Why we can’t ignore green hydrogen in the clean energy mix

March 17, 2023

Historically a dark horse, green hydrogen energy has received renewed attention among global policy-makers and energy experts as a potential driver of net zero emissions. This is in large part because of significant advances in enabling technologies along with government subsidies and industrial policies supporting its research and development (e.g. more than €5 billion approved by the European 2Commission and $9.5 billion in the US Inflation Reduction Act).

Emissions-free green hydrogen uses clean electricity from renewable energy sources, including solar, wind, geothermal and hydropower, to separate hydrogen from water in a process known as electrolysis. According to The Economist, the element is not a primary source of energy like fossil fuels, but an energy carrier like electricity. The article also notes that: “There is no natural source of hydrogen, and most of it is bound up in molecules like fossil fuels, biomass, and water.”

Thermodynamics dictates that making hydrogen from one of these molecular structures requires more energy input than the final output of hydrogen power. Hence, the processes used are currently limited to chemically altering hydrogen by drawing in other elements on the periodic table to produce steel and cement, fuel for rocket engines, explosives, and to refine ammonia for fertilizers. It is cost-effective for these specific manufacturing and industrial processes requiring higher temperatures than conventional electrical power sources. In short, clean hydrogen will require extraordinary breakthroughs in innovative technologies if it is to achieve its stated goal of generating emissions-free electricity to the masses.

Read more here.

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