24 COLUMN
@ green | May-June , 2021
Is hydrogen the planet ’ s saviour ?
Unfortunately , it is not yet in mainstream production due to cost and availability of the required clean ( emission-free ) renewable energy
GLOBALLY , the current to improve motorised road vehicles ' mantra is for all nations to energy efficiency performance . aim for nett-zero carbon The success of HEVs helped promote dioxide ( CO2 ) and other the development of battery electric greenhouse gases ( GHG ) vehicles ( BEV ,) being fully electric emissions by the middle of driven and plug-in hybrid electric this century . vehicles ( PHEV ). PHEVs were intended
These aspirations aim to to use the “ cheaper ” grid-supplied limit the global temperature electricity to keep the batteries fully rise to below 2oC , and preferably to only charged rather than depend on the
1.5oC to ensure a liveable planet for human more costly liquid fuel in HEVs . beings and all forms of life on this planet . LAL ‘ S Sadly , BEVs have in some cases been
A significant milestone on this climate touted , mistakenly , as “ zero-emission challenge journey has been to reduce the CHAT vehicles ” when in fact they are simply global GHG emissions by about 50 per cent
“ elsewhere emission ” vehicles . This is from the 2005 levels by 2030 to achieve the BY G . LALCHAND because the electricity used to charge target . However , this target seems somewhat insurmountable as many countries fuelled electricity generation , except
their batteries is mostly from fossil-
did not immediately embark on the measures as some countries generate all their electricity from rapidly as necessary to meet the very ambitious renewable sources . target .
A caveat against HFCVs is that the bulk of the The chart below from an IRENA 2020 Report hydrogen available for such vehicles is produced
“ Reaching Zero with Renewables ,” shows the limits from fossil fuel ( natural gas ) or by using fossilfuelled energy generation . So , it cannot be called of “ emission targets ” needed to constrain the global temperature rise to 1.5oC under different emission emission-free fuel . Extracts below validate this reduction policy scenarios . These figures present statement . rather tough challenges for the international community to meet , mainly to satisfy the mid-term target were developed parallel with HEVs / BEVs as an
Hydrogen fuel cell-powered vehicles ( HFCV )
of 50 per cent emission reduction from the 2005 alternative and competing technologies for road levels by 2030 . transport . HFCVs had an advantage over BEVs in
A common refrain over the recent decades has their more excellent driving range on a “ full tank ” of hydrogen versus that of a fully-charged battery system ’ s range . The initial BEVs had a relatively limited range due to their battery capacity limits ( within their battery weight considerations ).
unfortunately , not yet in mainstream production due to the cost and availability of the required clean ( emission-free ) renewable energy to make it economically viable .
This situation is likely to go on for a long time . Maybe even decades , until the growth of RE generated electricity reaches the level of being “ surplus to immediate needs ” when it is generated . This applies particularly to intermittent ( self-despatching ) wind power and solar power photovoltaic ( PV ) generation , which can be used to produce green hydrogen .
A few countries like Denmark , Germany and Iceland had experienced days when their demand was met entirely with RE generated electricity . But that has occurred only in isolated instances , like weekends and holidays .
The surplus green energy from those instances would not be a good or viable source to produce green hydrogen . The box below details some indication of the different forms of hydrogen , “ grey , brown , blue ”, besides the green hydrogen produced for current use .
So , what are the prospects for green hydrogen to be a significant component for future energy mix scenarios , especially over the next decade ?
The chart below shows possible scenarios from the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Group . Since CCUS ( carbon capture , use and sequestration ) is still far from being a viable option . Under some limited conditions ( such as enhanced oil recovery from depleted oil fields ), the " Outlook 2 : Long term " option appears to be the more likely to materialise .
been to replace fossil-fuelled ( particularly coalfired ) electricity generation with clean , renewable energy ( RE ) fuelled generation . This transition has been ongoing for at least a couple of decades in many countries with varying degrees of success .
The subsequent most critical fossil fuel use is for the transport sector covering all forms of transport , from a land-based motorised vehicle , shipping and other forms of marine transportation and even air transport .
However , rail transport is an exception . It has become more and more electrified over the years , even for intra-city applications . This is not surprising as electric traction is far more efficient than liquid-fuelled internal combustion engine ( ICE ) drive trains .
Motorised road transport has traditionally , and even now , predominantly been based on liquid fossil fuels in most parts of the world . Environmental degradation concerns have led to more significant efforts to develop “ cleaner ” alternatives . Accelerating electrification has been a “ game-changer ” ( albeit a slow-paced one ) for road transport to transition to lower emission energy sources .
Development of battery electric vehicles
The Toyota Prius hybrid electric vehicle ( HEV ), introduced in 1997 in Japan , triggered this transition
Moreover , refilling hydrogen tanks takes much less time than recharging BEV batteries . Although BEVs have overcome this driving range disadvantage , the recharging time ( now much reduced with fast-charging options is still a hurdle .
All the same , both technologies currently face a common disadvantage against liquid-fuelled ICE-powered vehicles . And , that is the somewhat limited refilling / recharging outlets for users of these vehicles .
Though costly to produce , hydrogen is a versatile and helpful commodity and has many uses in industrial processes where it may be a significant component or a small but critical component .
Some of the higher capacity uses are the production of hydrochloric acid , production of methanol , hydrogenation of fats and oils and reduction of metallic ores . And in liquid form for cryogenics and study of superconductivity , etc . Under these uses , the cost of hydrogen may not be a hurdle . It may constitute a relatively small portion of the total product cost . However , its use for electricity generation and the transport sector is severely constrained by its production cost , except when it is extracted from natural gas .
Situation likely to go on for a long time Hence the search for “ Green Hydrogen ”. It is ,
Who will benefit most from the production of green hydrogen for its multiple applications ? Countries with substantial potential for generating massive amounts of carbon-free electricity , such as wind and solar power ( both PV and CSP , or concentrated solar power ), can capitalise on early investments in these technologies .
MENA ( the Middle East and North African ) countries , with their vast , unutilised deserts , with virtually uninterrupted and long sunshine hours , have a massive advantage over most countries in the tropical belt .
The copy of the report on “ Saudi Arabia ’ s bold plan to rule the hydrogen market ”, therefore , does exciting reading .
This report brings to mind the Desertec Industrial Initiative ( DII ) initiated in 2009 . It was to generate renewable energy powered electricity in the North African States and the Sahara region and transmit it to Europe .
This massive , ambitious proposition did not materialise as it was initially envisaged . Still , it did encourage the North African countries to develop these resources for their own domestic use .
The Middle East oil-producing countries have the advantage of using their Petro-Dollars to invest in renewable energy generation projects to exploit their climatic advantage .
They can cash in on the valuable future production of green hydrogen . It will be critical in the global efforts to decarbonise energy use from fossil fuels in the “ Race to Nett Zero Emissions ”. — @ green