Hydrogen the groningen way. Nr 3

💦⚡️💚 Green hydrogen is ‘booming’. As the missing link in the energy transition and in the transition to sustainable industry. But how do we make hydrogen ‘big’ and make sure that everyone benefits? Read my voyage of discovery here👇 💚🌍

 ☀️💨⚡️From Hydrogen Valley to Hydrogen World  🌍

A transition is more than just a simple change. A transition is a structural process of moving from an old situation to a new situation. It almost always produces new problems of its own, and the old solutions no longer work. New problems require new solutions. 

New solution

The same applies to the energy transition. In Groningen we have an advantage compared to other regions in the Netherlands or abroad. We’re already coming up against problems that will soon be commonplace. We have plenty of sustainable energy and at times when the sun shines and the wind blows, it is more than our electricity grid can deal with. We also have an industrial cluster that wants to become greener and that is looking for alternative raw materials that can replace oil and gas. So, new problems that require new solutions. 

Everywhere

Green hydrogen is one of those new solutions. In my previous blogs I explained why. We use industrial products all around the world. As yet, there are no renewable sources for large-scale energy production other than solar panels and wind turbines. It means that Groningen is not the only place where hydrogen is the solution for peaks in energy production or as a raw material for industry. That solution is needed everywhere ... throughout the Netherlands, Europe, the world. 

From signature to implementation

Over the past few years, the countries that signed the Paris Agreement needed to convert those signatures into deeds. Negotiations and signatures are one thing, but the next step - translating this into implementation plans - is much more complicated. In December 2019, the Netherlands achieved that move to an implementation plan with the National Climate Agreement.  Other countries also prepared plans to limit CO2. Although the approach and the processes differ from country to country, the plans are actually quite similar. Everywhere, the focus is overwhelmingly on energy savings, making transport more sustainable, sustainable agriculture, building solar parks and wind turbines and making industry greener. 

Ecosystems

Initially, individual solutions were the starting point for all those sectors. However, in Groningen and the northern Netherlands we quickly realised that there is one solution for nearly all those sectors: green hydrogen. The production of green hydrogen does not produce any CO2 emissions and consequently it contributes to implementing the Paris Agreement. So, we are working on a hydrogen plan with the provincial executives of Drenthe and Fryslân and with many businesses and partners in all those sectors.  This hydrogen plan turns the northern Netherlands into a ‘Hydrogen Valley’ because it is about a total ecosystem of solutions with hydrogen. An ecosystem, where small and large companies work together to ensure that solar energy is used to produce hydrogen that in turn fuels lorries. An ecosystem, where the hydrogen that is produced from sun and wind is stored underground and used when the sun doesn't shine or when it’s windless. An ecosystem where a hydrogen barge is built and where wind energy is used to produce e-kerosene for aircraft. 

Upscaling and expanding

It all sounds wonderful and more to the point, it is: the northern Netherlands as Hydrogen Valley. We received a subsidy for that from the European Commission, but this is just the start. These integrated solutions can be applied anywhere and they are needed everywhere. As a consequence, green hydrogen is needed everywhere. Making and using green hydrogen everywhere, makes it cheaper too. In essence, we need to scale up and expand the ecosystem of the Hydrogen Valley. We need to move from Hydrogen Valley to Hydrogen World.

HY3 and NortH2

Fortunately, this expansion of the ecosystem has started already. With the HY3 cooperation project for example, where Germany and the Netherlands are studying the feasibility of a joint focus on green hydrogen in the entire chain from production to use by industry. Or the NortH2 project, that provides for the construction of enormous wind parks in the North Sea and a large ‘electrolyser’ in Eemshaven, where this wind energy is converted into green hydrogen. This hydrogen is then transported to industry and consumers in the Netherlands and northwest Europe through a transport network of existing gas pipes. 

Global hydrogen systems

These are major steps in European sustainability and the green hydrogen economy. However, a global low-CO2 economy with a truly new energy system would go much further. To become completely CO2-low in a relatively short time, we need an exchange of energy between continents. According to Professor Ad van Wijk of the TU Delft, it is important to consider other countries for the production of sustainable energy and hydrogen alongside producing hydrogen in Europe itself. For example, North Africa and Ukraine have better conditions for generating solar energy and wind energy. The “Green Hydrogen Initiative” already produced a report about large-scale hydrogen production in North Africa and Ukraine for use in Europe. Global hydrogen systems were also on the agenda of the World Hydrogen Fuels Summit, which was held in Amsterdam in March 2020. It always concerns large wind parks and solar parks in parts of the world where it is cheaper to generate sustainable energy due to the wind currents and hours of sunshine. This is mainly in developing countries. 

Honest and ecologically responsible

That’s when I started wondering: if there is large-scale production of sustainable energy and hydrogen all around the world, would this not be the perfect moment to reach agreements on how we do this in an honest and ecologically responsible manner? To combine new global solutions for climate change with new ecological and socially responsible benchmarks? Now green hydrogen is ‘booming’, this is the time to attach conditions to the production of this energy carrier consistent with the Sustainable Development Goals. 

Which agreements are needed and who is needed to achieve them? Stay with my voyage of discovery and read my next blog.