News

Lithium-ion batteries are now widely used in our society. The safety related to thermal runaway and fires is concerning. We reviewed recent developments on using nail penetration and thermal abuse methods to test lithium-ion battery safety. The paper is now published in Batteries with open-access.

Congratulations to Ananthu Shibu Nair on this work!

In a recent paper, we developed a supervised learning AI agent to support real-time decision-making for a fuel cell electric vehicle-to-grid (FCEV2G) station, specifically, whether to connect to the grid, produce hydrogen, or remain idle. The agent enabled the station to operate more effectively and capture most profit-making opportunities. While there is still significant room for improvement, this project is an interesting and promising first step for my group.

Congratulations to Arda Mert Çetin!

In our recent paper, we built a model to study renewable hydrogen infrastructure at airports, and analyzed how the infrastructure planning and its costs will depend on various options (e.g., grid connectivity, renewable energy sources, sub-system costs and efficiency). This helps us to identify scenarios where renewable hydrogen can be economically competitive with jet fuels. 

Congratulations to Zhen!

A recent work from our group studies rapid heating strategies for the cold-start of Li-ion batteries under subzero temperatures. The paper is titled "Thermal System Simulation of Heating Strategies for 21700 Lithium-Ion Battery Modules Under Cold-Start Conditions" and is available in Batteries with open-access. 

Congratulations, Grace and Hanieh!

Congratulations to Arda, Emily, Grace and Zhen on finishing their MASc theses!

1. Operations of Fuel Cell Vehicle-to-Grid Systems: From Rule-based to Supervised Learning, Arda Mert Cetin
2. Design and Assessment of Membrane-supported Ammonia Cracking for Hydrogen Refuelling Stations, Emily Smyth
3. Analysis of integrated heating approaches for cold-start conditions in 21700 lithium-ion battery modules using thermal system simulation, Grace Stephanie Parra Panchi
4. Techno-economic and Life Cycle Assessment of Airport Hydrogen Production Infrastructure for Future Hydrogen-based Aviation, Zhen Ye

Greener Production Group members presented in 2025 IEEE the 13th International Conference on Smart Energy Grid Engineering (SEGE 2025) on August 18- 20, 2025 at Ontario Tech University, Oshawa, Canada.

Greener production group celebrates our graduates, family, and friends in the Spring convocation.

Greener production group members presented at the 2025 CSME Congress

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.