Prospects of hydrogen production potential from renewable resources in Algeria Soumia Rahmouni a , Belkhir Negrou a,* , Noureddine Settou a , Javier Dominguez b , Abderahman Gouareh a,c a Univ Ouargla, Fac. Des sciences appliquees, Dept. Mechanical Engineering, Lab. Promotion et valorisation des ressources sahariennes (VPRS), BP 511, Ouargla 30000, Algeria b CIEMAT, Department of Energy, Division of Renewable Energy, Avd. Complutense, 22-28040 Madrid, Spain c Univ Sidi Bel Abbes, Fac. Technology, Dept. Mechanical Engineering, Lab. Materiaux et Systemes Reactifs (LMSR), BP89, Sidi Bel Abbes 22000, Algeria article info Article history: Received 22 February 2016 Received in revised form 26 July 2016 Accepted 26 July 2016 Available online xxx Keywords: Electrolytic hydrogen production Renewable energy Geographical Information System (GIS) Potential analysis Algeria abstract Hydrogen production from renewable energies is a key part in the energy transition to realize a sustainable energy economy for both developed and developing nations. For Algeria, successful energy transition toward a hydrogen economy will require the estab- lishment of its potential. This study was conducted to estimate the potential for producing hydrogen from renewable resources in Algeria. The renewable energies considered are: solar photovoltaic and wind. To accomplish this objective, first, we analyzed renewable resource data both statistically and graphically using Geographical Information System (GIS), a computer-based information system utilized to create and visualize the spatial distribution of the geographic information. Then, the study will evaluate the availability of renewable electricity production potential from these key renewable resources. The po- tential for the hydrogen production, via the electrolysis process with wind and solar photovoltaic electricity, is described with maps showing it per unit area in each region. Finally, the results of the estimated hydrogen potential from both resources for each region are compared and significant conclusions are drawn. © 2016 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Introduction The increasing dependency on fossil fuel for meeting the growing energy demands across the world has become a weakness in national economies. This is not only due to the finite reserves, but also due to their environmental impacts. Renewable hydrogen is a promising energy carrier for the future energy supply, its benefits as an environmentally friendly, versatile, and efficient fuel. Hydrogen may be pro- duced from renewable energy sources through a variety of pathways and methods [1,2]. Attention around the world has focused on the promise hydrogen economy. In order to study the feasibility of the transition towards a hydrogen economy, as a major step we must evaluate, and estimate the potential of renewable hydrogen for each country. Geographical Infor- mation System (GIS) technology plays a crucial role in the potential analyses; it allows us to managing, analyzing, and displaying the spatial distribution of all forms of geographi- cally referenced information. * Corresponding author. E-mail address: b.negrou@gmail.com (B. Negrou). Available online at www.sciencedirect.com ScienceDirect journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/he international journal of hydrogen energy xxx (2016) 1 e13 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2016.07.214 0360-3199/© 2016 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Please cite this article in press as: Rahmouni S, et al., Prospects of hydrogen production potential from renewable resources in Algeria, International Journal of Hydrogen Energy (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2016.07.214