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The coming green-hydrogen revolution
A green revolution of low-cost energy for all keeps our future secure from global heating—and dictators.
https://socialeurope.eu/the-coming-green-hydrogen-revolution
Human-induced climate change is causing dangerous and widespread environmental disruption and affecting the lives of billions of people around the world. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the world faces unavoidable climate hazards over the next two decades. But, with average annual global greenhouse-gas emissions reaching their highest levels in human history between 2010 and 2019, we are simply not doing enough to limit global heating to 1.5C. The IPCC report released in April recommended that the world rapidly reduce fossil-fuel supply and demand between now and 2050: by 95 per cent in the case of coal, 60 per cent for oil and 45 per cent for natural gas. But how can we possibly achieve such ambitious targets?
Practical solution
The answer is by switching to green hydrogen, which can be produced from all forms of renewable energy, including solar, wind, hydro and geothermal. Green hydrogen is a zero-emissions fuel: when produced through electrolysis, the only ‘emission’ is water. It is a practical and implementable solution which, by democratising energy, decarbonising heavy industry and creating jobs globally, would help revolutionise the way we power our planet.
A rapid acceleration of the green-energy transition can also fundamentally alter the geopolitical landscape, since countries will no longer be powerful simply because of the fossil fuels they produce. In 2021, Russia provided 34 per cent of Germany’s crude oil and 53 per cent of the hard coal used by German power generators and steelmakers. Russian-piped natural gas was Germany’s largest source of gas imports in December 2021, accounting for 32 per cent of supply. Since the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, launched his horrific, unjust war in Ukraine in February, fossil-fuel exports to Europe have been earning Russia roughly €1 billion a day.
But since the start of the invasion in February, European Union countries in particular have moved quickly to reduce their energy dependence on Russia, recently agreeing to ban all seaborne imports of Russian oil. These new sanctions against Putin’s war machine could cut the amount of oil the EU buys from Russia by 90 per cent this year. The United States has declared a ban on Russian oil, gas and coal imports, while the United Kingdom is phasing out imports of Russian oil by the end of 2022. These policies have sent fuel prices soaring. But sharply higher prices have also highlighted the opportunity to drive down energy costs, via investing in renewables and production of green hydrogen.
Competitive in a decade......
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12 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
A slight change to the internal combustion engine would make the transition much easier. Also anything to stop the money flow to fund russias war effort is a plus.
Now we have to figure out how to stop the methane emissions from cow farts...
m
towards renewables and their various outputs, including green hydrogen. I am happy to say that the Biden administration disagrees with your green hydrogen stance as well.
Btw, it is risible to claim that Social Europe is pushing
More bullshit from the fossil fuel industry
Is Green Hydrogen Energy Viable and Clean?
https://earth.org/green-hydrogen-energy/
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Green Hydrogen Energy Outlook
The issue is that similar to carbon capture and sequestration, green hydrogen is not yet at a place where it is commercially viable. Emanuele Taibi, Head of Power Sector Transformation Strategies at the International Renewable Energy Agency, noted that “renewable energy technologies [have] reached a level of maturity… today that allows competitive renewable electricity generation all around the world, [which is] a prerequisite for competitive green hydrogen energy production. Electrolyzers, though, are still deployed at [a] very small scale, needing a scale-up of three orders of magnitude in the next three decades to reduce their cost threefold.”
Costs for wind and solar power have dropped precipitously over the past several years. Similarly, the cost to produce green hydrogen is expected to lower over time. Today, green hydrogen energy produced through electrolysis using renewable power costs approximately USD$10-15 per kg, depending on availability. The cost of alkaline electrolyzers manufactured in North America and Europe fell 40% between 2014 and 2019. Due to the falling costs of electrolyzers, BloombergNEF’s calculations suggest that renewable hydrogen could be produced for $0.7 to $1.6/kg in most parts of the world before 2050.
The public sector is certainly on the right path to catalyzing the growth of green hydrogen energy. On June 7 2022, President Biden pledged to support hydrogen projects via an USD $8 billion dollar investment. The Biden administration’s support for the energy source is indicative of hydrogen’s growing momentum as a clean energy source. The Department of Energy is providing 6-7 billion dollars of funding for 61-10 hydrogen hubs across the country. But it’s not only in the US where green hydrogen is finding public support. As part of its trillion-dollar Green Deal package, Europe is aiming for 50% of all hydrogen production to derive from renewable energy. Currently, a massive 96% of the continent’s hydrogen production comes from fossil fuels.
Green hydrogen needs continued support from governments if it is going to become a viable alternative to fossil fuels. In 2018, 99% of hydrogen was made with fossil fuels. One of the reasons for this is that hydrogen is harder to store than natural gas. Therefore, up to four times more storage infrastructure needs to be built for $637 billion by 2050 to provide the same amount of energy as provided by fossil fuels. If the energy sectors can make hydrogen production more economical, clean hydrogen could meet up to 50% of the world’s energy needs by 2050. The future is looking promising for hydrogen as a viable energy source and, most importantly, one that can help transition our global economy off of fossil fuels.
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https://earth.org/green-hydrogen-energy/
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Green Hydrogen Energy Outlook
The issue is that similar to carbon capture and sequestration, green hydrogen is not yet at a place where it is commercially viable. Emanuele Taibi, Head of Power Sector Transformation Strategies at the International Renewable Energy Agency, noted that “renewable energy technologies [have] reached a level of maturity… today that allows competitive renewable electricity generation all around the world, [which is] a prerequisite for competitive green hydrogen energy production. Electrolyzers, though, are still deployed at [a] very small scale, needing a scale-up of three orders of magnitude in the next three decades to reduce their cost threefold.”
Costs for wind and solar power have dropped precipitously over the past several years. Similarly, the cost to produce green hydrogen is expected to lower over time. Today, green hydrogen energy produced through electrolysis using renewable power costs approximately USD$10-15 per kg, depending on availability. The cost of alkaline electrolyzers manufactured in North America and Europe fell 40% between 2014 and 2019. Due to the falling costs of electrolyzers, BloombergNEF’s calculations suggest that renewable hydrogen could be produced for $0.7 to $1.6/kg in most parts of the world before 2050.
The public sector is certainly on the right path to catalyzing the growth of green hydrogen energy. On June 7 2022, President Biden pledged to support hydrogen projects via an USD $8 billion dollar investment. The Biden administration’s support for the energy source is indicative of hydrogen’s growing momentum as a clean energy source. The Department of Energy is providing 6-7 billion dollars of funding for 61-10 hydrogen hubs across the country. But it’s not only in the US where green hydrogen is finding public support. As part of its trillion-dollar Green Deal package, Europe is aiming for 50% of all hydrogen production to derive from renewable energy. Currently, a massive 96% of the continent’s hydrogen production comes from fossil fuels.
Green hydrogen needs continued support from governments if it is going to become a viable alternative to fossil fuels. In 2018, 99% of hydrogen was made with fossil fuels. One of the reasons for this is that hydrogen is harder to store than natural gas. Therefore, up to four times more storage infrastructure needs to be built for $637 billion by 2050 to provide the same amount of energy as provided by fossil fuels. If the energy sectors can make hydrogen production more economical, clean hydrogen could meet up to 50% of the world’s energy needs by 2050. The future is looking promising for hydrogen as a viable energy source and, most importantly, one that can help transition our global economy off of fossil fuels.
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