Hydrogen - ramping up
Much of the commentary on carbon emissions, and efforts to reduce them, has focussed on the generation of green energy utilising both wind, solar and - to a lesser extent - hydroelectric power. Nuclear is now deemed a clean energy source rather than an expensive potential accident.
There are many difficulties in delivering green power to the regions that need it. In the United Kingdom, a fortune will be spent on building a transmission network that can deliver Scottish wind to South East England. We reported recently that China is now seeing some 6% of solar and wind generation ‘curtailed’ (i.e. lost) since the grid cannot cope with the growing output.
An impending issue is the problem of disposing of batteries in an environmentally effective manner. The shelf life of electric car batteries is unlikely to exceed a decade. Recycling parts of the battery may help but a battery mountain looms. This does not even consider the environmental damage caused by mining the minerals that go into the battery in the first place.
Hydrogen avoids much of these problems. It is portable and only produces water as a byproduct. So, it is encouraging to see progress in the production of green hydrogen (electrolysis) and blue hydrogen (thermochemical). The former uses green power in the manufacturing process, the latter uses gas to generate the hydrogen, so needs to involve carbon capture technologies to meet ‘green’ status.
Commitments to clean hydrogen production capacity increased by 53% in 2024 to 3.33 million metric tons per annum. Chinese developers installed the largest share of clean hydrogen production capacity (65%) with the US second, while smaller units were also installed in Germany, Hungary, and South Korea. All going in the right direction.
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