How hydrogen can help the world move towards energy transition

There is undoubtedly a shift towards the development of hydrogen as a potential clean energy of the future. The International Energy Agency (IEA) says that the number of business deals, policies and projects around the world are constantly increasing.

So, what does this mean for energy storage, production and use?

Hydrogen goes back a long way when it comes to making energy
Hydrogen has long been used to create energy. If we go back 200 years, it was used to power the very earliest internal combustion engines. It’s gone on to become key for the modern oil refining industry. Here’s how it works.

Fuel cells combine oxygen and hydrogen atoms and use them to make electricity. The cell works in a similar way to a battery, and there are various types that can be used in different ways. For example, the smallest fuel cells powered with hydrogen can be used to run computers, mobile phones and more. Larger fuel cells can provide electricity and usable energy to remote regions that are off grid.

Energy-dense and easy to store, hydrogen can be produced from renewable energy or from fossil fuels. Once made, it produces no emissions of pollutants or greenhouse gases and is therefore attracting attention for its green credentials in the race to an emission-free world. However, it’s not yet used across enough sectors to support global energy transition.

The potential of hydrogen power is massive
Not yet in use for power generation to homes and businesses, transport or construction, there is clearly huge potential in hydrogen for a green future. Demand for hydrogen has tripled since it first entered industry in 1975, and this is creating a fast-growing supply sector. However, hydrogen produced around the world right now is responsible for 6% of global natural gas and 2% of global coal usage.

Producing hydrogen, therefore, creates emissions of a similar size to that of the UK and Indonesia combined. More countries than ever are focusing on switching to hydrogen production from renewables and increasing its use across sectors such as transport.

Hydrogen can be extracted from biomass and water, as well as from fossil fuels. At the moment, natural gas makes the most hydrogen, followed by coal. This is primarily because of the dominance of coal in countries like China. Less than 1% is made from water electrolysis at present, but this is clearly the way forward for production.

Industry dominates the use of hydrogen right now
The use of hydrogen is dominated at the moment by industry. This includes oil refining and steel production, and there is massive potential to reduce emissions from cleanly produced hydrogen. Other sectors that could benefit from hydrogen as a fuel include transport, buildings and power generation.

Aviation and shipping are crying out for a low-carbon fuel source, and natural gas networks could be used to transport and store hydrogen for fuel. So why should countries and national Governments do to unleash the potential of hydrogen?

· Hydrogen offers a range of ways to decarbonise entire sectors, including steel iron, chemicals and long-haul transport.

· It can help to improve air quality around the world, which is a real area of concern in cities everywhere.

· Improving technological advancements will increase the versatility of hydrogen use, which can be stored, moved, produced and used in lots of ways.

· Hydrogen can be shifted as a gas using existing networks of natural gas pipes, or it can be stored in a liquid form in the same way as liquified natural gas (LNG).

· Hydrogen can provide clean electricity to power industry and homes, and as fuel for transport vehicles of all kinds.

· Hydrogen can get more from renewables, including solar and wind. It’s one of the best options to store energy at a lower cost.

Clean hydrogen is key to global energy transition, but fundamental changes must be made to achieve this. For example, the cost of producing hydrogen from low-carbon, green energy is prohibitively expensive. The IEA says this could fall by 30% by 2030 due to the already declining costs of renewables. Combined with more production of hydrogen for fuel, costs can be driven down even further.

In addition, infrastructure for hydrogen must be developed at a quicker pace, as it’s impairing adoption at the moment. This is what will drop the cost for consumers, and all of this needs collaborative planning and implantation by countries around the world.

Producing hydrogen from renewables is the future
Most importantly, we need to find ways of producing way more hydrogen from renewables to avoid the emissions caused by producing it from coal and gas. The IEA says that industrial ports must be used to scale up the use of clean hydrogen in order to achieve this.

There is lots of existing infrastructure that can be utilised, such as the millions of miles of existing natural gas pipelines. Hydrogen use must also be expanded across transport using trade and freight corridors. Holding all of this together is the need for national and regional governments to direct the future by establishing the importance of hydrogen for long-term energy production strategies.

Investment must be supported, and regulations centralised and simplified. There is no doubt that the future of green, clean energy lies in hydrogen, but there is much work to do to get there.