Green hydrogen has been there for quite some time. However the future of green hydrogen as a fuel is a popular debate.
Race to make Green Hydrogen is on – Clean Energy
- Hydrogen has a diverse range of applications and can be deployed in a wide range of industries.
- A growing number of multinational firms are attempting to lay down a marker in the green hydrogen sector.
- Europe is building industrial-scale electrolyzers.
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The race is on to adopt hydrogen technologies, with some countries positioning to become tomorrow’s hydrogen superpowers.
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Hydrogen could account for up to 12% of global energy use by 2050.
The time is right to tap into hydrogen’s potential to play a key role in tackling critical energy challenges in order to make the shift to clean energy. The recent successes of renewable energy technologies and electric vehicles have shown that policy and technology innovation have the power to build global clean energy industries.
Hydrogen is emerging as one of the leading options for storing energy from renewables with hydrogen-based fuels potentially transporting energy from renewables over long distances – from regions with abundant energy resources, to energy-hungry areas thousands of kilometers away.
Many believe that the Future Is Bright For Green Hydrogen
Many oil leaders and governments around the world are putting their money on the future of green hydrogen, making it as a possible replacement for fossil fuels. They have all added this as part of the new Energy mix diversification strategies and for many companies, the energy shift has already taken place.
Major Energy firms around the globe have been producing hydrogen to use as fuel for years but it is not cheap. Producing green hydrogen is much more expensive than the costs involved with other types of energy production.
While hydrogen faces many limitations within its early stages of development, and implementation as a fuel, it shows a promising future. This is enhanced through public and investors interested in the new age fuel, generating a source of funding and acceptance.
Leading countries with Green Hydrogen as part of their future plans?
A new report from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), called Geopolitics of the Energy Transformation: The Hydrogen Factor lists leaders who are making leaps and bound within the Green hydrogen economy.
- China consumes and produces more hydrogen than any other country – its current annual usage is more than 24 million tonnes. China issued its first hydrogen roadmap in 2016.
- The US is the world’s second-biggest producer and consumer of hydrogen after China, accounting for 13% of global demand.
- Europe: As part of its national hydrogen strategy in 2020, the EU has recognized hydrogen as a key technology for achieving policy goals such as the European Green Deal. According to sources, EU has $4.56 billion of annual funding potential for hydrogen projects in 2021-2030.
- India launched its National Hydrogen Mission in 2021 and has big plans for the future.
- Japan became the first country to formulate a national hydrogen strategy as part of its ambition to become the world’s first “hydrogen society” in 2017. They even have set clear mobility targets of 800,000 FCEVs and 900 hydrogen refueling stations by 2030.
- South Korea’s 2019 hydrogen roadmap highlights clean hydrogen as a key driver of economic growth and job creation. They plan on becoming a global leader in producing and deploying FCEVs and large-scale stationary fuel cells for hydrogen power generation.
- Romania has unveiled a state aid scheme to support investments in the production of hydrogen powered by solar, hydro and wind, while Air Products and Gunvor have agreed to build a hydrogen import terminal in Rotterdam.
- Spain, as highlighted in a recent article by FT.com, wants to be a European hub for the zero-carbon fuel. It has a new green hydrogen plant in Puertollano, as the country aims to become a European hub for this vehicle fuel of the future. This is all part of their plan to achieve 800-megawatt capacity by 2027.
- UK is has its own ambitious plans, Hydrogen will also help the UK reach its net-zero target. The UK aims to not only use hydrogen to decarbonize its energy system, but also hopes to reap the competitive and economic advantages of offering hydrogen industry jobs. Separately, it aims to allocate £240 million ($317 million) in government funding in the next few years through the Net Zero Hydrogen Fund.
- The UAE has its Hydrogen Leadership Roadmap unveiled last November, the UAE set a target to conquer 25% of the global low-carbon hydrogen market by 2030 without providing a production target. DEWA leading the way within the emirate of Dubai.
So what about the future of Green Hydrogen mobility prospects?
Described by the International Energy Agency as a “versatile energy carrier,” hydrogen has a diverse range of applications and can be deployed in a wide range of industries. In the past decade, Hydrogen is an emerging and almost widely accepted fuel source for cars now.
However, a few months earlier, the European Commission took the strategic decision to leave out “hydrogen mobility” from its rebranded clean hydrogen partnership. The primary reason is perhaps because the world had witnessed the rise of conventional Li-ion batteries across all segments of electric vehicles in recent years. Electric Vehicles a rising market of its own and fits well within the clean energy landscape within many countries.
To add to these challenges, transportation of hydrogen is often a safety nightmare, as hydrogen molecules tend to diffuse into the structure of steel tank and make it brittle which can potentially cause serious accidents.
Right but how is Green Hydrogen produced in the first place?
It can be produced in a number of ways. One popular method includes using electrolysis, with an electric current splitting water into oxygen and hydrogen. If the electricity used in this process comes from a renewable source such as wind or solar then some call it “green” or “renewable” hydrogen.
Green hydrogen production is a very energy-intensive process where we need to split a stable molecule of water (H2O) in an electrolyzer to produce hydrogen and oxygen gases. The produced hydrogen gas can only be stored by liquifying it below -250°C or maintaining high pressure conditions. This is not a very efficient process though, the ‘well-to-wheels efficiency’ (i.e. energy recovered vs. energy supplied) is typically lower than 30 per cent, when compare to a battery, where you can recover ~99% of energy stored/supplied to it during charging.
So what is your verdict? Put your comments below.