Using Hydrogen

When you look for references to "hydrogen" on the Internet, the pages that come up often link it with the word "potential". This is to do with hydrogen as an alternative fuel, now we realise that fossil fuels are doing the planet no good. A public Webinar hosted last month (Dec. 8th) by the School of Public Policy (their Economics Department) at the University of Calgary, was entitled Canada's Hydrogen Potential  — a "hot topic", they said, and obviously so, for 800 people had registered to join this meeting.

It's a big opportunity for Canada, according to the Hon. Seamus O'Regan from Newfoundland, Canada's Minister of Natural Resources, who has also been a journalist. He spoke first, saying that the subject is of "massive importance"; the start of the panel discussion was in fact delayed because he'd been in a meeting "with Washington ... Getting our relationship with the USA right is of crucial importance." 

Is the Canadian government scrambling to keep up, I wonder, now that they realise that the newly elected Democrat administration south of the border is determined to seek solutions to the problem of climate change? 

Oil still counts as Canada's No. 1 export, and where the Minister comes from, oil workers are still flying out to the rigs off the coast every day, but a global price war is being waged over oil, and the advent of Covid makes this a double whammy. We need to follow the money, he said, and (as if it were an afterthought!) take action on Climate Change. Alberta is already taking strides in this new direction. The day after his appointment as Minister, O'Regan had flown to Alberta to talk about reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2050. He repeated, markets are following the money.

Hydrogen production will lower emissions and improve the quality of fuel. What's more, it creates thousands of jobs. Canada is about to become one of the top suppliers of hydrogen fuel, he announced. He kept quiet about the details of exactly how this was going to happen, perhaps wisely, but gave as examples of demand for hydrogen a Danish university using hydrogen-powered busses on its campus (!) and 18-wheel trucks. Another journalistic statement: supply, distribution and demand must grow together. Newfoundland, he said, has a convenient proximity to the European markets. Of the world's leading carbon-capture projects today, four are in Alberta. Canada's northern regions will reduce their dependence on diesel fuels. We are reducing 119 Megatons of CO₂ emissions per year.

The Minister then spoke of the relative merits of grey, blue and green hydrogen (see below), adding, "We're going to concentrate on the blue!" However, Quebec is going for green. Quebec being the second hydro power producer in the world after China, it can afford to take this more ambitious step.

The other two panelists then had their say. Sarah Hastings-Simon, introduced as an influential writer about energy and climate change, confirmed that progress will be driven by economics. Yes, hydrogen has much potential, but it requires a good transmission grid — where's that? — and what about the transportation constraints. She feels that the excitement about this subject is over-hyped. What will the market actually look like? This is glossed over. 

From the UK, Michael Liebreich of Bloomberg New Energy Finance reminded the audience that this is the world's "third go" at developing hydrogen as a fuel. It was attempted in the 1980s and again in the 1990s. Hydrogen fuel does offer a survival route for "the threatened players" — the fossil fuel and automotive industries. It's also of interest to the aviation, shipping, cement, steel industries, etc. etc. But he cautioned that money and time could be wasted; there had been high hopes for hydrogen in the past, too. We cannot afford to spend a decade building the wrong things, and yet €460-billion is being invested in hydrogen fuel technology in Europe; fuel cells are now 60% efficient. Heat pumps are likely to be more efficient as a source of energy, and industrial heating can be achieved by means of electricity. 

Regarding the colour codes, explained Ms Hastings-Simon, hydrogen is in fact colourless. What we mean by "grey" hydrogen is that this is captured directly from natural gas (so you still need the gas). "Blue" hydrogen capture depends upon upstream, "fugitive" methane emissions; the fact that this too is a powerful global-warming gas counteracts its benefits. "Green" hydrogen refers to the least harmful method of production, using electrolysis (i.e. depending upon electricity). The technology may fail; in any case there will always be residual emissions. The production of hydrogen will require the skills of fossil fuel workers, which is a good thing, but the bottom line is, what will it cost to capture and store it? At present, the cost works out at $5 per kg for "green" hydrogen, $2 / kg for the "blue kind"; the goal is to bring that down to $1 per kg. By 2040, the green option could well be the cheaper solution. 

Wind and solar energy are also making huge strides forward. Chile and Nevada, said Michael Liebreich, are becoming "renewable energy superpowers."