2023-09-03 17:18:47
Scientists from the Australian agency CSIRO (a kind of TNO) have devised a technology that can produce hydrogen with 30 percent more efficiency. They use residual heat from the industry and apply materials in the electrolyser (a machine in which hydrogen is split from oxygen) in a smart way.
Green hydrogen plays a key role in the transition to a climate-neutral energy system, but is currently a much more expensive energy source than oil or natural gas. Hydrogen is especially important for making industry, the chemical sector and heavy transport more sustainable; they cannot be powered with (green) electricity.
Hydrogen will also be needed to generate electricity at times when wind turbines and solar panels supply too little energy. Conventional power plants then step in, but in the future they will not run on natural gas, but on hydrogen.
No expensive pipelines
It’s not that far yet. Hydrogen cannot be extracted from a mine or a field. It is not an energy source but an energy carrier. Hydrogen must be produced. Hydrogen has been extracted from natural gas in industry and chemistry for decades. Here comes CO2 at free and that is why it is referred to as ‘grey’ hydrogen. Sustainable or ‘green’ hydrogen is produced with electricity from wind farms and solar fields.
The technology developed by CSIRO uses industrial waste heat. As a result, 30 percent less electricity is required for hydrogen production, which means that the production costs for green hydrogen are considerably lower. CSIRO will build a pilot plant at a steel mill in the province of New South Wales. If steel mills produce hydrogen locally, they can reduce fossil fuel use. Moreover, no expensive pipelines are needed to transport hydrogen from elsewhere.
Innovations like those in Australia are important. Energy-efficient methods make production cheaper. “You see innovations emerging worldwide in the field of hydrogen technology,” says Noé van Hulst, energy expert and hydrogen advisor for the International Energy Agency (IEA).
Tata Steel, Shell and BP are waiting
The IEA recently found that despite all the innovations, the pace at which electrolysers are being built is decreasing worldwide. In 2022, 130 megawatts of hydrogen plants will be built. That sounds like a lot, but it isn’t. Vattenfall’s Hollandse Kust Zuid wind farm alone has a capacity of 1500 megawatts. Approximately 45 percent fewer electrolysers will be built in 2022 than in 2021, while experts had predicted sustained and rapid growth.
How is that possible? According to energy expert Van Hulst, there is ‘some hesitation’ among companies to invest in hydrogen factories, because there is still a lot of uncertainty surrounding hydrogen. How quickly do supply and demand get off the ground? What subsidy programs are there? When will the pipelines be ready to transport hydrogen? What will the laws and regulations look like?
A company like Tata Steel will not change its production process from coal to hydrogen as long as it is not sure whether it can obtain green hydrogen. Companies such as Shell and BP will not build large hydrogen plants as long as they are not sure that the industry will actually purchase this sustainable fuel. “It takes longer than expected to remove those uncertainties,” concludes Van Hulst.
Yet many experts are convinced that the world is on the verge of an acceleration. “Compare it with wind and solar energy fifteen years ago,” says Van Hulst. “At the time, many people also said that it was too expensive and would always remain small. Yet we have seen an enormous expansion and cost reduction of renewable energy sources.”
Electrolysis will also have to be produced on an ‘industrial scale’ over the next ten years. The capacity of factories will then no longer be expressed in megawatts but in gigawatts. “Once we reach that phase, costs will fall sharply,” predicts Van Hulst. But for this, innovations such as those in Australia must also be stimulated. “Developments like this never follow a straight line. It will be a bumpy ride and we need to get through it with consistent policies. That is essential to become climate neutral.”
Read also:
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This week, almost the entire world will gather in Rotterdam to discuss the opportunities of green hydrogen. Whether they can be redeemed remains to be seen.
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