Strategic plans reveal large-scale hydrogen expansion
Hydrogen is a carbon-free fuel that is made from water by using renewably produced electricity to split hydrogen molecules from oxygen molecules. Europe is embracing green hydrogen by providing funding for construction of electrolysis plants and other hydrogen infrastructure.
In fact, Germany has allocated the largest share of its clean energy stimulus funds to green hydrogen. According to the National German Hydrogen Strategy, “in order for the energy transition to be successful, security of supply, affordability and environmental compatibility need to be combined with innovative and smart climate action. This means that the fossil fuels we are currently using need to be replaced by alternative options. This applies in particular to gaseous and liquid energy sources, which will continue to be an integral part of Germany’s energy supply. Against this backdrop, hydrogen will play a key role in enhancing and completing the energy transition”.
Difficulties
Hydrogen’s potential as a fuel source has been touted for decades, but the technology has never gotten off the ground on a sizable scale — and with good reason, according to skeptics. They argue that widespread adoption of green hydrogen technologies has faced serious obstacles, most notably that hydrogen fuels need renewable energy to be green, which will require a massive expansion of renewable generation to power the electrolysis plants that split water into hydrogen and oxygen. Green hydrogen is also hard to store and transport without a pipeline, reminds ideas.ted.com.
While this source of hydrogen gas is almost entirely emission-free, the need to build expensive electrolysers, and incorporate green hydrogen facilities into existing renewable power infrastructure, has made the process unsustainably expensive and logistically complex to the point of redundancy, writes powertechnology.com.
Growing share in the energy mix
Its storage requires compression to 700 times atmospheric pressure, refrigeration to 253 degrees Celsius, it can embrittle metal; it escapes through the tiniest leaks and it really is explosive. Despite these reasons, which lags the hydrogen industry, European Commission sees enough counter reasons why hydrogen is a key priority to achieve the European Green Deal and Europe’s clean energy transition.
Renewable electricity is expected to decarbonise a large share of the EU energy consumption by 2050, but not all of it. Hydrogen has a strong potential to bridge some of this gap, as a vector for renewable energy storage, alongside batteries, and transport, ensuring back up for seasonal variations and connecting production locations to more distant demand centres. In its strategic vision for a climate-neutral EU published in November 2018, the share of hydrogen in Europe’s energy mix is projected to grow from the current less than 2% to 13-14% by 2050.
The European Union just drafted a strategy for a large-scale green hydrogen expansion, though it hasn’t been officially adopted yet. But in its $550 billion clean energy plan, the EU is including funds for new green hydrogen electrolyzers and transport and storage technology for the fuel. “Large-scale deployment of clean hydrogen at a fast pace is key for the EU to achieve its high climate ambitions,” the European Commission wrote.
About hydrogen
Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe. Two atoms of hydrogen paired with an atom of oxygen creates water. Alone, though, hydrogen is an odorless and tasteless gas and highly combustible. Hydrogen derived from methane — usually from natural gas, but also coal and biomass — was pioneered in World War II by Germany, which has no petroleum deposits. But CO2 is emitted when manufacturing hydrogen from methane so it’s not climate friendly, and hydrogen manufactured this way is known as gray hydrogen.
Of the 60 million tonnes of hydrogen currently produced per annum, however, approximately 96% are derived from the reforming of fossil fuel feedstocks (49% natural gas, 29% liquid hydrocarbons, and 18% coal), resulting in high indirect CO2 emissions. The remaining 4% is produced via the electrolysis of water, which is only considered as a low-carbon source if low-carbon electricity with low embodied emissions is used, shares Applied Energy magazine in their January issue.
