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| Thu, 5th Mar 2020 11:56:00 |
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The Promise of Hydrogen |
Advances in technology, commercialisation driving down cost and strengthened political will to address climate change have brought renewed focus to the potential of hydrogen to contribute to de-carbonising the energy system, particularly in complex sectors like heat and transport.
Firstly, hydrogen is plentiful, being the most basic and common element on earth.Secondly, it is also one of the most potent fuels we use today, having the highest energy per mass of any fuel4. Finally, it has significant environmental advantages over fossil fuels in its end-use application because the by-products of hydrogen use are heat and water.
Hydrogen is predominantly (76% of production) produced by a process called steam reforming which involves separating hydrogen atoms from carbon atoms in natural gas, while approximately 23% is produced from coal. This process is currently the most cost-effective production method and the hydrogen produced is referred to as “black H2”.
Alternatively, hydrogen can be produced from water using electrolysis employing renewable energy sources such as electricity from wind and solar. Hydrogen produced through this method is referred to as “green H2”. This method generates zero carbon emissions and accordingly, avoids the embedded emissions of black H2. Less than 0.1% of global dedicated hydrogen production comes from water electrolysis9.
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