Green hydrogen is frequently referred to as the fuel of the future and is gaining attention as a potential source of clean energy.
Green hydrogen:
what is it?
In industries, power generation, and transportation, hydrogen gas can be used as a fuel. When burned, it does not produce any emissions of carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gases.
Green hydrogen is hydrogen gas that has been produced without emitting any greenhouse gases by utilizing renewable energy sources like wind or solar power.
How is fuel made from hydrogen?
Hydrogen gas reacts with oxygen to produce electricity and water vapour in a fuel cell, a device that converts chemical energy into electricity. Hydrogen has the potential to be a clean alternative to fossil fuels due to its ability to generate energy without producing any emissions that contribute to climate change.
How does hydrogen get made?
The chemical element hydrogen is the most abundant in the universe. Despite its abundance, hydrogen does not naturally exist in sufficient quantities to be usable as a gas. Instead, it is almost entirely found in compounds like water. Therefore, industrial methods must be used to produce hydrogen.
The majority of these entail reforming natural gas, a fossil fuel. Different techniques exist, including an interaction called electrolysis, by which an electric momentum is utilized to part water into its essential parts: oxygen and hydrogen.
What distinguishes blue, grey, and green hydrogen?
Even though hydrogen gas does not give off greenhouse gases when it is burned, the electricity that was used to make it—whether through electrolysis or other processes—may have come from fossil fuels. This, which is referred to as "grey hydrogen," is currently responsible for 95% of all production.
The colour blue refers to hydrogen that is produced with carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies and electricity generated by burning fossil fuels like coal and gas. These technologies trap carbon emissions that are released during the process and prevent them from entering the atmosphere.
Electrolysis powered by renewable electricity generated by technologies like wind turbines or solar panels produces green hydrogen.
Will green hydrogen turn into a significant piece of the energy blend?
The International Energy Agency (IEA) asserts that while hydrogen will be a significant component of the global energy transition, it will only be a relatively minor one.
According to the energy watchdog, hydrogen and hydrogen-based fuels will account for less than 1% of global energy consumption in 2020. In a scenario in which the world reaches carbon neutrality, this is anticipated to rise to 10% by 2050.
Hydrogen can complement, but not replace, other clean energy sources like solar and wind power, which are still less expensive to produce and better suited to large-scale production and factory and home electrification.
However, a robust renewable infrastructure that supplies the electricity required to separate water into its basic components can scale up the production of green hydrogen. Green hydrogen cannot replace renewable power, but solar energy will greatly facilitate the production of green hydrogen.
What are the most likely uses for green hydrogen?
The refining and industrial sectors make up the majority of today's hydrogen production worldwide. The International Energy Agency (IEA) predicts that by the decade's end, hydrogen will be used in a variety of new ways, such as to power grids and fuel the construction and transportation industries.
Today, ammonia for the fertilizer industry and shipping fuel are made with a smaller portion of the total hydrogen produced. Additionally, it can be used in the steel industry.
A significant amount of the sector's emissions could be avoided if green hydrogen were used to replace the coal and coke that currently power the majority of blast furnaces.
Hydrogen could be used in industry, power generation, and transportation in developing nations like India, which is investing in the National Hydrogen Mission to help it achieve its energy transition goals. Greening its production would also reduce the country's current use of naphtha or natural gas as fossil fuels to produce grey hydrogen.
What advantages do green hydrogen technologies have over other renewable energy sources?
The primary purpose of renewable technologies like hydropower, solar power, and wind power is to generate electricity, which is just one component of a society's energy consumption.
Long-distance transportation and heavy industries continue to use coal, natural gas, or petroleum, despite the fact that electricity can easily be replaced with renewable energy, which accounts for a significant portion of all energy consumption. Hydrogen has the potential to replace these primary sources of energy.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) says that batteries can also use hydrogen. If developed on a larger scale, fuel cells could assist nations in establishing infrastructure capable of storing and stabilizing the supply of renewable energy, which fluctuates in response to environmental factors like wind speed or solar radiation.
How much does it cost to make green hydrogen?
Green hydrogen currently costs between $3 and $8 per kilogram, according to the IEA's Global Hydrogen Review 2021. Grey hydrogen, whose production costs between USD 0.5 and USD 1.7 per kilogram, is more competitive.
The agency asserts that this price disparity is currently a major obstacle to a wider adoption of green hydrogen, but that falling prices for renewable energy will, it anticipates, eventually close this gap.
Several nations are aiming for a cost of one United States dollar per kilogram by the year 2030. This would make it nearly cost-competitive with fossil fuels. As the industry expands, the fuel will become more cost-effective, but policies are needed to make this possible.
How far along is the development of green hydrogen in Pakistan, India, and the rest of South Asia?
Pakistan currently has plans to construct green hydrogen capacity with an output of 150 tonnes per day. Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are also piloting green hydrogen projects. However, India is anticipated to be South Asia's primary producer of green hydrogen.
The National Hydrogen Mission was launched by India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi in August 2021. By 2030, this established a goal of producing around 1 million tons of green hydrogen per year. The government is expected to implement a production-linked incentive program for electrolyser manufacturing and provide financial support for research and development under the plan.
The intermediate goal is to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases by 1 billion tonnes of CO2 from their current level by 2030. Hydrogen is an important enabler of India's green path if this is to occur.
