Hydrogen represents an affordable, clean-burning fuel with the potential to replace conventional fossil fuels and environmentally problematic production methods used by refineries, steel manufacturers and ammonia producers. A number of leading energy producers are in the process of building on-site electrolysis plants, and some are forming partnerships with established wind farms (or plan to build their own). Hydrogen is also safe to transport and offers maximum flexibility and low-cost for storage, which makes it a prime choice for the transportation, storage and shipping industries. Hydrogen-fueled transportation fleets and refueling stations are already appearing throughout Europe, and green hydrogen also has the potential to play a role in reducing the heating industry’s hefty carbon footprint.
The Reach and Potential of Hydrogen Energy
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As global interest in clean-burning fuels has increased, so has the pursuit of efficient, affordable and clean methods of production. Wind has long been a go-to renewable power resource and is currently utilized by numerous wind farms around the globe as a primary power generator. With increased demand for green hydrogen, some leading developers in the oil and gas industry are choosing to partner with existing wind farms or building new wind farms to produce hydrogen. One such notable alliance includes a recently announced collaboration between Mitsubishi and Shell to develop offshore wind farms across Europe for the projected production of one million tons of hydrogen annually by 2040.
WIND-POWERED GREEN HYDROGEn
As the energy sector shifts toward a climate-neutral future, finding the best method for storing renewable energy has become a top priority. With its low cost and the ability to store electricity for up to months at a time, hydrogen is one of the leading contenders for the energy-storage market. Hydrogen storage-based electricity can deliver large volumes of carbon-free dense energy without the space and maintenance that traditional energy storage methods require. Offering maximum flexibility, hydrogen can be stored above or below ground in sealed or inflated containers, safely transported in liquid or gas form and used for energy production via fuel cell engines and most gas turbines.
The flexibility of hydrogen storage
Heating accounts for 40% of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions, which makes this utility a prime target for global decarbonization efforts; however, there are substantial challenges associated with decarbonizing this sector, particularly for countries that rely on natural gas as the primary method for heating residential and commercial properties. To reduce emissions, one strategy is to mix green hydrogen with natural gas. In Europe, where natural gas prices are higher, this may be a solution. Using a green hydrogen-natural gas blend may also pose risks to established delivery system infrastructure. In an article published in August 2020, NREL researchers said that “Blending up to 20 percent hydrogen (on a volume basis) is likely to be feasible for natural-gas applications, although not all natural-gas pipeline systems are constructed of materials that can withstand that concentration.” Updating existing pipeline infrastructure would come at a significant cost that may be necessary to achieve optimum decarbonization in this sector.
GREEn Heating
Under the Regional Hydrogen Hub Program, introduced alongside funding for roads, bridges, broadband, and other critical infrastructure initiatives in November 2021’s Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), the DOE will select up to four regional clean hydrogen hubs to demonstrate the production, processing, delivery, storage, and end-use of clean hydrogen. The hubs must demonstrate diversity in feedstock (source of underlying energy), end-use (e.g., electric power generation, industrial uses, residential and commercial heating, and transportation) and regional location. At least two hubs must be located in the regions of the United States with the greatest natural gas resources. The IIJA appropriates $8B for FY22 through FY26 to the newly created Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations to carry out the program.
Hydrogen Infrastructure in the United States
Of the goals outlined in the UNFCCC Paris Agreement, decarbonization of ferrous and non-ferrous metals production is among the most critical. The process traditionally relies on fossil fuels as both a heat source and catalyst for chemical reactions, and its carbon dioxide byproduct contributes to 10% of the world’s total carbon emissions. The steel manufacturing industry has made efforts to address the problem by switching from blast furnaces to electric arc furnaces (EAF), a process that produces direct reduced iron (DRI) in a more timely and efficient way. Despite these benefits, the new method still produces carbon emissions; however, these emissions can be eliminated by using the hydrogen-based DRI-EAFs process, which produces only water byproduct. In April 2022, leading steel manufacturer thyssennkrupp Steel announced its partnership with energy company Steag’s hydrogen project HydrOxy Walsam in Duisburg, North Rhine-Westphalia. The company plans to use green hydrogen in its steelmaking process to achieve its goal of becoming completely carbon neutral by 2045.
GReen steel
Ammonia, a colorless gas, plays a critical role in sustaining the world’s food supply. Traditionally, manufacturers have used the Haber-Bosch method—a chemical process that produces ammonia from nitrogen and hydrogen—to artificially produce greater quantities of ammonia, which is most often used as agricultural fertilizer. Carbon dioxide is an unfortunate byproduct of the process, and ammonia production is responsible for 1.8% of global carbon emissions. Recent worldwide efforts to decarbonize have spurred developers to produce green ammonia from green hydrogen, which is hydrogen produced using a carbon-free process called electrolysis that separates hydrogen from water. In addition to reducing the world’s carbon footprint, green ammonia is also touted for its potential use in hydrogen transportation and renewable energy storage.
GREEN Ammonia
Global research and consultancy group Wood Mackenzie estimates that by 2050 demand from the global refining sector for low-carbon hydrogen could reach 50 million tons per year. To meet this demand and new environmental legislation, oil refineries across the globe are contemplating or in the process of transitioning from fossil fuel-produced hydrogen to carbon-free green hydrogen. To produce gas, diesel and other chemicals from crude oil, refineries use large amounts of hydrogen, which is produced via steam methane reformation (SMF), a process that requires natural gas input and creates high levels of carbon dioxide byproduct. To reduce these emissions, refineries can build on-site electrolyzers—devices that use electricity to separate water and hydrogen and only create water byproduct—to produce green hydrogen. In July 2021, Shell’s Rhineland became the first refinery in Germany to establish an on-site electrolyzer facility. Pending government funding, Shell intends to increase electrolyzer capacity and add a sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) plant.
Refinery hydrogen
In recent years, the use of green hydrogen as a tool to reduce pollution and meet new climate-related regulations has garnered increasing international attention. Europe began building its first hydrogen fuel stations in 2016, and though development slowed in the ensuing years, in 2019—the same year that the European Union adopted the European Green Deal, with its stated goal of becoming carbon-neutral by 2050—these numbers tripled. In 2020, development dipped again due to Brexit. Currently, there are 136 hydrogen fuel station in the European Union, and the production of hydrogen and the development of an EU-wide hydrogen network is among the EU’s top priorities, according to the European Commission’s Hydrogen Strategy for a Climate-Neutral Europe, which was published in July 2020.
hydrogen fuel stations
GREEN FLEETS
As global efforts to reduce carbon emissions progress, an increasingly competitive new market for hydrogen-powered transportation services has emerged. Bolstered by legislative incentives, hydrogen taxi fleet projects are increasing across Europe. The French government announced it planned to target the transportation sector, which accounts for 31% of carbon emissions, by promoting low-carbon hydrogen, and it also passed a law ordering mandatory renewal of transportation fleets that own more than 100 units and includes a quota of low-emission vehicles. French company Hype, formed in 2015, aims to have over 700 hydrogen-powered taxis operating in the Ile-de-France region by 2022, and it also plans to purchase 12 hydrogen fueling stations to service them by 2023. London-based Green Tomato Cars and Copenhagen-based Drivr have established hydrogen taxi fleets, and The Clean Hydrogen Partnership has also launched ZEFER, a project that plans to deploy 180 fuel cell electric vehicles in London, Copenhagen and Paris.