Hydrogen the Groningen way. Nr 2

💦⚡️💚 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👇 💚🌍

Blog 2:  🤷‍♀️ Why hydrogen?

Your laptop runs on electricity, you cook on gas or electricity, and your car runs on petrol, diesel or electricity. Energy is available anywhere and anytime, and that's completely normal as far as we’re concerned. More to the point, despite the various attempts to save energy, the world as a whole consumes more energy year on year. This energy ranges from sustainably generated electricity to polluting energy sources. 

New energy system required

In 2015, we agreed in Paris to limit the global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees. This means that we need to achieve enormous savings on CO2 emissions all around the world.  In the Netherlands, we translated that to a 49% reduction in CO2 by 2030. Another 54 countries have comparable objectives or are working on them. In all those countries that leads to two drastic changes. First of all, fossil energy sources, such as coal, oil and gas, need to be replaced by other ways of producing warmth and electricity. Secondly, alternatives need to be found for industries that use coal and natural gas as raw materials. Simply moving from fossil fuels to sustainably generated electricity is only part of the solution for the climate issue. It is a complicated jigsaw that requires more than just large quantities of solar panels and wind turbines. A transition to sustainable sources requires a completely new energy system.

You can store natural gas

For the last 60 years, we've always had natural gas in Groningen. This natural gas is pumped up throughout the year. In the summer that is more than enough for consumption in the Netherlands, but in winter demand is much higher. To absorb those differences, natural gas is stored in empty fields and this stored gas can be used when demand is high. This system guarantees stable natural-gas deliveries throughout the year.

Always available

Electricity you generate with solar panels and wind turbines shows peaks. If the wind blows and the sun is out, there is a lot of electricity available. Cloudy and windless days produce nothing, and you have a problem. For an economy that depends on electricity to live, work and to travel, electricity has to be available all year round. Even when it is windless and when there is no sun. The problem is that it is difficult to store electricity: it is expensive and it takes many raw materials to achieve this on a large scale. 

Storage

Gas is much easier to store in hollow spaces, such as tanks. In Groningen we know all about that, because we are experienced in storing large quantities of natural gas. So if we want to store green electricity, we need to make it gaseous. That enables us to store the surplus electricity we generate when it is windy and sunny and to use it at the times the sun doesn't shine and when there is no wind. You can make green electricity gaseous by converting it into green hydrogen with a process that is known as electrolysis.  

Hydrogen

Maybe you remember the large chemistry chart from school - the periodic table. The first element is H: hydrogen. The most common element on the earth. In normal conditions it is gaseous and we call it H2. Green hydrogen is made from water (H20) that is split into hydrogen (H2) and oxygen (O2) with green electricity. Then there are other types of hydrogen that are made from fossil fuels. As they are not generated sustainably, they still produce CO2 emissions. We call that grey hydrogen. When the CO2 is captured and stored, we call it blue hydrogen. 

Heavy transport and industry

Why do we need that green hydrogen? Because it can be used as clean fuel, when electricity is not a solution. For example in heavy transport, such as lorries, sweeper trucks, boats and large vessels. People are also working on using hydrogen to replace kerosene in air traffic. However, the largest part of CO2 emissions comes from industry. The CO2 emissions that are produced as a result of processing in primary industry are not only produced by burning fossil fuels for heat. Another cause for those emissions is the use of fossil fuels as raw materials. For example, natural gas is a raw material for fertilisers and oil is used for plastics. For those types of industrial applications electricity cannot replace oil or natural gas. The temperatures required for those processes are often too high to be achieved with electricity. Above all, electricity is not a raw material. In both those situations, green hydrogen can be a sustainable solution.  

Missing link

In conclusion, we need: 

1. To move to an energy system with sustainable production from solar panels and wind turbines and with storage, so that energy is always available. 
2. Alternative raw materials and high-temperature heat for industry.

That is why hydrogen is the missing link in the transition to a sustainable economy. We can achieve this if we manage to produce hydrogen on a large scale and preferably in countries where the sun shines most of the time and/or where the wind blows frequently. Read more about that in my next blog!