and renewable power plants, can be stored as hydrogen and then employed to produce electricity (fuel cells or power systems), heat (combustion) or both (co-generation), abating drastically the greenhouse gas production. In this scenario, it is important to understand what benefits could derive from the use of hydrogen. For this reason, the present work not only aims at reviewing the recent updates on hydrogen economy (in terms of the main advantages and drawbacks) but also focuses on determining the impact that this hydrogen may have in various sectors (transport, industry and power generation). Different assessments have been carried out showing how hydrogen can effectively contribute to the carbon neutrality goal. This work points out that hydrogen can be really sustainable if produced via electrolysis powered by renewable energies. Furthermore, for the mobility, the use of fuel cells currently turns out to be less efficient than the adoption of Li-ion batteries, but at the same time far less polluting ( CO 2 , eq ) and labor intensive. Finally, a near-term solution to contrast the power generation carbon footprint, namely the blending of fossil fuels with hydrogen, has been investigated. Thus, a real Combined Cycle Gas Turbine power plant has been selected as a case study, in order to assess the impact of the hydrogen employment in terms of power output and emissions with respect to the current status of the plant fueled with 100% natural gas. As a result, using a mixture with 70% CH 4 and 30% H 2 a remarkable reduction of CO 2 can be achieved (0.28 Mt CO 2 / year). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]