Hydrogen Production from Renewable Sources – Green H2

Production and Distribution of Electricity and Heat

Hydrogen (H2) is a gas with the highest energy content per unit of mass of any fuel on the planet while, at room conditions, it has a low energy content per unit of volume. Hydrogen is widely used in a number of industrial processes (particularly, chemical and refinery industries) and can also be used as a high-quality fuel for both automotive and stationary applications, as well as an energy carrier and an energy storage medium. Hydrogen can be produced starting from various primary energy sources and energy carriers and through different chemical or electro-chemical processes. Hydrogen production routes are identified with different colours to keep track of the input and production process from which hydrogen derives. “Black”, “grey” or “brown” refer to the production of hydrogen from coal, natural gas and lignite respectively. “Blue” is commonly used for the production of hydrogen from fossil fuels with CO2 emissions reduced by the use of CCUS. Following the EU Hydrogen Strategy definition: “Green hydrogen is produced through the electrolysis of water (in an electrolyser, powered by electricity), and with the electricity stemming from renewable sources”. Other renewables-based paths to produce hydrogen currently exists, including thermal, thermo-chemical, photo, photo-chemical and biological routes. However, none of them has yet reached the commercial maturity and will not be solutions available on the near/medium term for the green hydrogen generation. Several types of electrolysis technologies exist: Alkaline and polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) electrolysers are already commercial, whereas Solid Oxide Electrolysers (SOE) are at the precommercial stage and anion exchange membranes (AEMs) are at early stages of development. In 2019, the global hydrogen production (70 Mtons/year direct production and 45 Mtons/year as by-product) came almost entirely from fossil fuel sources, with less than 0.7% from renewables or from fossil fuel plants equipped with CCUS [1]. The main appeal of green hydrogen in the short-term is its ability to decarbonize the current global hydrogen market. A potential reduction of 830 million tonnes of CO2 from global annual emissions have been estimated by completely greening the hydrogen production sector [1]. On the short and medium term, green hydrogen can be used to decarbonise the transport sector, to integrate high shares of variable renewable energy (VRE) sources into the energy system, and to decarbonise the industry and buildings sectors. Given the wide range of potential applications, the potential market size for green hydrogen is extremely huge. Assessing the use cases, McKinsey & Company in a report for the Hydrogen Council (2018) determined that the future hydrogen market could amount to up to $2.5 trillion a year by 2050

22-07-2022

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