Welcome to Greener Production @ Waterloo

Our goal is to understand how to utilize renewable resources to improve global living standards.

Greener Production Group combines expertise in system optimization, process integration, and techno-economics to study sustainable technologies for energy conversion and chemical production (e.g., hydrogen/ammonia production, energy storage, CO2 capture and utilization, biomass and hydrocarbon valorization). 

Both experimental and numerical methods are applied to obtain a fundamental understanding of the energy, economic and environmental impacts. We are interested in processes that require multiple energy inputs and can be utilized to decarbonize multiple sectors. Process modelling, energy system optimization, techno-economic analysis and life-cycle assessments are some of the tools that we use to evaluate the impacts of these processes. While the goal is not to develop new technologies, our group aims to provide critical information to the public for decision making. 

We are looking for self-motivated undergraduates, graduates (both master and PhD), postdocs and visiting scholars to join our sustainable endeavor. Find out more about current opportunities in the openings page.

If you are interested in collaborating with our group, sponsoring some projects, or just chatting about energy and sustainability, please contact XiaoYu!

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News

Fuel cell electric vehicles can work as distributed generators to produce electricity during peak demand hours, a.k.a. fuel cell electric vehicle to grid (FCEV2G). In our recent paper, we found that FCEV2G is currently suitable in a volatile and carbon-intense electrical grid, as it can generate profits while reducing carbon emissions. But in a stable and clean grid, technical improvements, e.g., higher fuel cell efficiency and lower clean hydrogen costs, are needed to make FCEV2G economic viable. You can read the paper for more information.

We are happy to share Carlo's new paper "Cost benefit analysis of grid-based electrolytic ammonia production across Canadian provinces," which is published in the International Journal of Hydrogen Energy. In this paper, we compare the costs and benefits of three ammonia production pathways: electrolytic ammonia production, and methane-based ammonia production with and without carbon capture. Social costs of carbon were considered in our analyses, and we concluded that blue ammonia is very cost-effective in reducing carbon emissions, while electrolytic ammonia production is competitive only when low-cost and low-carbon electricity is readily available.