The clean hydrogen future has already begun
by Admin
Posted on 13-05-2024 01:30 PM
In addition to $26bn in direct financing for so-called hydrogen hubs and demo projects, another $100bn or so in uncapped tax credits could be paid out over the next few decades, so lots and lots of taxpayers’ money. Fossil fuel companies are also using hydrogen to justify building more pipelines, claiming that this infrastructure can be used for “clean hydrogen” in the future.
But hydrogen is a highly flammable and corrosive element, and it would be costly to repurpose oil and gas infrastructure to make it safe for hydrogen. And while hydrogen is not a greenhouse gas, it is not harmless.
In key sectors, the timely deployment of infrastructure across the whole supply chain is projected to be needed to meet clean hydrogen demand. Several key enablers—mostly physical infrastructure—would have to be rolled out by 2050 to facilitate the future hydrogen economy. In the achieved commitments scenario, over 163,000 refueling stations for trucks would be needed globally, alongside a network of more than 40,000 kilometers of hydrogen pipelines in europe alone. Technological advancements may also be needed to ensure the uptake of hydrogen in sectors where hydrogen technology is not yet mature, such as the further development of fuel cells for heavy-duty vehicles and marine vessels.
Why is it important?
A december 2023 report by the national energy technology laboratory (netl 2023) discusses pathways toward $1/kg hydrogen using steam methane reforming (smr) and advanced methane reforming (amr) technologies. [ 27 ] the report begins with an assumed 2023 baseline levelized cost for the two technologies,[ 28 ] including carbon capture, storage, and transport of $1. 69/kg of hydrogen for smr and $1. 64/kg for amr. Importantly, these costs do not appear to be based on existing facilities because, in the u. S. , there is only one operating smr plant with carbon capture.
That plant is operated by air products and chemicals, inc.
Today, utility florida power & light will begin operations at its cavendish nextgen hydrogen hub, one of the country’s first green hydrogen facilities. The 25-megawatt project will use solar power to split water into oxygen and hydrogen atoms, and then blend that hydrogen into fossil gas used to power a turbine generating electricity. It’s one of the first attempts by a u. S. Utility to curb emissions using green hydrogen, a fuel that is in short supply today but which experts expect will play an important role in decarbonizing heavy industries. Many u. S. Utilities are staking similar hopes on green hydrogen as a path to help the power sector reach a low- or zero-carbon future.
There’s a way to produce hydrogen that worsens climate change, and there’s a way to do it cleanly. It all depends on how the hydrogen is produced, and currently, almost all of it is made in a way that increases carbon emissions. The way energy wonks talk about hydrogen is by color — which is funny since hydrogen gas itself is colorless. Right now, nearly all of the existing hydrogen produced in the us today isn’t clean at all. Ninety-five percent of it is “gray hydrogen,” produced using a method called steam methane reforming. This process uses steam to heat methane derived from natural gas until it separates into a mixture of carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and hydrogen gas molecules.