tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/hydrogen-fuel-6230/articlesHydrogen fuel – The Conversation2024-02-18T19:51:21Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2233512024-02-18T19:51:21Z2024-02-18T19:51:21Z‘Green’ or ‘blue’ hydrogen – what difference does it make? Not much for most Australians<p>Hydrogen can play a key role in Australia’s energy transition by giving us additional ways of storing and moving energy around. As the world shifts towards cleaner energy production, there’s a push to make hydrogen production cleaner as well. In Australia, <a href="https://www.dcceew.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/australias-national-hydrogen-strategy.pdf">low-emission hydrogen</a> is produced in two main ways. </p>
<p>One method produces what is known as “green hydrogen”. It uses electricity produced from renewables – such as solar, wind or hydro – to “crack” water into separate streams of hydrogen and oxygen. </p>
<p>The other method produces “blue hydrogen”. This process separates the hydrogen from a gas mixture obtained from fossil fuels (coal or natural gas), using carbon-capture technologies to deal with the emissions. </p>
<p>While different colours are used to describe these methods, the resulting product is the same: colourless hydrogen. Both methods are technically viable options. </p>
<p>So, we wanted to know what the public thinks about these approaches. Understanding people’s attitudes in more detail will help scientists, industry and governments to develop hydrogen technologies in a way that aligns with community values and expectations.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959652624005985#sec3">Our survey</a> found only a slight difference in public attitudes to the two methods when they were described without the colour “labels”. The method of production had little impact on people’s willingness to accept different uses of hydrogen.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1756936282511401307"}"></div></p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/hyped-and-expensive-hydrogen-has-a-place-in-australias-energy-transition-but-only-with-urgent-government-support-219004">Hyped and expensive, hydrogen has a place in Australia’s energy transition, but only with urgent government support</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Why do we need to know what people think about hydrogen?</h2>
<p>There is a focus on <a href="https://www.csiro.au/en/research/environmental-impacts/fuels/hydrogen/Hydrogen-Roadmap">scaling up the hydrogen industry</a> for many purposes, including transport, heating and industrial uses, in Australia and overseas. </p>
<p>Although there are plans for many new uses, such as powering vehicles, hydrogen has had industrial uses for a long time. At present, it’s mainly used to make other chemicals, such as ammonia for nitrogen fertiliser. However, most of this hydrogen is produced globally using fossil fuels, which emits carbon. </p>
<p>Now attention has turned to producing low-emission hydrogen. Past research has shown Australians are “<a href="https://www.futurefuelscrc.com/wp-content/uploads/FFCRC_RP2.1-02_Public-perceptions-of-hydrogen_National-survey-report_June2021Final.pdf">cautiously optimistic</a>” about hydrogen’s potential as a future fuel. We wanted to explore attitudes to the two low-emission production methods more closely.</p>
<p>Understanding public attitudes is key to promoting <a href="https://research.csiro.au/ri/">responsible innovation</a> for the benefit of all Australians.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-electric-trucks-are-our-best-bet-to-cut-road-transport-emissions-219960">Why electric trucks are our best bet to cut road transport emissions</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>How was the survey done?</h2>
<p>We asked a representative sample of 1,900 Australians to <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959652624005985#sec3">share their thoughts</a>
about living near a hypothetical hydrogen hub – a site where hydrogen is stored, transported and used locally. Participants were told the hydrogen would be produced nearby (200 kilometres away). </p>
<p>We wanted to investigate the effect of the “green” and “blue” production methods on acceptance. To avoid introducing bias, we only explained the technical process of each production method. We did not describe them using colours. Half of the participants were told the hydrogen was produced using one method and half were told about the other method. </p>
<p>Because many Australians aren’t aware of hydrogen technologies, we consulted technical <a href="https://www.csiro.au/en/about/challenges-missions/Hydrogen">experts here at CSIRO</a> so we could provide relevant information about the production methods and their potential impacts. Participants were also shown a short video introduction to hydrogen (shown below) at the start of the survey. </p>
<p>We then asked a serious of questions to assess beliefs, attitudes and levels of support for the production methods and various uses of hydrogen.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/LEgbmmIogss?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Survey participants were shown this animated video.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/green-hydrogen-could-be-a-game-changer-by-displacing-fossil-fuels-we-just-need-the-price-to-come-down-205636">Green hydrogen could be a game changer by displacing fossil fuels – we just need the price to come down</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>A slight preference for ‘green’</h2>
<p>Participants who were told the hydrogen was produced using renewable energy – “green” hydrogen – had, on average, a more positive attitude to it than those presented with hydrogen made from fossil fuels with carbon-capture technology – “blue” hydrogen. However, the difference between the two groups’ overall appraisal of the production methods was quite small.</p>
<p>We also explored the beliefs that underpin these attitudes. Despite some differences in beliefs between the two groups, many of these differences were again quite small. And there were no differences in the perceived influence on cost of living and wealth creation. </p>
<p>The largest difference between the groups was the perceived replaceability of the technology. Blue hydrogen was seen as the more replaceable approach. People also reported blue hydrogen as having a worse impact on climate change and competing more with renewable electricity production. </p>
<h2>What is the impact on acceptance of hydrogen?</h2>
<p>The small differences of opinion about production methods had little influence on people’s willingness to accept different uses of hydrogen. For example, knowing a bus was fuelled by blue hydrogen had a relatively weak effect on how willing people said they’d be to use a hydrogen bus. For most hydrogen applications presented, support was quite neutral regardless of how it was made. </p>
<p>Further analysis showed that people with stronger pro-environmental attitudes were more supportive of green hydrogen. Those with weaker pro-environmental attitudes were more supportive of blue hydrogen. </p>
<p>These results suggest that, to some extent, people’s broader worldviews shape their evaluations of production methods. Although blue hydrogen aims to address carbon emissions, it seems those who strongly value environmental preservation see blue hydrogen as less likely than green hydrogen to achieve this goal. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/for-australia-to-lead-the-way-on-green-hydrogen-first-we-must-find-enough-water-196144">For Australia to lead the way on green hydrogen, first we must find enough water</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Neither method is strongly opposed</h2>
<p>Our research shows there is no strong opposition to either hydrogen production method at this stage. </p>
<p>Results suggest the hydrogen industry will need to address concerns that blue hydrogen technology might need to be replaced sooner rather than later. There is also a need to be clear about its impact on the environment and potential to compete with power from renewables.</p>
<p>Despite these concerns, it seems the production method is not holding back hydrogen acceptance at this stage. As the industry grows, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360319923020451">current public beliefs</a> suggest it will be increasingly important to demonstrate that using hydrogen is safe and effective, and won’t compete with other renewable energy technologies.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/223351/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>There are two approaches to producing low-emission hydrogen, and public acceptance (or rejection) of each method will be important for hydrogen and its place in the energy transition.Mitchell Scovell, Research Scientist, CSIROAndrea Walton, Social Scientist, CSIROLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2086552023-07-03T00:35:53Z2023-07-03T00:35:53ZToo big, too heavy and too slow to change: road transport is way off track for net zero<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534947/original/file-20230630-27-ovj9iw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=988%2C651%2C2462%2C1645&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The need to cut the emissions driving climate change is urgent, but it’s proving hard to decarbonise road transport in Australia. Its share of the nation’s total greenhouse gas emissions <a href="https://ageis.climatechange.gov.au/">doubled</a> from 8% in 1990 to 16% in 2020. New vehicles sold in Australia have <a href="https://theconversation.com/we-thought-australian-cars-were-using-less-fuel-new-research-shows-we-were-wrong-122378">barely improved</a> average emissions performance for the last decade or so. </p>
<p>The federal government <a href="https://www.dcceew.gov.au/climate-change/publications/australias-emissions-projections-2022">publishes</a> emission forecasts to 2035 – 15 years short of 2050, the net-zero target date. Our <a href="https://www.transport-e-research.com/_files/ugd/d0bd25_7a6920bdd9e8448385863a7c23ec9ecf.pdf">newly published study</a> forecasts road transport emissions through to 2050. The estimated reduction by 2050, 35–45% of pre-COVID levels in 2019, falls well short of what’s needed. </p>
<p>Our findings highlight three obstacles to achieving net zero. These are: Australia’s delay in switching to electric vehicles; growing sales of large, heavy vehicles such as SUVs and utes; and uncertainties about hydrogen as a fuel, especially for freight transport. These findings point to policy actions that could get road transport much closer to net zero.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1183518598376984577"}"></div></p>
<h2>How was this worked out?</h2>
<p>Emissions and energy use vary from vehicle to vehicle, so reliable forecasting requires a detailed breakdown of the on-road fleet. Our study <a href="https://www.transport-e-research.com/software">used</a> the Australian Fleet Model and the net zero vehicle emission model (n0vem).</p>
<p>The study focused on so-called <a href="https://www.cummins.com/news/2022/05/26/well-wheel-emissions-simplified">well-to-wheel emissions</a> from fuel production, distribution and use while driving. These activities account for about 75–85% of vehicle emissions. (<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-climate-friendly-is-an-electric-car-it-all-comes-down-to-where-you-live-179003">Life-cycle assessment</a> estimates “cradle-to-grave” emissions, including vehicle manufacture and disposal.)</p>
<p>Working with European Union colleagues, our emissions simulation drew on an updated <a href="https://www.transport-e-research.com/_files/ugd/d0bd25_7a6920bdd9e8448385863a7c23ec9ecf.pdf">EU scenario</a> (EU-27) showing the changes in the EU vehicle fleet needed to meet the latest (proposed) CO₂ targets. Our study assumed Australia will be ten years behind the EU across all vehicle classes. </p>
<p>We further modified the scenario to properly reflect Australian conditions. For instance, the EU has a much higher proportion of plug-in hybrid vehicles than Australia, where buyers are now bypassing them for wholly electric vehicles. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1649244456141619200"}"></div></p>
<h2>Energy use is shifting, but too slowly</h2>
<p>Using this modified scenario, the simulation produces a forecast fall in total wheel-to-wheel emissions from Australian transport from 104 billion tonnes (Mt) in 2018 to 55-65Mt in 2050. Within the range of this 35–45% reduction, the outcome depends largely on the balance of renewable and fossil-fuel energy used to produce hydrogen.</p>
<p>The modelling nonetheless predicts a large shift in energy use in road transport in 2050, as 2019 was basically 100% fossil fuels. </p>
<p>The on-road energy efficiency of battery electric vehicles is roughly twice that of fuel cell electric (hydrogen) vehicles and roughly three times that of fossil-fuelled vehicles of similar type. </p>
<p>The modelling results make this clear. In 2050, battery electric vehicles account for about 70% of total travel, but 25% of on-road energy use and only about 10% of total emissions. </p>
<p>In contrast, fossil-fuelled vehicles account for about 25% of total travel in 2050, 60% of energy use and 75-85% of emissions. That’s even allowing for expected efficiency improvements. </p>
<p>This means the shift to a mostly electric fleet by 2050 plus the use of hydrogen is predicted to fall short of what’s needed to get to net zero. It will require aggressive new policies to increase the uptake of electric vehicles across all classes.</p>
<h2>Lighter vehicles make a big difference</h2>
<p>But that is not the whole story. One neglected issue is the growing proportion of <a href="https://theconversation.com/we-may-be-underestimating-just-how-bad-carbon-belching-suvs-are-for-the-climate-and-for-our-health-190743">big, heavy passenger vehicles</a> (SUVs, utes). This trend is very noticeable in Australia. The laws of physics mean heavier vehicles need much more energy and fuel per kilometre of driving, and so produce more emissions. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1571650280135053314"}"></div></p>
<p>Currently, a large diesel SUV typically emits a kilogram of CO₂ for every 3 kilometres of driving, compared to 15km for a light electric vehicle and 200 kilometres for an e-bike. An average electric vehicle currently emits 1kg of CO₂ every 7km. </p>
<p>This distance is expected to be around 60km in 2050, when renewables power the electricity grid. A lightweight electric car will more than double the distance to 125km per kilogram of CO₂. Reducing vehicle weights and optimising energy efficiency in transport will be essential to meet emission targets.</p>
<p>The study modelled the impacts of <a href="https://www.automotiveworld.com/special-reports/vehicle-lightweighting-2/">lightweighting</a> passenger vehicles while keeping buses and commercial vehicles the same. If Australians had driven only small cars in 2019 for personal use, total road transport emissions would have been about 15% lower. </p>
<p>The reduction in emissions from simply shifting to smaller cars is <a href="https://www.dcceew.gov.au/climate-change/publications/national-greenhouse-accounts-2019/national-inventory-report-2019">similar to</a> emissions from domestic aviation and domestic shipping combined. Importantly, lightweighting cuts emissions for all kinds of vehicles.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1512865995248963588"}"></div></p>
<h2>The uncertainties about hydrogen</h2>
<p>Fuel cell electric vehicles using hydrogen account for only a few percent of all travel, but most will likely be large trucks. As a result, in our scenarios, they use a little over 10% of total on-road energy and produce 5-20% of total emissions, depending on the energy source used for hydrogen production and distribution. </p>
<p>The modified EU scenario includes a significant uptake of hydrogen vehicles by 2050. That’s by no means guaranteed. </p>
<p>The uptake in Australia has been negligible to date. That’s due to costs (vehicle and fuel), the need for new hydrogen fuel infrastructure, less mature technology (compared to battery electric vehicles) and limited vehicle availability. <a href="https://theconversation.com/we-must-rapidly-decarbonise-transport-but-hydrogens-not-the-answer-166830">Unresolved aspects</a> of hydrogen in transport include lower energy efficiency, the <a href="https://theconversation.com/for-australia-to-lead-the-way-on-green-hydrogen-first-we-must-find-enough-water-196144">need for clean water</a>, uncertainty about leakage, fuel-cell durability and value for consumers. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1461822210427994116"}"></div></p>
<h2>How do we get back on track?</h2>
<p>Our study suggests Australia is on track to miss the net-zero target for 2050 mainly because of the large proportions of fossil-fuelled vehicles and large and heavy passenger vehicles. </p>
<p>These two aspects could become targets for new policies such as public information campaigns, tax incentives for small, light vehicles, bans on selling fossil fuel vehicles and programs to scrap them. Other options to cut emissions include measures to reduce travel demand, optimise freight logistics and shift travel to public transport, to name a few. </p>
<p>The study confirms the scale of the challenge of decarbonising road transport. Australia will need “all hands on deck” – government, industry and consumers – to achieve net zero in 2050.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/208655/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Robin Smit is the founder and director at Transport Energy/Emission Research Pty Ltd (TER) and an Adjunct Associate Professor at University of Technology Sydney.</span></em></p>A new study estimates a reduction in emissions of only 35-45% of pre-COVID levels by 2050. Lighter vehicles and faster uptake of electric vehicles can dramatically improve progress towards net zero.Robin Smit, Adjunct Associate Professor, University of Technology SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1961442022-12-20T19:09:26Z2022-12-20T19:09:26ZFor Australia to lead the way on green hydrogen, first we must find enough water<p>Australia is <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2214629622002559">well-positioned</a> to be a global leader in green hydrogen production. Green hydrogen is produced using a renewable power source such as solar or wind. As a substitute for fossil fuels, it will help to meet <a href="https://theconversation.com/labors-renewable-target-is-much-more-ambitious-than-it-seems-we-need-the-best-bang-for-buck-policy-responses-186302">growing renewable energy needs</a>.</p>
<p>However, high-quality water is needed to produce hydrogen. Supplies of high-quality water must also be secured into the future to support our agriculture, industries, cities, towns and communities. Climate change and population growth will increase pressure on these supplies.</p>
<p>Community discussion is needed to identify where the water to produce hydrogen will come from. We need to ensure this developing industry does not disadvantage other water users, as we discuss in our new <a href="https://www.deakin.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/2539584/Water-energy-nexus-whitepaper.pdf">white paper</a>. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1356346885502423040"}"></div></p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-will-power-the-future-elon-musks-battery-packs-or-twiggy-forrests-green-hydrogen-truth-is-well-need-both-191333">What will power the future: Elon Musk's battery packs or Twiggy Forrest's green hydrogen? Truth is, we'll need both</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Green hydrogen industry looks set to boom</h2>
<p>Green hydrogen is likely to partially replace petrol and diesel for large vehicles such as trucks and heavy machinery as Australia moves to a carbon-neutral economy. It has the advantage of being a fuel suitable for sectors such as <a href="https://theconversation.com/when-it-comes-to-climate-change-australias-mining-giants-are-an-accessory-to-the-crime-124077">mining</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/tracking-the-transition-the-forgotten-emissions-undoing-the-work-of-australias-renewable-energy-boom-162506">transport</a> that are struggling to reduce emissions.</p>
<p>The green hydrogen market is expected to grow rapidly. Hydrogen energy outputs in Australia are estimated to exceed <a href="https://www.dcceew.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/state-of-hydrogen-2021.pdf">100MW by 2025</a>. More than <a href="https://www.pwc.com.au/integrated-infrastructure-building-australia/getting-h2-right-australias-competitive-hydrogen-export-industry/producing-at-globally-competitive-prices.html">90 projects representing A$250 billion</a> in investment are planned. </p>
<p>Most demand for hydrogen this decade is <a href="https://igcc.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Investor-Group-on-Climate-Change-Hydrogen-Report.pdf">likely to be domestic</a> – for chemical production, industrial processes and other uses. In the longer term, major export demand is <a href="https://igcc.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Investor-Group-on-Climate-Change-Hydrogen-Report.pdf">expected from the Asia-Pacific</a>.</p>
<p>By 2040, Australia’s green hydrogen production cost is <a href="https://www.pwc.com.au/integrated-infrastructure-building-australia/getting-h2-right-australias-competitive-hydrogen-export-industry/producing-at-globally-competitive-prices.html">predicted to be the equal-lowest</a> in the world. Electrolysis, which splits water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen, will be the <a href="https://www.irena.org/publications/2022/Jan/Geopolitics-of-the-Energy-Transformation-Hydrogen">main method of producing</a> this green hydrogen.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501761/original/file-20221219-13-9h4zfh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501761/original/file-20221219-13-9h4zfh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501761/original/file-20221219-13-9h4zfh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=295&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501761/original/file-20221219-13-9h4zfh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=295&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501761/original/file-20221219-13-9h4zfh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=295&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501761/original/file-20221219-13-9h4zfh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=370&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501761/original/file-20221219-13-9h4zfh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=370&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501761/original/file-20221219-13-9h4zfh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=370&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">To produce green hydrogen, electricity from a renewable source is used to split water molecules – H₂O – into hydrogen and oxygen.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/breakthrough-in-gas-separation-and-storage-could-fast-track-shift-to-green-hydrogen-and-significantly-cut-global-energy-use-186644">Breakthrough in gas separation and storage could fast-track shift to green hydrogen and significantly cut global energy use</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>How much water are we talking about?</h2>
<p>The amount of water needed to generate green hydrogen varies. The exact <a href="https://apo.org.au/node/314538">amount of water required</a> depends on the technology used to produce hydrogen, the water quality and any need for cooling or water purification.</p>
<p>On average, a litre of water can produce enough hydrogen to deliver about <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Wendy-Timms/publication/336498351_More_Joules_per_Drop_-_How_Much_Water_Does_Unconventional_Gas_Use_Compared_to_Other_Energy_Sources_and_What_Are_the_Legal_Implications/links/5da3b326299bf116fea49860/More-Joules-per-Drop-How-Much-Water-Does-Unconventional-Gas-Use-Compared-to-Other-Energy-Sources-and-What-Are-the-Legal-Implications.pdf">10 megajoules of energy</a>. That’s enough to push a 50-tonne truck 15 metres.</p>
<p>The previous Australian government <a href="https://www.minister.industry.gov.au/ministers/taylor/media-releases/strong-potential-future-australia-germany-hydrogen-exports">predicted</a> the hydrogen industry could be worth A$50 billion a year by 2050. At that scale, it would need about <a href="https://theconversation.com/green-hydrogen-is-coming-and-these-australian-regions-are-well-placed-to-build-our-new-export-industry-174466">225 billion litres</a> (gigalitres) of water. While that’s roughly as much as <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/environment/environmental-management/water-account-australia/latest-release">residents of a city like Perth use</a> in a year, it’s only about <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/industry/agriculture/water-use-australian-farms/latest-release">3% of the water used for agriculture</a> in Australia in 2020-21. </p>
<p>There are many possible sources of water. Surface water, groundwater and recycled water are all available inland. Coastal areas have unlimited seawater, which can be <a href="https://www.rechargenews.com/energy-transition/vast-majority-of-green-hydrogen-projects-may-require-water-desalination-potentially-driving-up-costs/2-1-1070183">desalinated for hydrogen production</a>.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1506123013653209095"}"></div></p>
<p>But there are trade-offs whenever we allocate a water resource. In many areas, the available fresh water is fully allocated to towns, cities, agriculture, industry and the environment. The pressure on water supplies will increase as populations grow and much of Australia becomes hotter and drier under climate change.</p>
<p>Further, most water would have to be treated to be suitable for hydrogen production. Treatment can be expensive and uses additional energy, as does desalination and pumping water long distances.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/new-zealand-is-touting-a-green-hydrogen-economy-but-it-will-face-big-environmental-and-cultural-hurdles-187521">New Zealand is touting a green hydrogen economy, but it will face big environmental and cultural hurdles</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Failure to plan for water use could be costly</h2>
<p>Current issues in the gas industry provide a cautionary tale. High gas prices in eastern Australia can be deemed the result of failure to consider impacts on domestic customers of developing a gas export industry. </p>
<p>Western Australia, in contrast, reserved enough gas for domestic users. As a result, its prices are <a href="https://www.energyquest.com.au/western-australia-low-energy-price-paradise/">among the lowest in the OECD</a>.</p>
<p>A similar failure may arise if corporations buy high-quality water for hydrogen generation, diminishing supplies for agricultural, domestic or environmental use. North Africa exports substantial amounts of <a href="https://corporateeurope.org/en/2022/05/hydrogen-north-africa-neocolonial-resource-grab">green hydrogen to Europe</a>, but this is <a href="https://timep.org/commentary/analysis/who-will-benefit-from-tunisias-green-hydrogen-strategy/">controversial</a> because of <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/blog/africa-in-focus/2022/05/10/the-promise-of-african-clean-hydrogen-exports-potentials-and-pitfalls/">regional water shortages</a>. </p>
<p>In Australia, competition for water will intensify due to climate change and ongoing demands from agriculture – <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/environment/environmental-management/water-account-australia/latest-release#media-releases">72%</a> of national water consumption in 2020-21 – industry, mining, households and the environment. Using potable water to produce hydrogen may be at odds with community expectations. </p>
<p>Care must be taken to ensure industry expansion does not <a href="https://www.ecnt.org.au/repowerfaq_waterhydrogen">adversely affect other users</a>. This will be particularly difficult in Australia because rainfall is <a href="https://www.ga.gov.au/scientific-topics/national-location-information/dimensions/climatic-extremes">highly variable by world standards</a> – not news to those who have lived through recent years of drought then flooding rains.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1533923466029563904"}"></div></p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/albanese-just-laid-out-a-radical-new-vision-for-australia-in-the-region-clean-energy-exporter-and-green-manufacturer-186815">Albanese just laid out a radical new vision for Australia in the region: clean energy exporter and green manufacturer</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>So what are the likely solutions?</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://ecos.csiro.au/hydrogen-industry-australia/">key challenge</a> is to produce hydrogen in large quantities in a way that is cost-effective and sustainable. </p>
<p>This can be achieved by planning effectively for industry growth. Our <a href="https://www.deakin.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/2539584/Water-energy-nexus-whitepaper.pdf">white paper</a> identifies public policy and industry-related issues posed by this growth.</p>
<p>We must identify regions likely to support hydrogen production and storage, find nearby sources of water and calculate volumes needed. Then, we must develop plans to support existing water users while providing a viable solution for the green hydrogen industry.</p>
<p>Alternative sources such as recycled water or treated groundwater are likely part of that solution. Harvesting water from industrial and urban wastewater <a href="https://ecat.ga.gov.au/geonetwork/srv/eng/catalog.search#/metadata/130930">could be a game changer</a>. It would require moderate treatment but have fewer effects on other water users.</p>
<p>We will learn a lot from pilot programs such as the <a href="https://arena.gov.au/projects/new-energies-service-station-geelong-demonstration-project/">New Energies Service Station</a> in Geelong, which will create hydrogen from 100% recycled water.</p>
<p>In planning to overcome the challenges, we’ll need to develop relevant data, information and analysis to get the settings right.</p>
<p>It is possible to create a vibrant, sustainable and profitable green hydrogen industry to support decarbonisation of Australian and global economies, but it won’t happen by accident. Careful planning is essential, and communities must be involved in deciding where water will come from and how it can be accessed.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/196144/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rebecca Lester receives funding from the Australian Research Council, and the Australian and Victorian Governments. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>I was Deputy Director-General then Director-General, Water Victoria (1989-92); then Secretary, Department of Energy and Minerals, Victoria (1992-1995). Later I was Deputy Secretary then General Manager, Office of Water, Victoria. During that time I was a Victorian representative on the Murray Darling Basin Commission and then on the Basin Officials Committee (2004-2011). I was Director and MD of a consulting company owned by a law firm (now called Norton Rose Gledhill) from 1995-2003. During that time I was involved with various water and energy projects including the corporatisation of the Snowy Mountains Scheme. I am a shareholder in Xpansiv, a large renewable energy and water exchange, and was formerly a board member. I am a board member and shareholder in Flinders Peak Water, an organisation dedicated to using recycled water for food/agriculture. Through Deakin University I am connected to various water-related projects, including MDB and Drought Resilience programs, funded out of government grants.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Wendy Timms receives funding from the Australian Research Council, CO2CRC, Fluid Potential and the Victorian government. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Don Gunasekera does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Australia’s emerging green hydrogen industry requires a secure supply of high-quality water. Competing demands for this scarce resource mean careful planning is needed to meet all water users’ needs.Rebecca Lester, Professor, Aquatic Ecology and Director, Centre for Regional and Rural Futures, Deakin UniversityDavid Downie, Strategic Adviser, Regional Development, Deakin UniversityDon Gunasekera, Research Fellow, Centre for Supply Chain and Logistics, Deakin UniversityWendy Timms, Professor of Environmental Engineering, Deakin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1793812022-04-03T19:58:14Z2022-04-03T19:58:14ZAustralia plans to be a big green hydrogen exporter to Asian markets – but they don’t need it<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/455403/original/file-20220331-16-we7ab1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=75%2C344%2C5531%2C3388&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In its <a href="https://budget.gov.au/index.htm">latest budget</a>, the federal government has promised hundreds of millions of dollars to expand Australia’s green hydrogen capabilities. </p>
<p>Green hydrogen is made by electrolysis of water, powered by solar and wind electricity, and it’s key to the government’s “technology not taxes” approach to meeting its climate target of net-zero emissions by 2050.</p>
<p>The government aims to create a major green hydrogen export industry, particularly to <a href="https://arena.gov.au/blog/australia-signs-hydrogen-export-deal-with-japan/">Japan</a>, for which Australia signed an export deal in January. But as <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0196890422000954">our latest research</a> suggests, the likely scale may well be overstated.</p>
<p>We show Japan has more than enough solar and wind energy to be self-sufficient in energy, and does not need to import either fossil fuels or Australian green hydrogen. Indeed, Australia as a “renewable energy superpower” is far from a sure thing.</p>
<h2>Japan has plenty of sun and wind</h2>
<p>“Green” hydrogen could be used to generate electricity and also to form chemicals such as <a href="https://theconversation.com/japan-wants-to-burn-ammonia-for-clean-energy-but-it-may-be-a-pyrrhic-victory-for-the-climate-174782">ammonia</a> and synthetic jet fuel. </p>
<p>In the federal budget, hydrogen fuel is among the low-emissions technologies <a href="https://theconversation.com/poor-policy-and-short-sightedness-how-the-budget-treats-climate-change-and-energy-in-the-wake-of-disasters-180179">that will share</a> over A$1 billion. <a href="https://www.minister.industry.gov.au/ministers/taylor/media-releases/2022-23-budget-backs-australian-industry-energy-security-and-net-zero-emissions">This includes</a> $300 million for producing clean hydrogen, along with liquefied natural gas, in Darwin. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/poor-policy-and-short-sightedness-how-the-budget-treats-climate-change-and-energy-in-the-wake-of-disasters-180179">Poor policy and short-sightedness: how the budget treats climate change and energy in the wake of disasters</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Australia plans to be a <a href="https://www.csis.org/analysis/australias-hydrogen-industrial-strategy">top-three exporter of hydrogen</a> to Asian markets by 2030. The idea is that green hydrogen will help replace Australia’s declining coal and gas exports as countries make good on their promises to bring national greenhouse gas emissions down to zero.</p>
<p>Underlying much of this discussion is the notion that crowded jurisdictions such as Japan and Europe have insufficient solar and wind resources of their own, which is wrong.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1508728771498500096"}"></div></p>
<p><a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0196890422000954">Our recent study</a> investigated the future role of renewable energy in Japan, and we modelled a hypothetical scenario where Japan had a 100% renewable electricity system. </p>
<p>We found Japan has 14 times more solar and offshore wind energy potential than needed to supply all its current electricity demand. </p>
<p>Electrifying nearly everything – transport, heating, industry and aviation – <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2020.119678">doubles or triples demand for electricity</a>, but this still leaves Japan with five to seven times more solar and offshore wind energy potential than it needs.</p>
<p>After building enough solar and wind farms, Japan can get rid of fossil fuel imports without increasing energy costs. This removes three quarters of its greenhouse gas emissions and eliminates the security risks of depending on foreign energy suppliers.</p>
<h2>Japanese energy is cheaper, too</h2>
<p>Our study comprised an hourly energy balance model, using representative demand data and 40 years of historical hourly solar and wind meteorological data.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0196890422000954">We found</a> that the levelized cost of electricity from an energy system in Japan dominated by solar and wind is US$86-110 (A$115-147) per megawatt hour. Levelized cost is the standard method of costing electricity generation over a generator’s lifetime. </p>
<p>This is similar to Japan’s 2020 average spot market prices (US$102 per megawatt hour) – and it’s about half the cost of electricity generated in Japan using imported green hydrogen from Australia.</p>
<p>So why is it much more expensive to produce electricity from imported Australian hydrogen, compared to local solar and wind?</p>
<p>Essentially, it’s because <a href="https://www.iea.org/reports/technology-roadmap-hydrogen-and-fuel-cells">70% of the energy is lost</a> by converting Australian solar and wind energy into hydrogen compounds, shipping it to Japan, and converting the hydrogen back into electricity or into motive power in cars.</p>
<p>Thus, hydrogen as an energy source is <a href="https://www.eastasiaforum.org/2022/01/03/getting-real-about-the-hydrogen-economy/">unlikely to develop into a major export industry</a>. </p>
<p>What about exporting sustainable chemicals? Hydrogen atoms are required to produce synthetic aviation fuel, ammonia, plastics and other chemicals. </p>
<p>The main elements needed for such products are hydrogen, carbon, oxygen and nitrogen, all of which are available everywhere in unlimited quantities from water and air. Japan can readily make its own sustainable chemicals rather than importing hydrogen or finished chemicals. </p>
<p>However, the Japanese cost advantage is smaller for sustainable chemicals than energy, and so there may be export opportunities here.</p>
<h2>What about other countries?</h2>
<p>While large-scale fossil fuel deposits are found in only a few countries, most countries have plenty of solar and/or wind. The future decarbonised world will have far less trade in energy, because most countries can harvest it from their own resources.</p>
<p>Solar and wind comprise <a href="https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8836526">three quarters</a> of the new power stations installed around the world each year because they produce cheaper energy than fossil fuels. About 250 gigawatts per annum of solar and wind is being installed globally, <a href="https://www.aie.org.au/public/126/files/Publications/Journal/Q4_2021.pdf">doubling every three to four years</a></p>
<p>Densely populated coastal areas – including Japan, Korea, Taiwan, the Philippines, Vietnam and northern Europe – have <a href="https://globalwindatlas.info/">vast offshore wind resources</a> to complement onshore <a href="https://globalsolaratlas.info/">solar</a> and wind. </p>
<p>What’s more, densely populated <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/17/5424">Indonesia</a> has sufficient calm tropical seas to power the entire world using <a href="https://www.seris.nus.edu.sg/doc/publications/ESMAP_FloatingSolar_Gde_A4%20WEBL-REV2.pdf">floating solar panels</a>.</p>
<p>Will international markets need Australian energy for when the sun isn’t shining, nor the wind blowing? Probably not. Most countries have the resources to reliably and continuously meet energy demand without importing Australian products. </p>
<p>This is because <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/2516-1083/abeb5b">most countries</a>, including Japan (and, for that matter, Australia) have vast capacity for <a href="https://theconversation.com/batteries-get-hyped-but-pumped-hydro-provides-the-vast-majority-of-long-term-energy-storage-essential-for-renewable-power-heres-how-it-works-174446">off-river pumped hydro</a>, which can store energy to balance out solar and wind at times when they’re not available. Batteries and stronger internal transmission networks also help. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/indonesia-could-harvest-solar-energy-from-10-billion-panels-so-where-do-we-put-them-167299">Indonesia could harvest solar energy from 10 billion panels. So where do we put them?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Australia’s prospects</h2>
<p>Getting rid of fossil fuels and electrifying nearly everything with renewables <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/ghg-emissions-by-sector">reduces greenhouse emissions by three quarters</a>, and lowers the threat of extreme climate change. It eliminates security risks from relying on other countries for energy, as illustrated by Europe’s dependence on Russian gas.</p>
<p>It will also bring down energy costs, and eliminates oil-related warfare, oil spills, cooling water use, open cut coal mines, ash dumps, coal mine fires, gas fracking and urban air pollution.</p>
<p>Australia’s coal and gas exports must decline to zero before mid-century to meet the global climate target, and solar and wind are doing most of the heavy lifting through renewable electrification of nearly everything.</p>
<p>But as our research makes clear, while Australian solar and wind is better than most, it may not be enough to overcome the extra costs and losses from exporting hydrogen for energy supply or chemical production. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/red-dirt-yellow-sun-green-steel-how-australia-could-benefit-from-a-global-shift-to-emissions-free-steel-179286">Red dirt, yellow sun, green steel: how Australia could benefit from a global shift to emissions-free steel</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>One really large prospect for export of Australian renewable energy is <a href="https://theconversation.com/red-dirt-yellow-sun-green-steel-how-australia-could-benefit-from-a-global-shift-to-emissions-free-steel-179286">export of iron</a>, in which hydrogen produced from solar and wind might replace coking coal.</p>
<p>This allows Australia to export iron rather than iron ore. In this case the raw material (iron ore), solar and wind are all found in the same place: in the Pilbara.</p>
<p>While hydrogen will certainly be important in the future global clean economy, it will primarily be for chemicals rather than energy production. It’s important to keep perspective: electricity from solar and wind will continue to be far more important.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/179381/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew Blakers receives funding from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency and similar organisations</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Cheng Cheng receives funding from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency and similar organizations. </span></em></p>New research finds Japan has 14 times more solar and offshore wind energy potential than needed to supply all its current electricity demand. It doesn’t need Australia.Andrew Blakers, Professor of Engineering, Australian National UniversityCheng Cheng, Research Officer, Australian National UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1668302021-11-18T19:09:23Z2021-11-18T19:09:23ZWe must rapidly decarbonise transport – but hydrogen’s not the answer<p>Hydrogen has been touted as the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/12/climate/hydrogen-fuel-natural-gas-pollution.html">fuel of the future</a>, and the technology features prominently in the Morrison government’s plan to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. </p>
<p>Earlier this month the government unveiled its “<a href="https://www.industry.gov.au/sites/default/files/November%202021/document/future-fuels-and-vehicles-strategy.pdf">future fuels</a>” strategy to reduce emissions in the transport sector, committing A$250 million for battery electric vehicles and hydrogen infrastructure. And in September, <a href="https://www.industry.gov.au/news/funding-available-for-clean-hydrogen-industrial-hubs">it pledged</a> almost A$500 million towards the Clean Hydrogen Industrial Hubs Program. </p>
<p>Decarbonising transport is crucial in the fight to limit global warming to 1.5°C this century. We estimate the sector contributes about 20% of global emissions – like burning two Olympic-size swimming pools filled with fossil fuels per minute, every minute of the year. </p>
<p>But as independent researchers in transport emissions and energy, we believe the focus on hydrogen in road transport is misplaced. </p>
<p><a href="https://climateactiontracker.org/publications/glasgows-2030-credibility-gap-net-zeros-lip-service-to-climate-action/">Projections show</a> if all nations’ 2030 emissions reductions targets are met, the planet will be on track to heat by a catastrophic 2.4°C. In this pressing need to rapidly reduce global emissions before 2030, developing hydrogen for low-emissions road transport won’t happen fast enough, and it doesn’t pose a viable alternative to electric vehicles. </p>
<h2>Hydrogen in a nutshell</h2>
<p>Hydrogen is already an important part of the global economy, including for the production of fertilisers and in oil refining. The <a href="https://www.industry.gov.au/sites/default/files/September%202020/document/first-low-emissions-technology-statement-2020.pdf">federal government has identified</a> hydrogen as a priority low emissions technology to develop further, with a focus on hydrogen refuelling infrastructure for major freight routes and passenger road corridors. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360319920341847">Almost all</a> hydrogen today is produced using fossil fuels (natural gas and coal), and this accounts for about 2% of global emissions. Hydrogen is clean and climate friendly only if it’s produced from renewable sources of energy, such as solar, wind and hydro. This process uses electrolysis to convert water into hydrogen, and is aptly called “green hydrogen”.</p>
<p>For more than 20 years, proponents of hydrogen <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20026841-900-whatever-happened-to-the-hydrogen-economy/">have been promising</a> a future of clean energy. But while the pace of new green hydrogen projects is accelerating, most are still at an early stage of development. <a href="https://ieefa.org/ieefa-50-new-green-hydrogen-projects-show-europe-australia-asia-are-lead-players-but-us75-billion-in-costs-and-government-inaction-could-create-delays/">Just 14</a> major projects worldwide started construction in 2020, while 34 are at a study or memorandum of understanding stage. </p>
<p>Developing hydrogen technology is, indeed, important outside of the road transport sector, with promising options such as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/may/11/green-steel-industry-could-secure-jobs-future-for-australias-coalmining-heartland">green steel</a> which will reduce emissions and bring new Australian jobs. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australias-clean-hydrogen-revolution-is-a-path-to-prosperity-but-it-must-be-powered-by-renewable-energy-169832">Australia's clean hydrogen revolution is a path to prosperity – but it must be powered by renewable energy</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>But we’re not betting on hydrogen for road transport</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.iea.org/reports/global-ev-outlook-2021">Global sales data</a> for cars and light commercial vehicles, along with <a href="https://thedriven.io/2021/06/23/honda-discontinues-clarity-hydrogen-fuel-cell-and-plug-in-hybrid/#:%7E:text=In%20a%20move%20which%20is">statements</a> from corporate leaders, suggest many vehicle manufacturers don’t seriously consider hydrogen a viable and lucrative transport fuel. </p>
<p>The Honda Clarity hydrogen fuel cell vehicle, for example, <a href="https://thedriven.io/2021/06/23/honda-discontinues-clarity-hydrogen-fuel-cell-and-plug-in-hybrid/#:%7E:text=In%20a%20move%20which%20is">ceased production</a> in August 2021 to “trim underperforming models from its line-up”. Some <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/nov/10/vws-1bn-bid-to-lead-the-charge-in-electric-vehicle-production?utm_term=618e574265950552658f78c0a456e6c0&utm_campaign=GreenLight&utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&CMP=greenlight_email">manufacturers</a> are even lobbying for a faster transition to electric cars.</p>
<p>Hydrogen may play a larger role in the <a href="https://www.cefc.com.au/where-we-invest/case-studies/ark-energy-sets-sights-on-zero-emissions-hydrogen-powered-trucks/">long-haul truck market</a>, as its stated benefits include a long drive range and short refuelling times, which are important for this sector. </p>
<p>But hydrogen competes with a dynamic and fast-moving <a href="https://cleantechnica.com/2021/03/15/making-heavy-duty-transportation-climate-friendly/">electric truck market</a>, which shows significant and continuous annual improvements in battery energy density, and prices. What’s more, truck makers – such as Daimler, MAN, Renault, Scania and Volvo – <a href="https://www.iea.org/reports/global-ev-outlook-2021">have indicated</a> they see an all-electric future.</p>
<p>The often-stated benefits of hydrogen dissipate when compared with alternative electric truck technology. This includes <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/apr/29/swap-and-go-electric-trucks-to-run-between-sydney-and-brisbane-using-exchangeable-batteries">battery swapping</a>, which allows for <a href="https://about.bnef.com/blog/battery-swapping-could-turbocharge-electric-vehicle-fleets/">short refuelling times</a>, and the development of e-highways (roads that automatically <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jul/27/ehighways-could-slash-uk-road-freight-emissions-says-study">recharge vehicles</a> when they drive along it). </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/time-to-get-real-amid-the-hydrogen-hype-lets-talk-about-what-will-actually-work-144579">Time to get real: amid the hydrogen hype, let's talk about what will actually work</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>While it’s true these systems are still being tested in, for instance, Europe and the US, they have a <a href="https://www.csrf.ac.uk/2020/07/white-paper-long-haul-freight-electrification/">promising outlook</a>. For example, in July the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jul/27/uk-government-backs-scheme-for-motorway-cables-to-power-lorries">UK government</a> announced £2 million (A$3.66 million) to design overhead charging cables that would power electric lorries on a motorway. </p>
<p>Likewise, <a href="https://about.bnef.com/blog/battery-swapping-could-turbocharge-electric-vehicle-fleets">the battery swapping network</a> in China already dwarfs the hydrogen refuelling network, although the system is still in its infancy.</p>
<p></p>
<h2>Low energy efficiency</h2>
<p>An overlooked but fundamental issue with using hydrogen in transport is its low energy efficiency. Hydrogen is not an energy source, it is an energy carrier. This means it needs to be generated, compressed or liquefied, transported and converted back into useful energy – and each step of the process incurs a substantial energy loss.</p>
<p>In fact, hydrogen vehicles and vehicles that run on petrol or diesel have a similarly low <a href="https://51431d88-662c-4884-b7bc-b5b93a225b7d.filesusr.com/ugd/d0bd25_6959d3a0b5d647bb9715126de67fa197.pdf?index=true">energy performance</a>: just 15-30% of the available energy in the fuels is used for actual driving. Compare this to battery electric vehicles, <a href="https://51431d88-662c-4884-b7bc-b5b93a225b7d.filesusr.com/ugd/d0bd25_6959d3a0b5d647bb9715126de67fa197.pdf?index=true">which use</a> 70-90% of the available energy. </p>
<p>In other words, the amount of renewable energy required for a green hydrogen vehicle to drive one kilometre is the same as what’s required for three electric vehicles to drive the same distance.</p>
<p>This is a very important issue. The more energy required for transport, the more renewable energy needs to be generated, and the higher the cost and more difficult it becomes to decarbonise the economy rapidly and at scale. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/432326/original/file-20211117-27-rp6e9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Electric vehicles charging on the street" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/432326/original/file-20211117-27-rp6e9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/432326/original/file-20211117-27-rp6e9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/432326/original/file-20211117-27-rp6e9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/432326/original/file-20211117-27-rp6e9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/432326/original/file-20211117-27-rp6e9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/432326/original/file-20211117-27-rp6e9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/432326/original/file-20211117-27-rp6e9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Electric vehicles are much more energy efficient than hydrogen.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There are three other, perhaps less well known, issues with hydrogen we believe should be seriously considered. </p>
<p>First, the potential for <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0306261921014215?dgcid=author">significant leakage</a> of hydrogen during production, transport and use. Hydrogen is a more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, and any loss of hydrogen reduces the overall energy efficiency. </p>
<p>Second, hydrogen emissions from leakage may add to <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360319920341847">local and regional air pollution</a>, and may even deplete the ozone layer in the stratosphere, but further research is needed in this space. </p>
<p>And finally, hydrogen needs clean fresh water, and lots of it. A single hydrogen fuel cell car <a href="https://51431d88-662c-4884-b7bc-b5b93a225b7d.filesusr.com/ugd/d0bd25_6959d3a0b5d647bb9715126de67fa197.pdf?index=true">requires about</a> 9 litres of clean, demineralized water for every 100km driven. For a large truck, this would be over 50 litres per kilometre. </p>
<p>If sea water and desalination plants were used to produce the water, another energy loss would be added to the production process, penalising overall energy efficiency even further.</p>
<h2>Focus on electric vehicles</h2>
<p>Decarbonising road transport needs to be rapid, deployed at scale, and requires a holistic strategy that promotes shifts in everyday travel behaviour. Betting on the future large-scale availability of hydrogen for this sector won’t see this happen fast enough. It also risks locking in fossil-fuel dependency, and its additional greenhouse gas emissions, if upscaling clean hydrogen falls short of expectations.</p>
<p>We need to minimise energy demand and improve energy efficiency in transport as much as possible and as fast as possible. The <a href="https://51431d88-662c-4884-b7bc-b5b93a225b7d.filesusr.com/ugd/d0bd25_bbeb4c905a2b4121b0ef3870648f78cf.pdf">available evidence</a> suggests battery electric vehicles are the only feasible technology that can achieve this in the near future.</p>
<p>For a rapid reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, we should electrify transport where we can, and use other options like green hydrogen where we genuinely can’t, such as long-range <a href="https://theconversation.com/to-reach-net-zero-we-must-decarbonise-shipping-but-two-big-problems-are-getting-in-the-way-170464">shipping and aviation</a>. And depending on how truck electrification efforts develop, hydrogen may still have a role in long-haul trucking, but it will use a lot of extra renewable energy.</p>
<p>A logical first step is to convert the current global production of fossil-fuel based hydrogen to green hydrogen. But the focus must be on rolling out electric vehicles across Australia and, indeed, the world. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-embarrassingly-easy-tax-free-way-for-australia-to-cut-the-cost-of-electric-cars-171919">The embarrassingly easy, tax-free way for Australia to cut the cost of electric cars</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p><em>The authors are grateful for the discussions with and contributions made by Professor Eckard Helmers (University of Applied Sciences Trier, Germany) and Dr Paul Walker (University of Technology Sydney).</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/166830/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Robin Smit is the founder of and a director at Transport Energy/Emission Research (TER). </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Hussein Dia receives funding from the Australian Research Council, the iMOVE Cooperative Research Centre, Level Crossing Removal Authority, City of Boroondara, Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute, Transport for New South Wales, EmissionsIQ Pty Ltd, and Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Enoch Zhao does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>We need to rapidly reduce global emissions before 2030. Developing hydrogen for low-emissions road transport won’t happen fast enough.Robin Smit, Adjunct Associate Professor, University of Technology SydneyEnoch Zhao, PhD Candidate, University of Technology SydneyHussein Dia, Professor of Future Urban Mobility, Swinburne University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1615642021-08-26T12:16:35Z2021-08-26T12:16:35ZThese 3 energy storage technologies can help solve the challenge of moving to 100% renewable electricity<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/417677/original/file-20210824-26-16q4yv3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=35%2C5%2C3958%2C2862&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Energy storage can make facilities like this solar farm in Oxford, Maine, more profitable by letting them store power for cloudy days.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/BidenRenewables/8521ad964886489ab3f679636d564ddb/photo">AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In recent decades the cost of <a href="https://www.irena.org/costs/Power-Generation-Costs/Wind-Power">wind</a> and <a href="https://www.nrel.gov/news/program/2021/documenting-a-decade-of-cost-declines-for-pv-systems.html">solar</a> power generation has dropped dramatically. This is one reason that the U.S. Department of Energy projects that renewable energy will be the <a href="https://www.eia.gov/outlooks/aeo/pdf/AEO_Narrative_2021.pdf">fastest-growing U.S. energy source through 2050</a>.</p>
<p>However, it’s still relatively expensive to store energy. And since renewable energy generation <a href="https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/plugged-in/renewable-energy-intermittency-explained-challenges-solutions-and-opportunities/">isn’t available all the time</a> – it happens when the wind blows or the sun shines – storage is essential. </p>
<p>As a <a href="https://www.nrel.gov/research/staff/kerry-rippy.html">researcher at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory</a>, I work with the federal government and private industry to develop renewable energy storage technologies. In a recent <a href="https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy21osti/77449.pdf">report</a>, researchers at NREL estimated that the potential exists to increase U.S. renewable energy storage capacity by <a href="https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy21osti/77449.pdf">as much as 3,000% percent by 2050</a>. </p>
<p>Here are three emerging technologies that could help make this happen.</p>
<h2>Longer charges</h2>
<p>From alkaline batteries for small electronics to lithium-ion batteries for cars and laptops, most people already use batteries in many aspects of their daily lives. But there is still lots of room for growth. </p>
<p>For example, high-capacity batteries with long discharge times – up to 10 hours – could be valuable for storing solar power at night or increasing the range of electric vehicles. Right now there are very few such batteries in use. However, according to <a href="https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy21osti/77449.pdf">recent projections</a>, upwards of 100 gigawatts’ worth of these batteries will likely be installed by 2050. For comparison, that’s <a href="https://powerauthority.org/about-us/history-of-hoover/">50 times the generating capacity of Hoover Dam</a>. This could have a major impact on the viability of renewable energy.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9OVtk6G2TnQ?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Batteries work by creating a chemical reaction that produces a flow of electrical current.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>One of the biggest obstacles is limited supplies of lithium and cobalt, which currently are essential for making lightweight, powerful batteries. According to <a href="https://www.mining.com/electric-cars-dreams-may-shattered-2050-lack-cobalt-lithium-supplies/">some estimates</a>, around 10% of the world’s lithium and nearly all of the world’s cobalt reserves will be depleted by 2050. </p>
<p>Furthermore, nearly 70% of the world’s cobalt is mined in the Congo, under conditions that have long been documented as <a href="https://www.cfr.org/blog/why-cobalt-mining-drc-needs-urgent-attention">inhumane</a>. </p>
<p>Scientists are working to develop techniques for <a href="https://cen.acs.org/materials/energy-storage/time-serious-recycling-lithium/97/i28">recycling lithium and cobalt batteries</a>, and to design batteries based on other materials. Tesla plans to produce <a href="https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/CES-2021/Cheaper-Tesla-Panasonic-to-develop-cobalt-free-battery">cobalt-free</a> batteries within the next few years. Others aim to <a href="https://spectrum.ieee.org/energywise/energy/batteries-storage/sodium-ion-batteries-poised-to-pick-off-large-scale-lithium-applications">replace lithium with sodium</a>, which has properties very similar to lithium’s but is much more abundant. </p>
<h2>Safer batteries</h2>
<p>Another priority is to make batteries safer. One area for improvement is electrolytes – the medium, often liquid, that <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OVtk6G2TnQ">allows an electric charge to flow</a> from the battery’s anode, or negative terminal, to the cathode, or positive terminal. </p>
<p>When a battery is in use, charged particles in the electrolyte move around to balance out the charge of the electricity flowing out of the battery. Electrolytes often contain flammable materials. If they leak, the battery can overheat and catch fire or melt.</p>
<p>Scientists are developing solid electrolytes, which would make batteries more robust. It is much harder for particles to move around through solids than through liquids, but <a href="https://news.mit.edu/2019/enriching-solid-state-batteries-jennifer-rupp-mit-0711">encouraging lab-scale results</a> suggest that these batteries could be ready for use in electric vehicles in the coming years, with target dates for <a href="https://www.spglobal.com/marketintelligence/en/news-insights/latest-news-headlines/shift-to-solid-state-batteries-could-be-seamless-experts-say-64837445">commercialization</a> as early as 2026.</p>
<p>While solid-state batteries would be well suited for consumer electronics and electric vehicles, for large-scale energy storage, scientists are pursuing all-liquid designs called <a href="https://flowbatteryforum.com/what-is-a-flow-battery/">flow batteries</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/417679/original/file-20210824-19094-cbzuf8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Flow battery diagram." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/417679/original/file-20210824-19094-cbzuf8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/417679/original/file-20210824-19094-cbzuf8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417679/original/file-20210824-19094-cbzuf8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417679/original/file-20210824-19094-cbzuf8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417679/original/file-20210824-19094-cbzuf8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=529&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417679/original/file-20210824-19094-cbzuf8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=529&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417679/original/file-20210824-19094-cbzuf8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=529&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A typical flow battery consists of two tanks of liquids that are pumped past a membrane held between two electrodes.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://doi.org/10.1116/1.4983210">Qi and Koenig, 2017</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In these devices both the electrolyte and the electrodes are liquids. This allows for super-fast charging and makes it easy to make really big batteries. Currently these systems are very expensive, but research continues to <a href="https://cleantechnica.com/2021/01/25/researchers-claim-redox-flow-battery-breakthrough-will-cost-25-per-kwh-or-less/">bring down the price</a>. </p>
<h2>Storing sunlight as heat</h2>
<p>Other renewable energy storage solutions cost less than batteries in some cases. For example, <a href="https://www.power-technology.com/projects/crescent-dunes-solar-energy-project-nevada/">concentrated solar power plants</a> use mirrors to <a href="https://www.energy.gov/eere/solar/concentrating-solar-thermal-power-basics">concentrate sunlight</a>, which heats up hundreds or thousands of tons of salt until it melts. This molten salt then is used to drive an electric generator, much as coal or nuclear power is used to heat steam and drive a generator in traditional plants. </p>
<p>These heated materials can also be stored to produce electricity when it is cloudy, or even at night. This approach allows concentrated solar power to work around the clock. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/417670/original/file-20210824-17317-151xkgy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Man examines valve at end of large piping network." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/417670/original/file-20210824-17317-151xkgy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/417670/original/file-20210824-17317-151xkgy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417670/original/file-20210824-17317-151xkgy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417670/original/file-20210824-17317-151xkgy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417670/original/file-20210824-17317-151xkgy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417670/original/file-20210824-17317-151xkgy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417670/original/file-20210824-17317-151xkgy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Checking a molten salt valve for corrosion at Sandia’s Molten Salt Test Loop.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://flic.kr/p/2jRm5fQ">Randy Montoya, Sandia Labs/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This idea could be adapted for use with nonsolar power generation technologies. For example, electricity made with wind power could be used to heat salt for use later when it isn’t windy. </p>
<p>Concentrating solar power is still relatively expensive. To compete with other forms of energy generation and storage, it needs to become more efficient. One way to achieve this is to increase the temperature the salt is heated to, enabling more efficient electricity production. Unfortunately, the salts currently in use aren’t stable at high temperatures. Researchers are working to develop new salts or other materials that can withstand temperatures as high as 1,300 degrees Fahrenheit (705 C). </p>
<p>One leading idea for how to reach higher temperature involves heating up sand instead of salt, which can withstand the higher temperature. The sand would then be moved with conveyor belts from the heating point to storage. The Department of Energy recently announced funding for a <a href="https://www.energy.gov/eere/solar/generation-3-concentrating-solar-power-systems-gen3-csp">pilot concentrated solar power plant</a> based on this concept.</p>
<h2>Advanced renewable fuels</h2>
<p>Batteries are useful for short-term energy storage, and concentrated solar power plants could help stabilize the electric grid. However, utilities also need to store a lot of energy for indefinite amounts of time. This is a role for renewable fuels like <a href="https://www.energy.gov/eere/fuelcells/hydrogen-fuel-basics">hydrogen</a> and <a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/07/ammonia-renewable-fuel-made-sun-air-and-water-could-power-globe-without-carbon">ammonia</a>. Utilities would store energy in these fuels by producing them with surplus power, when wind turbines and solar panels are generating more electricity than the utilities’ customers need.</p>
<p>Hydrogen and ammonia contain more energy per pound than batteries, so they work where batteries don’t. For example, they could be used <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-53238512">for shipping heavy loads and running heavy equipment</a>, and for <a href="https://spaceaustralia.com/feature/renewable-rocket-fuels-going-green-and-space">rocket fuel</a>. </p>
<p>Today these fuels are mostly made from natural gas or other nonrenewable <a href="https://www.energy.gov/eere/fuelcells/hydrogen-resources#:%7E:text=Currently%2C%20most%20hydrogen%20is%20produced,more%20directly%20to%20generate%20hydrogen.">fossil fuels</a> via extremely inefficient reactions. While we think of it as a green fuel, most hydrogen gas today is made from natural gas. </p>
<p>Scientists are looking for ways to produce hydrogen and other fuels using renewable electricity. For example, it is possible to make hydrogen fuel by <a href="https://www.technologynetworks.com/applied-sciences/news/a-recipe-for-entirely-renewable-clean-energy-350656">splitting water molecules</a> using electricity. The key challenge is optimizing the process to make it efficient and economical. The potential payoff is enormous: inexhaustible, completely renewable energy.</p>
<p>[<em>Understand new developments in science, health and technology, each week.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/science-editors-picks-71/?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=science-understand">Subscribe to The Conversation’s science newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/161564/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kerry Rippy does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The US is generating more electricity than ever from wind and solar power – but often it’s not needed at the time it’s produced. Advanced energy storage technologies make that power available 24/7.Kerry Rippy, Researcher, National Renewable Energy LaboratoryLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1629872021-07-15T13:29:34Z2021-07-15T13:29:34ZWhy green hydrogen — but not grey — could help solve climate change<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/411069/original/file-20210713-25-15okrjh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=143%2C119%2C7664%2C4395&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Green hydrogen has unprecedented support from business and political leaders. But several challenges remain.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>What if you could drive your car for 1,000 kilometres on a <a href="https://newsroom.toyota.eu/toyota-mirai-breaks-world-record-for-distance-driven-with-one-fill-of-hydrogen/">single tank of fuel</a> and with zero emissions? That is just one example of what is possible in a hydrogen economy.</p>
<p>After decades of development, hydrogen and renewable electricity are poised to revolutionize the global energy system, enabling climate-friendly solutions. When combined with digital technologies, they will trigger economic growth as transportation, telecommunications and civil infrastructures become smart and interconnected.</p>
<p>In a post-pandemic world, several countries have included <a href="https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/hydrogen/use-of-hydrogen.php">hydrogen fuel</a> in their national recovery strategies. <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/services/environment/weather/climatechange/climate-plan/net-zero-emissions-2050.html">Canada</a> and the <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-uk-is-now-halfway-to-meeting-its-net-zero-emissions-target">United Kingdom</a> have incorporated net-zero targets and <a href="https://thelogic.co/news/the-big-read/canada-is-falling-behind-other-leading-economies-on-mandatory-climate-disclosures-for-businesses/">disclosures to climate risk</a> into national legislation. By identifying hydrogen’s role explicitly, the world is creating an international market for related zero-carbon solutions. </p>
<p>I have worked on hydrogen energy systems since 1993, and I have never seen such rapid changes in hydrogen policy, markets and technologies.</p>
<h2>Carbon intensity is colour blind</h2>
<p>Hydrogen is a zero-carbon fuel, and it comes in three basic colours: grey, blue and green. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.rechargenews.com/energy-transition/green-hydrogen-will-be-cost-competitive-with-grey-h2-by-2030-without-a-carbon-price/2-1-1001867">Grey hydrogen can be produced inexpensively</a> using coal or natural gas, but it has a significant carbon footprint. Most of the grey hydrogen produced today is made by a process called steam methane reforming, which generates between <a href="https://iea.blob.core.windows.net/assets/29b027e5-fefc-47df-aed0-456b1bb38844/IEA-The-Future-of-Hydrogen-Assumptions-Annex_CORR.pdf">nine kilograms</a> and <a href="https://www.pembina.org/reports/hydrogen-climate-primer-2020.pdf">12 kilograms</a> of carbon dioxide for each kilogram of hydrogen produced. Grey hydrogen can turn “blue” when most of these carbon emissions are captured and, for example, sequestered underground. </p>
<p>Green hydrogen is more expensive to produce, but it can be manufactured with zero emissions using renewable electricity to split water into oxygen and hydrogen. Globally, <a href="https://iea.blob.core.windows.net/assets/9e3a3493-b9a6-4b7d-b499-7ca48e357561/The_Future_of_Hydrogen.pdf">less than two per cent of hydrogen</a> is produced this way.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Graphic showing the green, grey and blue hydrogen." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/411329/original/file-20210714-13-1t1h4fs.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/411329/original/file-20210714-13-1t1h4fs.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=270&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411329/original/file-20210714-13-1t1h4fs.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=270&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411329/original/file-20210714-13-1t1h4fs.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=270&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411329/original/file-20210714-13-1t1h4fs.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=340&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411329/original/file-20210714-13-1t1h4fs.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=340&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411329/original/file-20210714-13-1t1h4fs.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=340&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The basic colours of hydrogen. Cleaner hydrogen produces less carbon dioxide, but it is more expensive.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Walter Mérida/Data: PEMBINA, IEA)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Many other colours have been added to the palette, but the focus on colour is a distraction. What really matters is the carbon intensity of the production process — that is, the tonnes of carbon produced for each tonne of hydrogen.</p>
<p>Hydrogen can be burned like any other fuel in cars, ships and airplanes, but because it does not contain carbon, it will not produce CO2 emissions. More importantly, it can also power fuel cells that convert hydrogen into clean electricity directly. This feature will trigger a revolution in portable, urban and autonomous power over long distances.</p>
<p>Challenges to widespread hydrogen adoption include the lack of a refuelling and distribution infrastructure, embryonic and evolving safety standards, and high costs. Most of these challenges are being addressed as the number and scale of demonstration projects increases. </p>
<h2>A global market</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://hydrogencouncil.com/en/study-hydrogen-scaling-up/">Hydrogen Council, a global industry group, estimates</a> that by 2050 hydrogen will represent 18 per cent of the energy delivered to end users, avoid six gigatonnes of carbon emissions annually, enable US$2.5 trillion in annual sales and create 30 million jobs globally. </p>
<p>This month, British Columbia announced it would be the first province in Canada to introduce a <a href="https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2021EMLI0045-001306">hydrogen strategy</a> to reduce emissions and create jobs. Other, similar strategies already exist elsewhere in the world. Canada may be late to the game, but it still has a chance to become a hydrogen powerhouse.</p>
<p>In the wake of a 750-billion euro recovery plan, the European Commission unveiled “<a href="https://ec.europa.eu/energy/sites/ener/files/hydrogen_strategy.pdf">A hydrogen strategy for a climate-neutral Europe</a>.” Its investments in water electrolysis alone could be 24 billion to 42 billion euros by 2030. Hydrogen was also the focus of the first <a href="https://www.energy.gov/articles/secretary-granholm-launches-hydrogen-energy-earthshot-accelerate-breakthroughs-toward-net">Energy Earthshot</a> announced in June by the U.S. Department of Energy, and national hydrogen strategies have been developed by Japan, Germany, South Korea and Australia. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-is-at-a-crossroads-in-the-global-hydrogen-race-and-one-path-looks-risky-157864">Australia is at a crossroads in the global hydrogen race – and one path looks risky</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Canada unveiled its <a href="https://www.nrcan.gc.ca/climate-change/the-hydrogen-strategy/23080">Hydrogen Strategy</a> in December 2020. The government says that the clean fuel sector could be worth <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/canada-unveils-hydrogen-strategy-kick-start-clean-fuel-industry-2020-12-16/">$50 billion</a>, create 350,000 green jobs and help Canada reach its net-zero targets by 2050. In June, Canada launched a <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/natural-resources-canada/news/2021/06/minister-oregan-launches-call-for-proposals-under-15-billion-clean-fuels-fund-to-grow-clean-fuels-market-across-canada.html">$1.5-billion Clean Fuels Fund</a> to increase domestic capacity to produce low-carbon fuels, including hydrogen.</p>
<p>In March, Canada and Germany signed a <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/sustainable-business/germany-canada-agree-explore-green-hydrogen-development-2021-03-16/">co-operation agreement</a> to explore hydrogen development. Germany’s <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/sustainable-business/germany-prepares-set-up-hydrogen-accord-with-australia-2021-06-13/">nine-billion euro hydrogen strategy</a> estimates that it will import 80 per cent of the hydrogen it requires.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/411063/original/file-20210713-27-obmynu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="map showing locations of green-hydrogen projects" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/411063/original/file-20210713-27-obmynu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/411063/original/file-20210713-27-obmynu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=313&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411063/original/file-20210713-27-obmynu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=313&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411063/original/file-20210713-27-obmynu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=313&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411063/original/file-20210713-27-obmynu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411063/original/file-20210713-27-obmynu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411063/original/file-20210713-27-obmynu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Largest green hydrogen projects under consideration as of December 2020. Their completion will depend on finding adequate market conditions.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.rechargenews.com/energy-transition/global-green-hydrogen-pipeline-exceeds-250gw-heres-the-26-largest-gigawatt-scale-projects/2-1-933755">(Walter Mérida/Data: Recharge News)</a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>More recently, <a href="https://www.atco.com/en-ca/about-us/news/2021/122920-suncor-and-atco-partner-on-a-potential-world-scale-clean-hydroge.html">Canadian energy companies made several announcements</a>, including plans for a $1.3-billion <a href="https://www.airproducts.com/news-center/2021/06/0609-air-products-net-zero-hydrogen-energy-complex-in-edmonton-alberta-canada">hydrogen energy complex</a> in Edmonton.</p>
<p>Beyond guilt-free driving, hydrogen may enable Canada to respond to the global demand for solutions as the world embarks on a transformational energy transition.</p>
<h2>Canada’s opportunity</h2>
<p>Canada could become a leading blue and green hydrogen exporter.</p>
<p>Our country has been a global leader in <a href="http://www.chfca.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/GOC-CDA-Leadership-HFC_en_4pager_WEB1.pdf">hydrogen technologies</a> for more than a century. Commercial products based on these technologies are running cars, buses and trains around the world. </p>
<p>Canada is the world’s <a href="https://www.hydropower.org/country-profiles/canada">fourth-largest producer of hydro power</a> and <a href="https://www.brucepower.com/thegrid/">Ontario hosts one of the largest operating nuclear plants</a> in the world. Both sources of zero-carbon electricity can enable green hydrogen production. Canada also has the <a href="https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/farming-natural-resources-and-industry/natural-gas-oil/ccs/2008_hartling.pdf">right geology</a> for large-scale carbon sequestration to transform grey hydrogen into blue. </p>
<p>British Columbia, Manitoba, Québec and Ontario could export green hydrogen made using hydro or nuclear electricity. Alberta can repurpose its oil and gas infrastructure and labour force to produce blue hydrogen at <a href="https://transitionaccelerator.ca/towards-net-zero-energy-systems-in-canada-a-key-role-for-hydrogen/">globally competitive prices</a> </p>
<p>Scaling up investment and increasing domestic hydrogen demand will be critical to trigger local economic development, maintain Canada’s leadership and respond to global market signals. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A man filling a vehicle fuel tank from a hydrogen pump" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/411065/original/file-20210713-17-1vv2q6y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/411065/original/file-20210713-17-1vv2q6y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411065/original/file-20210713-17-1vv2q6y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411065/original/file-20210713-17-1vv2q6y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411065/original/file-20210713-17-1vv2q6y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411065/original/file-20210713-17-1vv2q6y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411065/original/file-20210713-17-1vv2q6y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Air Products recently inaugurated a hydrogen fuelling station in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Amr Nabil)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Like the <a href="https://www.bmbf.de/files/bmwi_Nationale%20Wasserstoffstrategie_Eng_s01.pdf">national hydrogen strategies unveiled by Germany</a>, <a href="https://www.meti.go.jp/english/press/2017/pdf/1226_003b.pdf">Japan</a> and <a href="https://www.iea.org/countries/korea">South Korea</a>, these initiatives are creating an international market for hydrogen — especially green hydrogen. Many countries <a href="https://www.h2-view.com/story/port-of-rotterdam-and-chile-ink-green-hydrogen-agreement/">including Chile</a>, <a href="https://www.industry.gov.au/data-and-publications/australias-national-hydrogen-strategy">Australia</a> and <a href="https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/us-firm-unveils-worlds-largest-green-hydrogen-project">Saudi Arabia</a> are reacting to satisfy the predicted demand. </p>
<h2>Steps in the right direction</h2>
<p>At the end of June, Canada’s Senate <a href="https://ipolitics.ca/2021/06/29/senate-passes-emissions-targets-bill/">approved Bill C-12</a>, writing our national greenhouse gas emissions targets into law. The carbon tax and clean fuels initiative represent additional steps to create the incentives and regulatory certainty needed to promote private investment. In <a href="https://www.budget.gc.ca/2021/report-rapport/p2-en.html#114">Budget 2021</a>, Canada also proposed a tax credit for investments in carbon capture, use and storage technologies. </p>
<p>Informed by a <a href="https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/IF11455.pdf">similar measure in the United States</a>, the tax credit will explicitly “support hydrogen production.” A <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/department-finance/programs/consultations/2021/investment-tax-credit-carbon-capture-utilization-storage.html">public consultation</a> is open until Sept. 7, providing an opportunity to refine and harmonize the role of hydrogen in Canada’s energy transition.</p>
<p>Beyond powering clean cars, the links between hydrogen and renewable electricity can decarbonize seasonal energy storage, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/kensilverstein/2021/01/25/we-could-be-making-steel-from-green-hydrogen-using-less-coal/?sh=76a11ee83e5c">steel manufacturing</a>, <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/home-is-where-the-hydrogen-boiler-or-heat-pump-is-j23r2ps2p">urban and industrial heating</a> <a href="https://www.airbus.com/newsroom/press-releases/en/2020/09/airbus-reveals-new-zeroemission-concept-aircraft.html">and aviation</a>. Such links will trigger a revolution in the digital technologies required to monitor, control, trace and certify smart and sustainable energy systems. </p>
<p>By leading the way in hydrogen and digital technologies, Canada has a golden opportunity to pivot from a resource economy to a low-carbon economy in a single generation.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/162987/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Walter Mérida receives funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the Canada Foundation for Innovation, Western Economic Diversification Canada, Natural Resources Canada, the B.C. Knowledge Foundation, and MITACS. He serves on the Board of Directors for the Canadian Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Association, and the Climate Change Advisory Board for Toronto Dominion Insurance.</span></em></p>Hydrogen could replace fossil fuels, but it’s only as clean as the techniques used to produce it. Almost all production comes from high-carbon sources, but new investments could change that.Walter Mérida, Associate Dean of Research for Applied Science, University of British ColumbiaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1629072021-06-20T13:10:59Z2021-06-20T13:10:59ZHow shipping ports are being reinvented for the green energy transition<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407119/original/file-20210617-21-13iv5ut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=35%2C0%2C4000%2C2167&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">La Havre, France, at sunset, with the port in the background. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>When it comes to launching the <a href="https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02154745">energy transition</a>, maritime policy is one of the key battlegrounds. But many ports, aware of their ecological and economic vulnerability, have committed to sustainable development strategies.</p>
<p>According to <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2019/01/sea-level-rise-may-not-become-catastrophic-until-after-2100/579478/">the latest research</a>, sea levels will rise considerably (from 1.1 to 2 metres, on average) by 2100, putting about <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-020-00937-z">14 per cent of the world’s major maritime ports</a> at risk of coastal flooding and erosion. Ports in France, including 66 that are used for maritime trade, <a href="https://www.ouest-france.fr/bretagne/brest-29200/entretien-brest-les-ports-pourront-etre-vulnerables-la-montee-des-eaux-6712490">are also under threat</a>, and will have to <a href="https://www.cerema.fr/fr/actualites/resilience-infrastructures-transport-face-au-changement">adapt their infrastructure</a>.</p>
<p>Maritime transport accounts for about <a href="https://unctad.org/webflyer/review-maritime-transport-2018">80 per cent of global merchandise trade by volume</a>. Shipping is responsible for <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-shipping-environment-imo-idUSKCN2502AY">three per cent of global CO2 emissions</a>, which have increased <a href="https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/headlines/society/20191129STO67756/emissions-from-planes-and-ships-facts-and-figures-infographic">32 per cent over the past 20 years</a>. If nothing is done, shipping emissions could <a href="https://www.transportenvironment.org/press/shipping-emissions-17-global-co2-making-it-elephant-climate-negotiations-room">climb to 17 per cent of global emissions</a> by 2050.</p>
<p>Enter the “<a href="https://www.portdufutur.fr/les-assises/edition-2020">ports of the future</a>.” Ports govern globalized economic activity and are true “energy hubs,” bringing together all kinds of transport (maritime, land-based, waterway and aeronautic). Now, they’re aiming to cut back on real estate, be more respectful of the environment and better integrated into cities, particularly through the concept of “urban ports.”</p>
<h2>Freedom from oil</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.globalmaritimeforum.org/news/the-scale-of-investment-needed-to-decarbonize-international-shipping">At least US$1 trillion</a> will have to be invested between 2030 and 2050 to reduce shipping’s carbon footprint by 50 per cent by 2050. As of last year, oil-derived fuels accounted for <a href="https://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/transport-increasing-oil-consumption-and">95 per cent energy consumption in transportation</a>. Meanwhile, maritime traffic is predicted to increase by 35 to 40 per cent over the same period.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Qm2uxiOfzEA?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Ports and their environment. The case of Antwerp. (Université Bretagne Sud/YouTube, July 12, 2019).</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This dependence on hydrocarbons also represents an economic vulnerability for the maritime shipping sector due to new environmental standards.</p>
<p>In France, <a href="https://www.statistiques.developpement-durable.gouv.fr/chiffres-cles-du-transport-edition-2020">liquid bulk transport has been in decline since 2009</a> (decreasing three per cent on average since 2016), despite a slight uptick in 2017 (2.1 per cent). Fuel shipping (<a href="https://www.igf.finances.gouv.fr/files/live/sites/igf/files/contributed/IGF%20internet/2.RapportsPublics/2018/2018-M-040-06_La%20tranformation%20du%20modele%20economique%20des%20GPM.pdf">50 per cent of shipping by weight</a> in major maritime ports) has also decreased by 25 per cent since 2008.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/10/15/923592572/the-end-of-oil-battle-lines-drawn-as-industry-grapples-with-energys-future">The golden age of oil cannot will not hold for much longer</a>, given its environmental impact and increasing scarcity. As the consumption of hydrocarbons and coal drops, we should also see a steady decrease in fuel shipping.</p>
<p>The French government’s <a href="https://www.ecologie.gouv.fr/sites/default/files/Projet%20SNBC%20EN.pdf">National Low-Carbon Strategy</a> (“Stratégie nationale bas carbone,” or SNBC) aims to reduce emissions from the industrial sector by 35 per cent by 2030 and 81 per cent by 2050. This will mean a nearly complete decarbonization of maritime transport, creating a real technological challenge for the sector.</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/369797/original/file-20201117-13-180ibt9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/369797/original/file-20201117-13-180ibt9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/369797/original/file-20201117-13-180ibt9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/369797/original/file-20201117-13-180ibt9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/369797/original/file-20201117-13-180ibt9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/369797/original/file-20201117-13-180ibt9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/369797/original/file-20201117-13-180ibt9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong><em>This story is part of <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/oceans-21-96784">Oceans 21</a></em></strong>
<br><em>Our series on the global ocean opened with <a href="https://oceans21.netlify.app/">five in-depth profiles</a>. Look out for new articles on the state of our oceans in the lead up to the UN’s next climate conference, COP26. The series is brought to you by The Conversation’s international network.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>To meet these targets, ports are working to become carbon-neutral by redesigning their logistical operations (flow management) and means of production (value creation), as part of an industrial reconversion approach. They’re banking on new environmental technologies to generate a double dividend, both environmental and economic.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/270880634_La_gouvernance_Port-Ville_face_aux_enjeux_d%27une_societe_bas_carbone_illustration_avec_le_cas_de_Marseille-Fos_Capsule_Prospective">Three approaches</a> could be used to achieve these goals: energy efficiency, renewable energy production and industrial ecology.</p>
<h2>Building the ships of tomorrow</h2>
<p>A <a href="https://racetozero.unfccc.int/shipping-needs-5-zero-carbon-fuels-by-2030-to-meet-green-goal/">2021 study by the Getting to Zero coalition</a> found that zero-carbon fuels had to represent at least five per cent of the fuel mix by 2030 for international shipping to comply with the Paris Agreement. <a href="https://gtt.fr/news/gtt-helping-make-maritime-transport-cleaner">Around 100,000</a> commercial vessels will be affected by this energy transition, according to GTT, a company specializing in the transportation and storage of liquefied natural gas (LNG).</p>
<p>In this vein, an ambitious environmental certification program, <a href="https://www.actu-environnement.com/ae/news/transport-maritime-label-environnemental-green-marine-europe-35405.php4">Green Marine Europe</a>, launched in 2020 in order to create the European maritime industry of tomorrow.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-shipping-ports-can-become-more-sustainable-156483">How shipping ports can become more sustainable</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p><a href="https://market-insights.upply.com/fr/les-solutions-techniques-pour-verdir-le-transport-maritime">New fuels</a> with smaller carbon footprints, such as liquefied natural gas, ammonia and ethanol, and the accelerated adoption of alternative propulsion systems will be needed for the sector to become greener. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/397017/original/file-20210426-19-1kfqkra.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/397017/original/file-20210426-19-1kfqkra.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397017/original/file-20210426-19-1kfqkra.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397017/original/file-20210426-19-1kfqkra.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397017/original/file-20210426-19-1kfqkra.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397017/original/file-20210426-19-1kfqkra.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397017/original/file-20210426-19-1kfqkra.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In 2020, Bordeaux’s port was fitted out with an LNG-powered dredger, which requires less energy and is more environmentally friendly, thanks to its water injection-dredging mechanism.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Delphine Trentacosta)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Hydrogen fuel (<a href="https://energy-cities.eu/50-shades-of-grey-and-blue-and-green-hydrogen/">initially “grey,” now increasingly “green”</a>) represents another viable alternative in the medium-term for fleets subjected to heavy rotation. Although the project is currently in its early stages (involving small vessels of 60-80 seats), more ambitious initiatives have been launched, such as the <a href="https://cmb.tech/hydrotug-project">Hydrotug boat in construction</a> for the port of Antwerp.</p>
<p>The arrival of steam-powered engines put an end to the use of large wind-propelled clippers in the late 1800s. But technologies that harness the wind could make a major comeback, with ships using <a href="https://daily.jstor.org/wind-power-returns-to-the-shipping-industry/">sails and kites</a> to reduce fuel use.</p>
<h2>Offshore wind turbines, a promising solution</h2>
<p>Developing electric facilities and technology is also essential to the energy transition, whether through <a href="https://e360.yale.edu/features/europe-takes-first-steps-in-electrifying-worlds-shipping-fleets">electrified wharfs</a>, turning port <a href="https://www.pole-mer-bretagne-atlantique.com/fr/ressources-energetiques-et-minieres-marines/project/2603">seawalls into energy producers</a>, or developing <a href="https://innovationorigins.com/en/new-eu-project-all-electric-car-ferries-instead-of-diesel/">electric ferries</a> that use solar power, bioenergy or marine power.</p>
<p>As the energy transition progresses, we will see ports go from consuming large quantities of a single energy source to using multiple energy sources and becoming electricity producers.</p>
<p>On that note, offshore wind turbines will profoundly change French coasts over the coming years. The first sites will be near ports (with the first French offshore 80-turbine wind farm due to launch in Saint-Nazaire in 2022). In the medium term, the objective is to reach a capacity of 5.2 to 6.5 Gigawatts of offshore wind energy in France by 2028.</p>
<p>This technology brings a new <a href="https://www.actu-environnement.com/ae/news/travaux-ports-parcs-eolien-mer-36341.php4">vibrancy to port areas</a> in search of industrial diversification, optimized real estate revenue and local expertise (construction and maintenance operations).</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.offshorewind.biz/2021/04/15/le-havre-port-upgrading-quay-for-siemens-gamesas-offshore-wind-turbine-plant/">forthcoming offshore wind farm near Quai Hermann du Pasquier in the city of Le Havre</a>, which will launch in 2022, is being presented as the “biggest industrial renewable energy project in France,” and symbolizes the port’s industrial and energetic transition. What’s more, after 53 years of service, the <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/france-electricity-coal-idUSL8N23E254">thermal power station in this area</a>, which used 220 tonnes of coal daily, closed down on 31 March 2021.</p>
<p>Finally, it should be noted that offshore wind farms represent an opportunity for ports to produce their own hydrogen by electrolysing seawater.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xbGjQzrRLhc?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Le Havre: on site at the foundations of an offshore wind farm (France 3 Normandie/YouTube, 23 October 2020)</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Bringing city and port closer together</h2>
<p>The energy transition forces governments to <a href="http://revues.uqac.ca/index.php/revueot/article/view/250/178">reconsider the connections between city and port</a>. Development projects based on an entirely oil-based economy and the globalized boom in shipping container transport in the second half of the 20th century <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-36464-9_15">disconnected city and port at every level</a>. Ports were removed from urban settings due to a lack of space, with huge industrial port zones created on the city’s outskirts.</p>
<p>Now this separation is being questioned, marking the return of the port as a space that’s open to the rest of the city.</p>
<p>For port cities, where ships coexist with residents, industry, businesses and tourism, pollution has <a href="https://www.laprovence.com/article/societe/5956524/marseille-les-riverains-du-port-au-bord-de-la-crise-de-nerfs.html">motivated citizens into action</a>. Local environmentalism has <a href="https://papyrus.bib.umontreal.ca/xmlui/handle/1866/20451">pushed ports to become open to cities</a>, by promoting the development of <a href="https://reports.weforum.org/toward-the-circular-economy-accelerating-the-scale-up-across-global-supply-chains/from-linear-to-circular-accelerating-a-proven-concept/">circular economies</a> and <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/earth-and-planetary-sciences/industrial-ecology">industrial ecology</a>.</p>
<p>Many ports have launched energy transition projects, aiming to transform <a href="https://www.cairn.info/revue-d-economie-regionale-et-urbaine-2017-5-page-857.htm">city-port relations</a>. The port area is turning out to be an excellent setting to try out new practices founded on greater co-operation between local players.</p>
<p>In La Rochelle, for example, environmental and energy-based issues provided an opportunity to start a shared, collaborative discussion about the future of the metropolitan area. The <a href="https://www.larochelle-zerocarbone.fr/">La Rochelle Zero Carbon Territory</a> project, where the greater urban area aims to become carbon neutral by 2040, the energy transition is being undertaken through concerted planning between the city and its port. The port <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOr9dJXWyks&t=108s">has committed to initiatives that limit its environmental and energy-related impact</a>, while providing benefits to <a href="https://www.economiecirculaire.org/articles/h/la-demarche-mer-matieres-energies-rochelaises-du-port-atlantique-la-rochelle-se-structure-en-association.html">the local economy</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/397036/original/file-20210426-23-1s8zk0j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/397036/original/file-20210426-23-1s8zk0j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397036/original/file-20210426-23-1s8zk0j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397036/original/file-20210426-23-1s8zk0j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397036/original/file-20210426-23-1s8zk0j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=564&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397036/original/file-20210426-23-1s8zk0j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=564&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397036/original/file-20210426-23-1s8zk0j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=564&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The roof of the submarine base in the La Rochelle port was fitted out with 7,580 solar panels in 2018.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Olivier Benoît)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In Le Havre, as in <a href="https://www.europe-en-nouvelle-aquitaine.eu/fr/actualit%C3%A9s/le-port-de-bordeaux-bruxelles-pour-pixel-un-projet-de-ports-du-futur-soutenu-par-h2020">Bordeaux</a> and elsewhere, this city-port interconnection is being strengthened by combining energy-related challenges and digital opportunities.</p>
<p>In time, this should lead to the birth of “<a href="https://www.univ-lehavre.fr/spip.php?article1658">smart port cities</a>” (connecting “smart cities” with the “ports of the future”), for a “new model for urban and industrial port areas, blended together by innovation.”</p>
<h2>Making ports the site of modern energy</h2>
<p>Although the environmental challenge is clearly huge and complicated, this energy transition gives us the opportunity to reinterpret ports as laboratories, and to test new practices and technologies. Case in point: the Port of Rotterdam <a href="https://www.offshore-energy.biz/port-of-rotterdam-cuts-co2-emissions-by-27-pct/">decreased its CO2 emissions by 27 per cent</a> between 2016 and 2020.</p>
<p>Ports have always been <a href="http://www.musee-marine.fr/sites/default/files/dossier_pedagogique_ri_1er_degre_24.02.15.pdf">showcases of industrial revolution</a>, with the arrival of steam, propellers and then metal hulls. They often feature the most recent energy-related technology, <a href="https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/l-anse-des-pilotes-et-le-brise-lames-est-le-havre-apr%C3%A8s-midi-temps-ensoleill%C3%A9/CwGQjVm4zEz-dw?hl=fr">as shown by the painting of the port of Le Havre, by Camille Pissarro</a>.</p>
<p>Now it’s up to them to keep this legacy alive, as true gateways to a more durable and resilient economy.</p>
<p><em>Translated from French by Rosie Marsland for <a href="http://www.fastforword.fr/en">Fast ForWord</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/162907/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sylvain Roche does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Carbon emissions from maritime shipping and port activities are on the rise. But city ports are finding ways to reduce their carbon footprints and reconnect with nearby cities.Sylvain Roche, Enseignement-chercheur associé, transition énergétique et territoriale, Sciences Po BordeauxLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1578642021-03-29T19:04:46Z2021-03-29T19:04:46ZAustralia is at a crossroads in the global hydrogen race – and one path looks risky<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/392157/original/file-20210329-15-1rpng8q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=674%2C0%2C3731%2C2127&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>There’s great excitement about Australia potentially producing hydrogen as a clean fuel at large scale, for export to countries such as Germany, Japan and South Korea. </p>
<p>Hydrogen (H₂) is a useful energy carrier, and doesn’t release greenhouse gas when that energy is recovered. But carbon dioxide (CO₂) can be emitted when hydrogen is produced, depending on whether the process uses renewable energy or fossil fuels.</p>
<p>Dr Alan Finkel – the federal government’s special adviser on low-emissions technology and a former chief scientist – <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-03-12/hydrogen-from-coal-production-begins-la-trobe-valley/13241482">said</a> this month: “The world’s going to need a lot of hydrogen, and so the more ways we can get that hydrogen the better”.</p>
<p>But <a href="https://ccep.crawford.anu.edu.au/sites/default/files/publication/ccep_crawford_anu_edu_au/2021-03/ccep_2103_clean_hydrogen_0.pdf">our analysis</a>, released today, shows producing hydrogen from fossil fuels carries significant risks. The process can emit substantial greenhouse gas emissions – and capturing these emissions at a high rate may make the process more expensive than hydrogen produced from renewable energy. These findings have big implications as Australia looks to become a hydrogen superpower.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="solar panels, wind turbine, H2 storage" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/392162/original/file-20210329-13-f2w4qy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/392162/original/file-20210329-13-f2w4qy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=297&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392162/original/file-20210329-13-f2w4qy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=297&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392162/original/file-20210329-13-f2w4qy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=297&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392162/original/file-20210329-13-f2w4qy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=373&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392162/original/file-20210329-13-f2w4qy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=373&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392162/original/file-20210329-13-f2w4qy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=373&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Renewables or fossil fuels? The way hydrogen is produced makes a big difference to its emissions intensity.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>‘Clean’ hydrogen from coal or gas?</h2>
<p>Zero-emissions “green hydrogen” is produced via the electrolysis of water, when the process is powered by renewable energy.</p>
<p>Hydrogen can also be produced from fossil fuels – including coal and gas. This can leads to a lot of CO₂ emissions, even when some carbon is captured and stored.</p>
<p>Several strategy documents leave the door open for Australia to produce “low-emissions” hydrogen from fossil fuels. These include the <a href="https://www.industry.gov.au/data-and-publications/australias-national-hydrogen-strategy">National Hydrogen Strategy</a> Finkel spearheaded as chief scientist, and the federal government’s <a href="https://www.industry.gov.au/data-and-publications/technology-investment-roadmap-first-low-emissions-technology-statement-2020">Technology Investment Roadmap</a>.</p>
<p>In a recent <a href="https://www.quarterlyessay.com.au/author/alan-finkel">Quarterly Essay</a>, Finkel said CO₂ from hydrogen production will need to be captured and stored – in fact, he argued, importing countries would insist on it. This, Finkel says, means hydrogen from fossil fuels would be “clean hydrogen”.</p>
<p>But rates of carbon capture and storage (CCS) vary. And the greater the rate of emissions captured and securely stored underground, the more expensive the process.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/putting-stimulus-spending-to-the-test-4-ways-a-smart-government-can-create-jobs-and-cut-emissions-140339">Putting stimulus spending to the test: 4 ways a smart government can create jobs and cut emissions</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Alan Finkel" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/392163/original/file-20210329-19-1xyb6i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/392163/original/file-20210329-19-1xyb6i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392163/original/file-20210329-19-1xyb6i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392163/original/file-20210329-19-1xyb6i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392163/original/file-20210329-19-1xyb6i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392163/original/file-20210329-19-1xyb6i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392163/original/file-20210329-19-1xyb6i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Alan Finkel is advocating a hydrogen path involving both fossil fuels and renewables.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mick Tsikas /AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A focus on emissions intensity</h2>
<p>Globally, only a few large-scale hydrogen plants currently operate, and the rates of carbon capture achieved in practice are rarely reported. </p>
<p>When assessing whether a fuel source is low-carbon, we calculate its “emissions intensity”. This refers to how many kilograms of CO₂ is associated with the energy produced.</p>
<p>Our <a href="https://ccep.crawford.anu.edu.au/sites/default/files/publication/ccep_crawford_anu_edu_au/2021-03/ccep_2103_clean_hydrogen_0.pdf">analysis</a> found the emissions intensity of fossil-fuel based hydrogen production systems are substantial, even with carbon capture. </p>
<p>For example, the production of hydrogen from coal, if 90% of emissions are captured, has an emissions intensity not much below that of using gas for the same energy content. The same goes for hydrogen from gas, with a 56% capture rate.</p>
<p><a href="https://ccep.crawford.anu.edu.au/sites/default/files/publication/ccep_crawford_anu_edu_au/2021-03/ccep_2103_clean_hydrogen_0.pdf">Our analysis</a> also takes into account so-called “fugitive emissions” released during the extraction and processing of fossil fuels. They are typically ignored, but are significant.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/for-hydrogen-to-be-truly-clean-it-must-be-made-with-renewables-not-coal-128053">For hydrogen to be truly 'clean' it must be made with renewables, not coal</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Under global accounting rules, emissions from hydrogen production will count against the producing country’s inventory. But many hydrogen importers concerned about climate change will want to know what emissions were released in production.</p>
<p>This can be done through hydrogen certification schemes. For example, the European Union has developed the CertifHy Guarantee of Origin <a href="https://www.certifhy.eu/images/media/files/CertifHy_Leaflet_final-compressed.pdf">scheme</a> which accounts for the origins of hydrogen used. It includes information on whether the hydrogen was produced using renewable or non-renewable energy sources (such as nuclear, or fossil fuels with CCS). </p>
<p>Under this scheme, only hydrogen produced from natural gas with a high carbon-capture rate (towards 90%) could be called “low-carbon” hydrogen. </p>
<p>These high capture rates are assumed in <a href="https://www.iea.org/reports/the-future-of-hydrogen">major reports</a> and national strategies – including Australia’s – but have not been achieved at a large-scale commercial plant. Japan’s Tomakomai CCS <a href="https://www.japanccs.com/en/">demonstration project</a> has achieved a 90% capture rate – but at a <a href="https://www.meti.go.jp/english/press/2020/pdf/0515_004a.pdf">very high cost</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/392194/original/file-20210329-23-1qajr2u.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/392194/original/file-20210329-23-1qajr2u.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392194/original/file-20210329-23-1qajr2u.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392194/original/file-20210329-23-1qajr2u.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392194/original/file-20210329-23-1qajr2u.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392194/original/file-20210329-23-1qajr2u.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392194/original/file-20210329-23-1qajr2u.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Emissions intensity of different fuels.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Authors Provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Now, a look at costs</h2>
<p>At the moment, producing hydrogen with fossil fuels generally costs less than producing it with renewables-powered electrolysis. But the cost of electrolysis with renewable energy is falling, and could become cheaper than fossil fuel with carbon-capture options, as the graph below shows.</p>
<p><a href="https://ccep.crawford.anu.edu.au/sites/default/files/publication/ccep_crawford_anu_edu_au/2021-03/ccep_2103_clean_hydrogen_0.pdf">Our analysis found</a> hydrogen from gas or coal costs between US$1.66 and $1.84 per kilogram without the carbon being captured and stored. This rises to between US$2.09 and $2.23 per kilogram with high carbon-capture rates.</p>
<p>A carbon penalty, such as is applied in Europe, would make hydrogen from fossil fuels more expensive. A penalty of US$50 per tonne of CO₂ pushes the central production cost estimate up to between US$2.24 and $3.15 per kilogram.</p>
<p>By comparison, Australia’s <a href="https://www.industry.gov.au/data-and-publications/technology-investment-roadmap-first-low-emissions-technology-statement-2020">Technology Investment Roadmap</a> set a target for “clean hydrogen” to be produced for under A$2 per kilogram, or US$1.43. </p>
<p>The true cost of carbon avoidance using CCS varies widely and is often not well defined. Current cost projections rely on optimistic estimates of CO₂ transport and storage costs, and generally do not include monitoring and verification costs for long-term storage.</p>
<p>So how does all this compare to “green” hydrogen? </p>
<p><a href="https://ccep.crawford.anu.edu.au/sites/default/files/publication/ccep_crawford_anu_edu_au/2021-03/ccep_2103_clean_hydrogen_0.pdf">Our analysis</a> found the median estimate for renewables-based electrolysis falls from US$3.64 per kilogram today to well below US$2 per kilogram. </p>
<p>The cost of producing hydrogen with renewables depends mainly on the cost of electricity, as well as the capital cost and how intensively the electrolyser is used. The cost of solar and wind power has fallen dramatically in the past decade, and this <a href="https://ccep.crawford.anu.edu.au/sites/default/files/publication/ccep_crawford_anu_edu_au/2020-09/ccep20-07_longden-jotzo-prasad-andrews_h2_costs.pdf">trend is likely to continue</a>.</p>
<p>As electrolysers are deployed at scale, their costs may decrease rapidly - pushing down the cost of green hydrogen. </p>
<h2>More may not be better</h2>
<p>So what does all this mean? If Australia pushes ahead with producing hydrogen from fossil fuels, two possible risks emerge. </p>
<p>If carbon-capture rates are low, we may lock in a new high-emissions energy system. And if capture rates are high, those production facilities could still become uncompetitive. This raises the risk of stranded assets – investments with a short economic life, which do not make a viable return.</p>
<p>Investment decisions for large scale hydrogen production will ultimately be taken by businesses, on the basis of commercial viability. But governments have an important role early on as they set expectations and assist pilot projects. The fossil fuel route is becoming a riskier bet.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/157864/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Thomas Longden is a Fellow working on the ANU Energy Change Institute’s Grand Challenge – Zero-Carbon Energy for the Asia-Pacific. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Fiona J Beck receives funding from Australian Renewable Energy Agency, and is involved in the ANU Grand Challenge Zero-Carbon Energy for the Asia Pacific initiative.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Frank Jotzo leads externally funded research projects and has received Australian government funding. There are no conflicts of interest regarding this article.</span></em></p>If Australia pushes ahead with producing fossil fuels, we may lock in a new high-emissions energy system, or one that’s uncompetitive. Clearly, green hydrogen is the best way forward.Thomas Longden, Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National UniversityFiona J Beck, Senior research fellow, Australian National UniversityFrank Jotzo, Director, Centre for Climate and Energy Policy, Australian National UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1404332020-08-09T20:09:33Z2020-08-09T20:09:33ZDon’t rush into a hydrogen economy until we know all the risks to our climate<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/348094/original/file-20200717-21-l1adoz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=308%2C327%2C5128%2C3144&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Alexander Kirch/Shutterstock</span> </figcaption></figure><p>There is global <a href="https://hydrogencouncil.com/en/">interest</a> in the potential for a hydrogen economy, in part driven by a concern over climate change and the need to move away from fossil fuels.</p>
<p>This month, for example, Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO, <a href="https://www.csiro.au/en/Do-business/Futures/Reports/Energy-and-Resources">released a report</a> showing the use of clean hydrogen as a fuel could slash aviation emissions, including a complete transition from conventional jet fuel around 2050.</p>
<p>A hydrogen economy <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-hydrogen-power-can-help-us-cut-emissions-boost-exports-and-even-drive-further-between-refills-101967">could tap</a> Australia’s abundant solar and wind energy resources, and provides a way to store and transport energy.</p>
<p>But, to date, there has been little attention on the technology’s potential environmental challenges.</p>
<p>Using hydrogen as a fuel might <a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/302/5645/581" title="An Environmental Experiment with H₂?">make global warming worse</a> by affecting chemical reactions in the atmosphere. We must know more about this risk before we dive headlong into the hydrogen transition.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ygLrTYCR1J8?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<h2>Australia’s hydrogen dawn</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.rsc.org/periodic-table/element/1/hydrogen">Hydrogen</a> is the most abundant element in the universe. On Earth, it’s found mostly in water, from which it can be extracted. When renewable energy is used to power this process, hydrogen can be produced, in principle, with no emissions.</p>
<p>Australia’s <a href="https://www.industry.gov.au/data-and-publications/australias-national-hydrogen-strategy">National Hydrogen Strategy</a>, released last November, identified hydrogen export as a major economic opportunity. </p>
<p>Countries such as Germany, Japan and South Korea have large energy demands and commitments to emissions reduction. But they have limited opportunities to develop their own renewable resources. This creates a major opportunity for Australia to <a href="https://arena.gov.au/knowledge-bank/opportunities-for-australia-from-hydrogen-exports/">ship hydrogen</a> to the world.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/hydrogen-fuels-rockets-but-what-about-power-for-daily-life-were-getting-closer-112958">Hydrogen fuels rockets, but what about power for daily life? We're getting closer</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Hydrogen projects in Australia are gearing up. For example, the Queensland government <a href="http://statements.qld.gov.au/Statement/2020/2/27/renewable-hydrogen-bonanza-for-gladstone">recently announced</a> A$4.2 million for a trial project to inject hydrogen into the gas network of Gladstone.</p>
<p>A similar project is also <a href="https://www.premier.sa.gov.au/news/media-releases/news/hydrogen-park-gets-australia-s-biggest-electrolyser">proposed for South Australia</a>, supported by a A$4.9 million state government grant. In New South Wales, <a href="https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/-/media/OEH/Corporate-Site/Documents/Climate-change/net-zero-plan-2020-2030-200057.pdf">a proposal</a> is afoot to blend hydrogen into the existing gas network.</p>
<p>But little consideration has been given to the possible environmental consequences of hydrogen as an energy source.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/351578/original/file-20200806-22-jr0gpo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A hydrogen station for fuel-cell vehicles in Japan" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/351578/original/file-20200806-22-jr0gpo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/351578/original/file-20200806-22-jr0gpo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351578/original/file-20200806-22-jr0gpo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351578/original/file-20200806-22-jr0gpo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351578/original/file-20200806-22-jr0gpo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=487&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351578/original/file-20200806-22-jr0gpo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=487&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351578/original/file-20200806-22-jr0gpo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=487&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A hydrogen station for fuel-cell vehicles in Japan, which is a major export opportunity for hydrogen produced in Australia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Kydpl Kyodo/AP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Reactions in the atmosphere</h2>
<p>In the atmosphere, ozone and water vapour react with sunlight to produce what are known as hydroxyl radicals. </p>
<p>These powerful oxidants react with and help <a href="https://niwa.co.nz/publications/wa/vol16-no1-march-2008/detergent-of-the-atmosphere">remove other chemicals</a> released into the atmosphere via natural and human processes, such as burning fossil fuels. One of these chemicals is methane, a potent <a href="https://www.csiro.au/en/Research/OandA/Areas/Assessing-our-climate/State-of-the-Climate-2018/Greenhouse-gases">greenhouse gas</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/emissions-of-methane-a-greenhouse-gas-far-more-potent-than-carbon-dioxide-are-rising-dangerously-142522">Emissions of methane – a greenhouse gas far more potent than carbon dioxide – are rising dangerously</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>But hydrogen also reacts with hydroxyl radicals and, in doing so, <a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/302/5645/624" title="Air Pollution and Climate-Forcing Impacts of a Global Hydrogen Economy">reduces their concentration</a>. Any hydrogen leaked into the atmosphere – such as during production, transport or at the point of use – could cause this reaction.</p>
<p>This would reduce the number of hydroxyl radicals available for their important cleansing function.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/351584/original/file-20200806-22-spsl2s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A high-altitude view of Earth" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/351584/original/file-20200806-22-spsl2s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/351584/original/file-20200806-22-spsl2s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351584/original/file-20200806-22-spsl2s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351584/original/file-20200806-22-spsl2s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351584/original/file-20200806-22-spsl2s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351584/original/file-20200806-22-spsl2s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351584/original/file-20200806-22-spsl2s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Hydrogen reacts with hydroxyl radicals in the atmosphere.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Hydrogen on the rise</h2>
<p>Hydrogen concentrations in the atmosphere are monitored around the world. Collectively, the data show an increase over time. This includes in <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1352231019300809" title="A 24-year record of high-frequency, in situ, observations of hydrogen at the Atmospheric Research Station at Mace Head, Ireland">Ireland</a> and at <a href="http://capegrim.csiro.au/">Cape Grim</a> in Tasmania’s northwest, where hydrogen concentrations have increased by about 4% in the past 25 years. </p>
<p><iframe id="0Andq" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/0Andq/2/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>With our current understanding of the hydrogen cycle, it’s not possible to say why this has occurred. Indeed, this is the challenge: improving understanding so we can anticipate any effects of hydrogen leakage and decide what acceptable leakage rates might be.</p>
<p>Based on <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0360319920302779" title="Global modelling studies of hydrogen and its isotopomers using STOCHEM-CRI: Likely radiative forcing consequences of a future hydrogen economy">what we do know</a>, hydrogen may increase global warming by 20-30% that of methane if leaked into the atmosphere.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/carbon-pricing-works-the-largest-ever-study-puts-it-beyond-doubt-142034">Carbon pricing works: the largest-ever study puts it beyond doubt</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p><a href="https://www.geos.ed.ac.uk/%7Edstevens/Presentations/Papers/derwent_ijhr06.pdf">Our understanding so far</a> suggests that if a hydrogen economy replaced the fossil fuel-based energy system and had a leakage rate of 1%, its climate impact would be 0.6% of the fossil fuel system.</p>
<p>But we need to better understand the hydrogen cycle, such as how land surfaces absorb hydrogen. In the meantime, we must try to minimise leakage of hydrogen in production, storage and use.</p>
<h2>Lessons from methane</h2>
<p>A commitment to a hydrogen economy must avoid pitfalls that accompanied the expansion of the natural gas economy.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-1991-8" title="Preindustrial 14CH4 indicates greater anthropogenic fossil CH4 emissions">Research</a> published this year found emissions from our increased use of fossil methane is about 25% to 40% greater than previously estimated.</p>
<p>Other <a href="https://theconversation.com/emissions-of-methane-a-greenhouse-gas-far-more-potent-than-carbon-dioxide-are-rising-dangerously-142522">research</a> shows methane emissions grew almost 10% from 2000-2006 to the most recent year of the study, 2017.</p>
<p>Coming to grips with methane leakage is difficult because of the many ways it occurs, including:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>during <a href="https://www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net/acp-2020-337/" title="Quantifying methane emissions from Queensland's coal seam gas producing Surat Basin using inventory data and an efficient regional Bayesian inversion">coal mining</a></p></li>
<li><p>from <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/116/52/26376" title="Satellite observations reveal extreme methane leakage from a natural gas well blowout">natural gas well blow-outs</a></p></li>
<li><p>during exploration and exploitation of <a href="https://www.biogeosciences.net/16/3033/2019/" title="Ideas and perspectives: is shale gas a major driver of recent increase in global atmospheric methane?">shale gas</a></p></li>
<li><p>via <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2019GL082635" title="Large Fugitive Methane Emissions From Urban Centers Along the U.S. East Coast">faulty plumbing</a> during industrial, commercial and domestic gas distribution.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>By contrast, hydrogen emissions will likely mainly occur during distribution and end use via faulty pipe fittings, given the absence of mining in the hydrogen economy.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/351580/original/file-20200806-22-1jt4f12.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Technicians examine pipes at a shale gas facility in China" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/351580/original/file-20200806-22-1jt4f12.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/351580/original/file-20200806-22-1jt4f12.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351580/original/file-20200806-22-1jt4f12.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351580/original/file-20200806-22-1jt4f12.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351580/original/file-20200806-22-1jt4f12.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351580/original/file-20200806-22-1jt4f12.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351580/original/file-20200806-22-1jt4f12.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Technicians examine pipes at a shale gas facility in China. Such operations are a source of methane emissions.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Hu Qingming/AP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Looking ahead</h2>
<p>It’s possible the emission of hydrogen from reticulation and distribution systems will be low. But specifying how low this should be, and what engineering approaches are appropriate, should be part of the development process.</p>
<p>A hydrogen-based energy future may likely provide an attractive option in the quest for a zero-carbon economy. But all aspects of the hydrogen option should be considered in an holistic and evidence-based assessment.</p>
<p>This would ensure any transition to a hydrogen economy brings climate benefits far beyond fossil-fuel-based energy systems. </p>
<hr>
<p><em>This article was co-authored by Richard G. Derwent, an independent scientist working in the United Kingdom on air pollution and atmospheric chemistry.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/140433/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael Prather has received US federal research funding related to atmospheric chemistry and indirect greenhouse gases; he is affiliated with Citizens' Climate Lobby, Union of Concerned Scientists.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Graeme Pearman does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Hydrogen is hailed as a new clean fuel, but little attention has been paid to the potential environmental challenges presented by the energy shift.Graeme Pearman, Professorial Fellow, Australian-German Climate and Energy College, The University of MelbourneMichael Prather, Distinguished Professor of Earth System Science, University of California, IrvineLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1388732020-06-01T15:55:05Z2020-06-01T15:55:05ZGreen income trusts could accelerate Canada’s energy transition<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/338455/original/file-20200529-51467-hh9ga0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C50%2C4200%2C2244&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The sun is setting on oil and gas. Creating green income trusts could give private investors incentives to massively scale up investments in new low-carbon energy technologies — and help the province of Alberta.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Pixabay)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Canada has a great opportunity to accelerate its energy transition and <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/climate-change/expert-panel-sustainable-finance.html">create a thriving low-carbon economy</a>. </p>
<p>How? </p>
<p>By creating green income trusts with the same federal tax benefits that prevailed in the early 2000s, therefore giving private investors incentives to massively scale up investments in new low-carbon energy technologies. <a href="https://www.universityaffairs.ca/features/feature-article/the-complexities-of-carbon-capture-and-storage/">These could range from hydrogen, geothermal, wind and solar to carbon capture and storage</a>. </p>
<p>An added benefit would be to assist Alberta’s economic diversification and build on the province’s strengths at a time when oil hasn’t even been worth the barrel it’s sitting in. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/oil-crash-explained-how-are-negative-oil-prices-even-possible-136829">Oil crash explained: How are negative oil prices even possible?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Time is not on Canada’s side. Other <a href="https://thehill.com/opinion/energy-environment/476783-us-leads-new-wave-of-carbon-capture-and-storage-deployment">North American jurisdictions are well ahead of us</a>. Can Canada catch up?</p>
<h2>Minimized corporate taxes</h2>
<p>Although income trusts were used by many industries in the early 2000s, they were particularly <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3554101">vital for the capital-intensive energy sector</a>. They worked by minimizing corporate taxes.</p>
<p>Each income trust was structured so that a corporation’s business income was paid to the trust, mainly in the form of deductible interest payments. The cash was then distributed to the trust’s unit-holders, reducing the underlying corporation’s taxes to zero and maximizing investor payouts.</p>
<p>This arrangement was eliminated in <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/investment-ideas/tsx-surges-back-above-halloween-massacre-close/article1329492/">what has become known as the Halloween Massacre</a>. The federal government announced on Oct. 31, 2006, that all income trusts would be taxed at rates similar to corporations. </p>
<p>Investors in energy trusts were particularly hard hit, <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jofi.12101?casa_token=m62r8Ym3t60AAAAA%3Anijd07QuKASpXk7Sxaac__xiveYv9vSKhjpPd13VhPFwCcUDhGWNYkXrev_L60ba-gMf1mTWEn_mGDP">with income trusts losing 17.85 per cent in value over the next 10 days</a>.</p>
<p>But reviving tax breaks for income trusts today to specifically help <a href="https://www.ecb.europa.eu/pub/economic-research/resbull/2019/html/ecb.rb191127%7E79fa1d3b70.en.html">low-carbon energy technologies attract much-needed equity capital</a> would be a relatively simple measure for the federal government to undertake. It would not require direct infusions of cash at a time when the government faces expensive demands for bailouts, instead relying on market forces to achieve its goals.</p>
<h2>Ample returns</h2>
<p>These tax breaks would be amply returned through the development of new companies and industries, based on existing technologies, creating new sources of tax revenue. The need for this measure could be reassessed after 30 years, or when Canada achieves a net-zero carbon economy, ensuring the long-term stability needed to attract private investment. In the short term, temporary measures will not do the trick.</p>
<p>Green income trusts could be particularly useful in helping <a href="https://www.cesarnet.ca/blog/hydrogen-can-make-canada-energy-superpower-again">spark the birth of a hydrogen industry in Alberta</a> that could potentially promote new, low-carbon uses for the province’s vast oil and gas reserves, unlocking major competitive advantages for the province in North American and world markets. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/338576/original/file-20200529-78875-1c6vinb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/338576/original/file-20200529-78875-1c6vinb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338576/original/file-20200529-78875-1c6vinb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338576/original/file-20200529-78875-1c6vinb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338576/original/file-20200529-78875-1c6vinb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338576/original/file-20200529-78875-1c6vinb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338576/original/file-20200529-78875-1c6vinb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Green income trusts could fuel a hydrogen industry in Alberta.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Early-stage companies, such as <a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/02/company-harvest-green-hydrogen-underground-oil-fires#">Calgary-based Proton Technologies</a>, are already working on commercializing such technology. Even a big oil company like <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/5307292/shell-quest-carbon-capture-milestone/">Shell Canada, as part of its Quest commercial-scale pilot project near Edmonton</a>, is using large-scale carbon capture and storage to produce hydrogen from natural gas without CO2 emissions.</p>
<p>It will likely take at least five years to bring new clean, renewable and carbon-capture technologies to a sound commercial footing. The exceptions are wind and solar, which are already profitable. However, federal changes to tax policy must take place now in order to encourage forward-looking investors to finance loss-making ventures with the intention of selling or converting the businesses to income trusts once they become profitable.</p>
<h2>Adding to the existential crisis</h2>
<p>The COVID-19 pandemic, and the <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-oil-saudi-russia-analysis/saudi-arabia-gets-physical-with-russia-in-underground-oil-bout-idUSKBN22222U">Russia-Saudi Arabia oil price war</a>, have badly affected Canada’s oil and gas industry. </p>
<p>But they have only added to an ongoing existential crisis as the world slowly transitions to a low-carbon economy — a move driven by everything from anti-pipeline protests impelled by the need to limit climate change to <a href="https://www.nationalobserver.com/2019/06/27/news/swiss-insurance-giant-divests-oilsands">the refusal of large international insurance companies to cover oilsands projects</a>. </p>
<p>The continued viability of oil and gas development in Canada is becoming an open question, not least because of the increasing importance of environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors in influencing financing decisions.</p>
<p>The recent decision by the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund <a href="https://business.financialpost.com/commodities/energy/why-the-worlds-largest-sovereign-wealth-funds-divestment-from-the-oilsands-could-trigger-a-bigger-fund-exodus">to divest from Canadian oilsands companies is just the beginning</a>. Going forward, attracting capital will become more and more difficult.</p>
<h2>Deep reservoir of talent</h2>
<p>Besides its energy riches, Alberta has a deep reservoir of talent and expertise created by decades of large-scale oil and gas developments. Why not put these skills to new uses, potentially creating new industries within the energy sector and slowly easing the province away from the traditional oil-and-gas rollercoaster? </p>
<p>The recent <a href="https://www.thinkgeoenergy.com/canadian-oil-service-sector-joins-forces-to-support-emerging-canadian-geothermal-industry/">alliance between unemployed oil well drillers and Clean Energy Canada to explore drilling for geothermal energy</a> suggests that such workers do not see oil and gas as an implacable foe of clean and renewable energy.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/338578/original/file-20200529-78891-ifdclc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/338578/original/file-20200529-78891-ifdclc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=383&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338578/original/file-20200529-78891-ifdclc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=383&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338578/original/file-20200529-78891-ifdclc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=383&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338578/original/file-20200529-78891-ifdclc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=481&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338578/original/file-20200529-78891-ifdclc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=481&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/338578/original/file-20200529-78891-ifdclc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=481&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A wind farm is shown near Pincher Creek, Alta., in March 2016.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Can Canada catch up? </p>
<p>It can indeed, if federal encouragement of private investment in green energy takes place now. The research behind income trusts shows that they helped to increase investments in oil and gas before the Halloween Massacre of 2006. The same formula could work again, but this time targeted towards low-carbon technologies.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/138873/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Yrjo Koskinen is an advisory board member at the Institute of Sustainable Finance. His research is being funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>J. Ari Pandes and Nga Nguyen do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Research into income trusts shows that they once helped increase investments in oil and gas. They could do so again — but this time targeted towards low-carbon technologies.Yrjo Koskinen, Professor of Finance, Associate Dean of Research, University of CalgaryJ. Ari Pandes, Associate Professor of Finance, University of CalgaryNga Nguyen, PhD Candidate, Finance, University of CalgaryLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1316582020-02-12T03:34:35Z2020-02-12T03:34:35ZChief Scientist: we need to transform our world into a sustainable ‘electric planet’<p>I want you to imagine a highway exclusively devoted to delivering the world’s energy.</p>
<p>Each lane is restricted to trucks that carry one of the world’s seven large-scale sources of primary energy: coal, oil, natural gas, nuclear, hydro, solar and wind.</p>
<p>Our current energy security comes at a price, the carbon dioxide emissions from the trucks in the three busiest lanes: the ones for coal, oil and natural gas.</p>
<p>We can’t just put up roadblocks overnight to stop these trucks; they are carrying the overwhelming majority of the world’s energy supply.</p>
<p>But what if we expand clean electricity production carried by the trucks in the solar and wind lanes — three or four times over — into an economically efficient clean energy future?</p>
<p>Think electric cars instead of petrol cars. Think electric factories instead of oil-burning factories. Cleaner and cheaper to run. A technology-driven orderly transition. Problems wrought by technology, solved by technology.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-transition-from-coal-4-lessons-for-australia-from-around-the-world-115558">How to transition from coal: 4 lessons for Australia from around the world</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Make no mistake, this will be the biggest engineering challenge ever undertaken. The energy system is huge, and even with an internationally committed and focused effort the transition will take many decades.</p>
<p>It will also require respectful planning and retraining to ensure affected individuals and communities, who have fuelled our energy progress for generations, are supported throughout the transition.</p>
<p>As Tony, a worker from a Gippsland coal-fired power station, noted from the audience on <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/qanda/2020-10-02/11933296">this week’s Q+A program</a>: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>The workforce is highly innovative, we are up for the challenge, we will adapt to whatever is put in front of us and we have proven that in the past.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This is a reminder that if governments, industry, communities and individuals share a vision, a positive transition can be achieved.</p>
<p>The stunning technology advances I have witnessed in the past ten years make me optimistic.</p>
<p>Renewable energy is booming worldwide, and is now being delivered at a markedly lower cost than ever before.</p>
<p>In Australia, the cost of producing electricity from wind and solar is now around <a href="https://www.aemo.com.au/-/media/Files/Electricity/NEM/Planning_and_Forecasting/Inputs-Assumptions-Methodologies/2019/CSIRO-GenCost2019-20_DraftforReview.pdf">A$50 per megawatt-hour</a>.</p>
<p>Even when the variability is firmed with storage, the <a href="http://re100.eng.anu.edu.au/publications/assets/100renewables.pdf">price of solar and wind electricity</a> is lower than existing gas-fired electricity generation and similar to new-build coal-fired electricity generation.</p>
<p>This has resulted in substantial solar and wind electricity uptake in Australia and, most importantly, projections of a <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/system/files/resources/4aa038fc-b9ee-4694-99d0-c5346afb5bfb/files/australias-emissions-projections-2019-report.pdf">33% cut in emissions in the electricity sector by 2030</a>, when compared to 2005 levels.</p>
<p>And this pricing trend will only continue, with a recent United Nations report noting that, in the last decade alone, the cost of solar electricity <a href="https://www.unenvironment.org/news-and-stories/press-release/decade-renewable-energy-investment-%20led-solar-tops-usd-25-trillion">fell by 80%</a>, and is set to drop even further.</p>
<p>So we’re on our way. We can do this. Time and again we have demonstrated that no challenge to humanity is beyond humanity.</p>
<p>Ultimately, we will need to complement solar and wind with a range of technologies such as high levels of storage, long-distance transmission, and much better efficiency in the way we use energy.</p>
<p>But while these technologies are being scaled up, we need an energy companion today that can react rapidly to changes in solar and wind output. An energy companion that is itself relatively low in emissions, and that only operates when needed.</p>
<p>In the short term, as Prime Minister Scott Morrison and energy minister Angus Taylor have <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-01-31/nsw-strikes-landmark-energy-deal-with-federal-government/11916314">previously stated</a>, natural gas will play that critical role.</p>
<p>In fact, natural gas is already making it possible for nations to transition to a reliable, and relatively low-emissions, electricity supply.</p>
<p>Look at Britain, where coal-fired electricity generation has <a href="https://www.nationalgrid.com/britain-hits-historic-clean-energy-milestone-zero-carbon-electricity-outstrips-fossil-fuels-2019">plummeted</a> from 75% in 1990 to just 2% in 2019.</p>
<p>Driving this has been an increase in solar, wind, and hydro electricity, up from 2% to 27%. At the same time, and this is key to the delivery of a reliable electricity supply, electricity from natural gas increased from virtually zero in 1990 to more than 38% in 2019.</p>
<p>I am aware that building new natural gas generators may be <a href="https://theconversation.com/scott-morrisons-gas-transition-plan-is-a-dangerous-road-to-nowhere-130951">seen as problematic</a>, but for now let’s assume that with solar, wind and natural gas, we will achieve a reliable, low-emissions electricity supply.</p>
<p>Is this enough? Not really.</p>
<p>We still need a high-density source of transportable fuel for long-distance, heavy-duty trucks.</p>
<p>We still need an alternative chemical feedstock to make the ammonia used to produce fertilisers.</p>
<p>We still need a means to carry clean energy from one continent to another.</p>
<p>Enter the hero: hydrogen.</p>
<p>Hydrogen is abundant. In fact, it’s the most abundant element in the Universe. The only problem is that there is nowhere on Earth that you can drill a well and find hydrogen gas.</p>
<p>Don’t panic. Fortunately, hydrogen is bound up in other substances. One we all know: water, the H in H₂O.</p>
<p>We have two viable ways to extract hydrogen, with near-zero emissions.</p>
<p>First, we can split water in a process called electrolysis, using renewable electricity.</p>
<p>Second, we can use coal and natural gas to split the water, and capture and permanently bury the carbon dioxide emitted along the way.</p>
<p>I know some may be sceptical, because carbon capture and permanent storage has not been commercially viable in the electricity generation industry.</p>
<p>But the process for hydrogen production is significantly more cost-effective, for two crucial reasons.</p>
<p>First, since carbon dioxide is left behind as a residual part of the hydrogen production process, there is no additional step, and little added cost, for its extraction.</p>
<p>And second, because the process operates at much higher pressure, the extraction of the carbon dioxide is more energy-efficient and it is easier to store.</p>
<p>Returning to the electrolysis production route, we must also recognise that if hydrogen is produced exclusively from solar and wind electricity, we will exacerbate the load on the renewable lanes of our energy highway.</p>
<p>Think for a moment of the vast amounts of steel, aluminium and concrete needed to support, build and service solar and wind structures. And the copper and rare earth metals needed for the wires and motors. And the lithium, nickel, cobalt, manganese and other battery materials needed to stabilise the system.</p>
<p>It would be prudent, therefore, to safeguard against any potential resource limitations with another energy source.</p>
<p>Well, by producing hydrogen from natural gas or coal, using carbon capture and permanent storage, we can add back two more lanes to our energy highway, ensuring we have four primary energy sources to meet the needs of the future: solar, wind, hydrogen from natural gas, and hydrogen from coal.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/145-years-after-jules-verne-dreamed-up-a-hydrogen-future-it-has-arrived-127701">145 years after Jules Verne dreamed up a hydrogen future, it has arrived</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Furthermore, once extracted, hydrogen provides unique solutions to the remaining challenges we face in our future electric planet.</p>
<p>First, in the transport sector, Australia’s largest end-user of energy.</p>
<p>Because <a href="https://www.industry.gov.au/data-and-publications/australias-national-hydrogen-strategy">hydrogen fuel</a> carries much more energy than the equivalent weight of batteries, it provides a viable, longer-range alternative for powering long-haul buses, B-double trucks, trains that travel from mines in central Australia to coastal ports, and ships that carry passengers and goods around the world.</p>
<p>Second, in industry, where hydrogen can help solve some of the largest emissions challenges. </p>
<p>Take steel manufacturing. In today’s world, the use of coal in steel manufacturing is responsible for a staggering <a href="https://www.worldsteel.org/publications/position-papers/steel-s-contribution-to-a-low-carbon-%20future.html">7% of carbon dioxide emissions</a>.</p>
<p>Persisting with this form of steel production will result in this percentage growing frustratingly higher as we make progress decarbonising other sectors of the economy.</p>
<p>Fortunately, clean hydrogen can not only provide the energy that is needed to heat the blast furnaces, it can also replace the carbon in coal used to reduce iron oxide to the pure iron from which steel is made. And with hydrogen as the reducing agent the only byproduct is water vapour.</p>
<p>This would have a revolutionary impact on cutting global emissions.</p>
<p>Third, hydrogen can store energy, not only for a rainy day, but also to ship sunshine from our shores, where it is abundant, to countries where it is needed.</p>
<p>Let me illustrate this point. In December last year, I was privileged to witness the launch of the world’s first liquefied hydrogen carrier ship in Japan.</p>
<p>As the vessel slipped into the water I saw it not only as the launch of the first ship of its type to ever be built, but as the launch of a new era in which clean energy will be routinely transported between the continents. Shipping sunshine.</p>
<p>And, finally, because hydrogen operates in a similar way to natural gas, our natural gas generators can be reconfigured in the future to run on hydrogen — neatly turning a potential legacy into an added bonus.</p>
<h2>Hydrogen-powered economy</h2>
<p>We truly are at the dawn of a new, thriving industry.</p>
<p>There’s a nearly <a href="https://hydrogencouncil.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Hydrogen-scaling-up-Hydrogen-Council.pdf">A$2 trillion global market</a> for hydrogen come 2050, assuming that we can drive the price of producing hydrogen to substantially lower than A$2 per kilogram.</p>
<p>In Australia, we’ve got the available land, the natural resources, the technology smarts, the global networks, and the industry expertise.</p>
<p>And we now have the commitment, with the <a href="https://www.industry.gov.au/data-and-publications/australias-national-hydrogen-strategy">National Hydrogen Strategy</a> unanimously adopted at a meeting by the Commonwealth, state and territory governments late last year.</p>
<p>Indeed, as I reflect upon my term as Chief Scientist, in this my last year, chairing the development of this strategy has been one of my proudest achievements.</p>
<p>The full results will not be seen overnight, but it has sown the seeds, and if we continue to tend to them, they will grow into a whole new realm of practical applications and unimagined possibilities.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>This is an edited extract of a <a href="https://www.npc.org.au/speaker/2020/597-dr-alan-finkel">speech</a> to the National Press Club of Australia on February 12, 2020. The full speech is available <a href="https://www.chiefscientist.gov.au/news-and-media/national-press-club-address-orderly-transition-electric-planet">here</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/131658/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alan Finkel is the Chair of the COAG Hydrogen Strategy Working Group that developed the national hydrogen strategy.</span></em></p>The world runs on energy, so finding low-emission alternatives to fossil fuels is crucial. Wind and solar are cheap and abundant but can’t do everything. But hydrogen fuel could complete the picture.Alan Finkel, Australia’s Chief Scientist, Office of the Chief ScientistLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1153472019-04-26T11:11:46Z2019-04-26T11:11:46ZWe accidentally created a new wonder material that could revolutionise batteries and electronics<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/269599/original/file-20190416-147525-19qqkmd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Phosphorene nanoribbons. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Oliver Payton/University of Bristol</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Some of the most famous scientific discoveries happened by accident. From Teflon and the microwave oven to penicillin, <a href="https://newhumanist.org.uk/articles/4852/science-and-serendipity-famous-accidental-discoveries">scientists trying to solve a problem sometimes find unexpected things</a>. This is exactly how <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-019-1074-x">we created</a> phosphorene nanoribbons – a material made from one of the universe’s basic building blocks, but that has the potential to revolutionise a wide range of technologies.</p>
<p>We’d been trying to separate layers of phosphorus crystals into two-dimensional sheets. Instead, our technique created tiny, tagliatelle-like ribbons one single atom thick and only 100 or so atoms across, but up to 100,000 atoms long. We spent three years honing the production process, before <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-019-1074-x">announcing our findings</a>.</p>
<p>The two-dimensional ribbons have a number of remarkable properties. Their width to length ratio is similar to the cables that span the Golden Gate Bridge. Their incredibly uniform but manipulable width allows their properties, such as whether and how they conduct electricity, to be fine-tuned. They are also incredibly flexible, which means that they can follow the contours of any surfaces they’re put on perfectly, and even be twisted.</p>
<h2>Transformative potential</h2>
<p>More than 100 scientific papers predicted the transformative potential of these nanoribbons, should it be possible to create them, across a range of technologies – some as many as five years prior to the publishing of our discovery in <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-019-1074-x">Nature</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/270789/original/file-20190424-121228-14jb5st.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/270789/original/file-20190424-121228-14jb5st.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=383&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270789/original/file-20190424-121228-14jb5st.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=383&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270789/original/file-20190424-121228-14jb5st.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=383&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270789/original/file-20190424-121228-14jb5st.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270789/original/file-20190424-121228-14jb5st.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270789/original/file-20190424-121228-14jb5st.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The one-atom thick wonder ribbons twisting through a carbon grid.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mitch Watts/UCL</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Perhaps the most important of these is in the area of <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.jpcc.5b02130">battery technology</a>. The corrugated structure of phosphorene nanoribbons means that the charged ions that power batteries could soon move up to <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378775315304468">1000 times faster</a> than currently possible. This would mean a significant decrease in charging time, alongside an increase in capacity of approximately 50%. Such performance gains would provide <a href="https://theconversation.com/flying-cars-could-cut-emissions-replace-planes-and-free-up-roads-but-not-soon-enough-115123">massive boosts</a> to the electric car and aircraft industries, and allow us to much better harness renewable energy to <a href="https://theconversation.com/despite-good-progress-100-low-carbon-energy-is-still-a-long-way-off-for-the-uk-114949">eliminate reliance</a> on fossil fuels even on grey, calm days.</p>
<p>It also means that in future, batteries could use <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/aenm.201702849">sodium ions</a> instead of lithium ions. Known lithium reserves may not be able to meet huge projected increases in battery demand, and extraction of the metal can be <a href="https://www.wired.co.uk/article/lithium-batteries-environment-impact">environmentally harmful</a>. Sodium, by contrast, is abundant and cheap. </p>
<p>The field of electronics may also be thankful for nanoribbons. Moore’s law observes that computer processing power doubles every two years, but this rate is <a href="https://theconversation.com/moores-law-is-50-years-old-but-will-it-continue-44511">in danger of slowing down</a> as the physical limits of materials are being fast approached. Using <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-00793-8?utm_source=twt_nnc&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=naturenews&sf209440816=1">‘2D’ materials</a> like ours could redefine these limits, allowing us to make ever-smaller and faster devices.</p>
<p>The ribbons could solve another major roadblock in this area – how to electrically connect nanomaterials without creating large resistance (and therefore energy loss) at the joins. Several-layer thick versions of phosphorene nanoribbons can be seamlessly split into ribbons with different heights and electrical properties, circumventing the usual engineering requirements of connections. Thanks to this, <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nnano.2014.257">high-efficiency solar cells</a> could now be much closer to entering into reality.</p>
<p>The phosphorene nanoribbons’ flexibility and <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/srep06452">thermoelectric properties</a> mean that they could also be embedded in wearable fabrics, and used to convert <a href="http://news.mit.edu/2010/explained-thermoelectricity-0427">waste heat into useful electricity</a>. For example, we could soon see thermoelectric t-shirts that function as heart and blood sugar level monitors, all powered by body heat alone.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/270793/original/file-20190424-121237-f9rype.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/270793/original/file-20190424-121237-f9rype.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=547&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270793/original/file-20190424-121237-f9rype.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=547&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270793/original/file-20190424-121237-f9rype.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=547&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270793/original/file-20190424-121237-f9rype.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=688&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270793/original/file-20190424-121237-f9rype.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=688&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270793/original/file-20190424-121237-f9rype.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=688&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A thick phosphorene ribbon splitting into two thinner ribbons.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Freddie Russell-Pavier/University of Bristol</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The technology could unlock the potential of hydrogen as an efficient and low-carbon fuel. The gas is abundantly available in water and only produces oxygen as a byproduct when extracted. However, finding a way to do this cheaply has thus far eluded scientists. Water molecules can be split through a process called <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvMEbSKn1Sw">photocatalysis</a>, but the method requires a material that absorbs lots of light, and whose energy properties match up well with water. Nanoribbons are predicted to have exactly these qualities, as well as a high surface area that would maximise contact with water, making it a promising candidate to <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/jacs.7b08474">crack the hydrogen-production conundrum</a>.</p>
<p>Encouragingly, phosphorene nanoribbons have already navigated major obstacles on the route to commercialisation. Finding a scalable production method like ours takes years for most new materials, and some never see the light of day. Added to this, phosphorus is a relatively abundant and easily extracted material in the Earth’s crust. And since our ribbons are already formed in liquids, inks or paints can easily be produced to manipulate them at scale using low-cost methods such as spray-coating or <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1143/APEX.4.115101/pdf">ink-jet printing</a>.</p>
<p>Producing these ribbons is however just the first step towards revolutionising the above technologies. Much research now needs to be carried out to test theoretical predictions, and investigate the extent to which the properties of the ribbons can be tailored for specific applications. As the <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nmat3594">20-year plus journeys</a> of Teflon, lithium batteries, and Velcro show us, the road from discovery to use can be long. But with society <a href="https://theconversation.com/despite-good-progress-100-low-carbon-energy-is-still-a-long-way-off-for-the-uk-114949">increasingly moving away</a> from fossil fuels, we expect that road to soon be well-travelled.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/115347/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Chris Howard is an academic working for University College London. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mitch Watts is a PhD student working for UCL</span></em></p>Phosphorene nanoribbons are like tagliatelle, but carry the potential to boost battery capacity by 50%.Chris Howard, Associate Professor, UCLMitch Watts, PhD Candidate - Production, characterisation and simulation of few layer black phosphorus, UCLLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1129582019-03-11T04:14:16Z2019-03-11T04:14:16ZHydrogen fuels rockets, but what about power for daily life? We’re getting closer<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/262315/original/file-20190306-48450-1q1zozl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">NASA has launched all of its space shuttle missions using hydrogen as fuel. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.nasa.gov/centers/marshall/history/this-week-in-nasa-history-first-crew-rotation-mission-launches-to-international-space.html">NASA</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>To mark the <a href="https://www.iypt2019.org/">International Year of the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements</a> we’re taking a look at elements and how they’re used in research and the real world.</em> </p>
<p><em>Hydrogen is the <a href="http://www.rsc.org/periodic-table/element/1/hydrogen">first element</a> on the periodic table. In its pure form hydrogen is a light, colourless gas, but forms a liquid at very low temperatures.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>Have you ever watched a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnoNITE-CLc">space shuttle launch</a>? The fuel used to thrust these enormous structures away from Earth’s gravitational pull is <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/content/space-applications-of-hydrogen-and-fuel-cells">hydrogen</a>.</p>
<p>Hydrogen also holds potential as a source of energy for our daily activities – driving, heating our houses, and maybe more. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/lightweight-of-periodic-table-plays-big-role-in-life-on-earth-109329">Lightweight of periodic table plays big role in life on Earth</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>This month the federal coalition government <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/mar/01/coalition-launches-push-for-hydrogen-power-in-energy-policy-reboot">opened public consultation</a> on a national hydrogen strategy. Labor has also pledged to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/jan/22/labor-promises-to-supercharge-hydrogen-industry-as-green-groups-say-no-role-for-coal">set aside funding</a> to develop clean hydrogen. The COAG Energy Ministers meeting in December 2018 indicated <a href="http://www.coagenergycouncil.gov.au/publications/establishment-hydrogen-working-group-coag-energy-council">strong support for a hydrogen economy</a>. </p>
<p>But is Australia ready to explore this competitive, low-carbon energy alternative for residential, commercial, industrial and transport sectors?</p>
<p>There are two key aspects to assessing our readiness for a hydrogen economy - technological advancement (can we actually do it?) and societal acceptance (will we use it?). </p>
<h2>Is the technology mature enough?</h2>
<p>The hydrogen economy cycle consists of three key steps:</p>
<ul>
<li>hydrogen production</li>
<li>hydrogen storage and delivery</li>
<li>hydrogen consumption – converting the chemical energy of hydrogen into other forms of energy. </li>
</ul>
<h3>Hydrogen production</h3>
<p>For hydrogen to become a major future fuel, water electrolysis is likely the best method of production. In this process, electricity is used to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZUgfkPo670&t=31s">split water molecules</a> into hydrogen (H₂) and oxygen (O₂).</p>
<p>This technology becomes <a href="https://www.csiro.au/en/Do-business/Futures/Reports/Hydrogen-Roadmap">commercially feasible</a> when electricity is produced at relatively low costs by renewable sources such as <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41560-019-0326-1">solar and wind</a>. Costs may drop further in the near future as the production technology becomes more efficient. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-hydrogen-power-can-help-us-cut-emissions-boost-exports-and-even-drive-further-between-refills-101967">How hydrogen power can help us cut emissions, boost exports, and even drive further between refills</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/HZUgfkPo670?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">How hydrogen is created and used as a power source.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h3>Hydrogen storage and delivery</h3>
<p>Effective storage and delivery are vital for the safe and efficient handling of large amounts of hydrogen. </p>
<p>Because it is very light, hydrogen has conventionally been compressed at high pressure, or liquefied and stored at an extremely low temperature of -253°C. Taking these steps requires an extra energy investment, so efficiency drops by up to 40%. But current hydrogen storage and delivery still rests on these two technologies – compression and liquefaction – as they are proven and supported by well-established infrastructure and experience. </p>
<p>Another option being explored (but needing further development) is to combine hydrogen with other elements, and then release it when required for use. </p>
<p>Currently, most hydrogen fuel cell cars use carbon-fibre reinforced tanks to store highly compressed hydrogen gas. The cost of tanks will need to lower to make this option more economic (currently <a href="https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1343975">over a few thousands of US dollars per unit</a>). </p>
<h3>Using hydrogen as a fuel</h3>
<p>There are two main ways to convert the chemical energy in hydrogen into usable energy (electrical energy or heat energy). Both of these approaches produce water as the by-product.</p>
<p>A primitive and straightforward way of using hydrogen is to burn it to generate heat – just like you use natural gas for cooking and heating in your home. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.australiangasnetworks.com.au/our-business/about-us/media-releases/australian-first-hydrogen-pilot-plant-to-be-built-in-adelaide">trial planned for South Australia</a> aims to generate hydrogen using renewable electricity, and then inject it into the local gas distribution network. This way of “blending” gases can avoid the cost of building costly delivery infrastructure, but will incur expenditures associated with modifications to existing pipelines. Extensive study and testing of this activity are required. </p>
<p>When used in hydrogen fuel cells, energy is produced when hydrogen reacts with oxygen. This is the technology used by NASA and other operators in space missions, and by car manufacturers in hydrogen fuel cell cars. It’s the most advanced method for hydrogen use at the moment.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/OnoNITE-CLc?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Turn up the sound for this hydrogen-fuelled launch.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>It works, but will we accept it?</h2>
<h3>Safety considerations</h3>
<p>As a fuel, hydrogen has some properties that make it safer to use than the fuels more commonly used today, such as diesel and petrol. </p>
<p>Hydrogen is non-toxic. It is also much lighter than air, allowing for rapid dispersal in case of a leak. This contrasts with the buildup of flammable gases in the case of diesel and petrol leaks, which can cause explosions. </p>
<p>However, hydrogen does burn easily in air, and ignites more readily than gasoline or natural gas. This is why hydrogen cars have such robust carbon fibre tanks – to prevent leakages. </p>
<p>Where hydrogen is used in commercial settings as a fuel, strict regulations and effective measures have been established to prevent and detect leaks, and to vent hydrogen. Household applications of hydrogen fuel would also need to address this issue. </p>
<h3>Impact on the environment</h3>
<p>From an environmental perspective, the ideal cycle in a hydrogen economy involves: </p>
<ul>
<li>hydrogen production through using electrolysis to split water</li>
<li>hydrogen consumption via reacting it with oxygen in a fuel cell, producing water as a byproduct. </li>
</ul>
<p>If the electricity for electrolysis is generated from renewable sources, this whole value chain has minimal environment impact and is sustainable. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-science-is-clear-we-have-to-start-creating-our-low-carbon-future-today-104774">The science is clear: we have to start creating our low-carbon future today</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Moving closer to a hydrogen economy</h2>
<p>Cheap electricity from renewable energy resources is the key in making large-scale hydrogen production via electrolysis a reality in Australia. Internationally it’s already clear – for example, in <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41560-019-0326-1">Germany and Texas</a> – that renewable hydrogen is cost competitive in niche applications, although not yet for industrial-scale supply. </p>
<p>Techniques for storage and delivery need to be improved in terms of cost and efficiency, and manufacturing of hydrogen fuel cells requires advancement. </p>
<p>Hydrogen is a desirable source of energy, since it can be produced in large quantities and stored for a long time without loss of capacity. Because it’s so light, it’s <a href="https://www.csiro.au/en/Do-business/Futures/Reports/Hydrogen-Roadmap">an economical way to transport energy</a> produced by renewables over large distances (including across oceans). </p>
<p>Underpinned by advanced technologies, with strong support by governments, and commitment from many multinational energy and automobile companies, hydrogen fuel links renewable energy with end-users in a clean and sustainable way. </p>
<p>Let’s see if hydrogen takes off.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/112958/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Zhenguo Huang receives funding from Australian Research Council.</span></em></p>Ever watched a space shuttle launch? The fuel used to thrust these huge structures away from Earth’s gravitational pull is hydrogen. Hydrogen could also be used as a household energy source.Zhenguo Huang, Senior lecturer, University of Technology SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1104502019-01-30T11:35:29Z2019-01-30T11:35:29ZHydrogen trains are coming – can they get rid of diesel for good?<p>When the UK government <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-40669869">cancelled its plans</a> to electrify train lines across Wales, the Midlands and the north of England, and cut back on the Great Western rail network electrification, it brought a premature end to a rail investment programme <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2012/jul/13/rail-network-investment-cameron-clegg">once touted</a> as the biggest the country had seen since the Victorian era. But now <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/full-steam-ahead-for-hydrogen-trains-spzchrf8s">reports suggest</a> that the government and train manufacturers are hoping there may be an alternative way to turn British railways electric: hydrogen.</p>
<p>Hydrogen trains have already replaced more polluting diesel engines on a line <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/sep/17/germany-launches-worlds-first-hydrogen-powered-train">in Germany</a>, and some train companies think the vehicles could be running in Britain as <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/cars/news/hydrogen-fuel-cell-trains-run-british-railways-2022/">early as 2022</a>. Introducing them would still require substantial investment and wouldn’t be without challenges. But they could be an important step towards reducing the carbon footprint of railways.</p>
<p>Only <a href="http://orr.gov.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0017/26108/rail-statistics-compendium-2016-17.pdf">around a third</a> of the UK rail network has been electrified, with little extra track converted in the last few years. Without continuing to electrify the network, the government is faced with the dilemma of how to eliminate diesel trains that produce carbon dioxide and other harmful pollutants.</p>
<p>The current strategy is to purchase <a href="https://www.railengineer.uk/2017/10/24/bi-mode-trains-unlocking-opportunity/">bimodal trains</a> that can switch to using diesel when they reach parts of the track without electricity. But this is fudging the issue of dealing with climate change and air pollution and still leaves the UK <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/451522/share-of-the-rail-network-which-is-electrified-in-europe/">well behind</a> most other European networks. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/256345/original/file-20190130-108351-w6gxir.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/256345/original/file-20190130-108351-w6gxir.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=673&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/256345/original/file-20190130-108351-w6gxir.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=673&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/256345/original/file-20190130-108351-w6gxir.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=673&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/256345/original/file-20190130-108351-w6gxir.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=846&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/256345/original/file-20190130-108351-w6gxir.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=846&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/256345/original/file-20190130-108351-w6gxir.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=846&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Hydrogen fuel cell.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Solid_oxide_fuel_cell_protonic.svg">R.Dervisoglu/Wikipedia</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>If electrifying the rest of the network is deemed too expensive, one potential alternative is to generate electricity on board the train. One way to do this is to use fuel cells that combine hydrogen gas with oxygen from the air to produce electricity and water. Hydrogen can carry more energy than the same weight of batteries, meaning fuel cell systems could be lighter. They also take less time to refuel than batteries take to recharge and don’t have the same <a href="https://www.wired.co.uk/article/lithium-batteries-environment-impact">high environmental costs</a> from manufacturing.</p>
<p>The hydrogen gas would need to be compressed into tanks that would usually be stored on the train’s roof. But adding a regenerative braking system to charge an additional small battery would reduce the amount of hydrogen needed to power the train.</p>
<p>The high cost of installing overhead wires means that hydrogen trains would likely be a more economic way to electrify railway lines with relatively low volumes of traffic. And it makes sense to experiment with hydrogen trains to uncover any unexpected issues. But widespread use would require substantial investment in the generation and storage of hydrogen. Because very few hydrogen-based railways have ever been built, it’s not clear if they would actually save governments any money over electrifying larger lines that would provide economy of scale.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/256344/original/file-20190130-127151-ke6ffe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/256344/original/file-20190130-127151-ke6ffe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/256344/original/file-20190130-127151-ke6ffe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/256344/original/file-20190130-127151-ke6ffe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/256344/original/file-20190130-127151-ke6ffe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/256344/original/file-20190130-127151-ke6ffe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/256344/original/file-20190130-127151-ke6ffe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Costly solution.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/train-tracks-rural-environment-717427429?src=yZgDkKBWJhYGxk8F1rhkyw-1-1">Lukas Juocas/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A better solution might be to develop bimodal trains that can switch between electricity from overhead wires and fuel cells. This would be especially suitable for the UK rail network, which has many bridges and tunnels that are too low to run overhead cables beneath and very expensive to replace. If electric trains could switch to hydrogen power for sections of track with bridges or tunnels rather than requiring cables, it could considerably reduce the cost of electrification.</p>
<p>The other problem with hydrogen fuel cells is that the fuel is currently manufactured from methane (natural gas) using a process called <a href="https://www.energy.gov/eere/fuelcells/hydrogen-production-natural-gas-reforming">steam methane reforming</a> that also produces a large output of highly toxic carbon monoxide. This can be converted to carbon dioxide but that means using hydrogen fuel cells still contributes to greenhouse gas emissions.</p>
<h2>Cleaner hydrogen</h2>
<p>A pollution-free way of producing hydrogen is through <a href="https://www.energy.gov/eere/fuelcells/hydrogen-production-electrolysis">electrolysis</a>, by passing an electric current through water. In theory, you could use excess wind power (and perhaps solar) to generate this electricity and make the hydrogen a renewable energy source. The issue is that electrolysis plants are unlikely to be economic unless they run for a high proportion of the day. This would mean that when there wasn’t excess wind to power them, they would need regular electricity from the grid that would make the process highly expensive (and not necessarily renewable).</p>
<p>A second alternative is to use a “thermochemical” production method that involves reacting water with sulphur and iodine in the presence of heat. The good news is that this method is set to become economical within the next ten years thanks to the development of generation IV nuclear power plants. These high-temperature, <a href="https://theconversation.com/everything-you-need-to-know-about-mini-nuclear-reactors-56647">small modular reactors</a> are being developed in China, the US, Canada and Japan but not in the UK or Europe.</p>
<p>Despite the current limits of hydrogen as a transport fuel, as more and more countries (in particular Japan) undertake further research on the hydrogen economy, its costs will fall substantially, just as they have for solar and wind power. Hydrogen could even eventually come to replace natural gas in mains gas pipes, which would help bring down the costs of using it for transport.</p>
<p>The difficulty often seen in trying to introduce a new kind of transport fuel is that vehicle owners won’t use it without the infrastructure to support it but infrastructure builders won’t install it unless there is demand from vehicle owners. A government-funded experiment with hydrogen trains could help overcome this problem and bring the renewable hydrogen economy one step closer to reality.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/110450/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Brian Scott-Quinn does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Fuel cells are being touted as an alternative to costly electrification – but no one knows if they’ll really be cheaper.Brian Scott-Quinn, Emeritus Professor of Finance, ICMA Centre, University of ReadingLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1095872019-01-09T19:27:43Z2019-01-09T19:27:43ZHydrogen mobility from renewable energy – it is possible!<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/253022/original/file-20190109-32139-1r12mth.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C10%2C1374%2C903&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">FaHyence hydrogene filling station in action.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://mcphy.com/en/achievements/fahyence/">McPhy</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A reliable energy transition requires the implication of a range of scientific domains: physical, human, social, economic, as well as earth and life sciences, with the particular concern to put the end user in the centre of technology development. As part of the <a href="http://lue.univ-lorraine.fr/fr/article/impact-ulhys">ULHyS project</a> (Université de Lorraine Hydrogène Sciences et Technologies), the University of Lorraine brings together about ten laboratories around five research topics, from hydrogen production to territorial deployment. In this context, several ULHys members were invited to visit the hydrogen filling station <a href="https://mcphy.com/en/press-releases/commissioning-of-the-1st-hrs-in-france-producing-green-h2-on/">FaHyence</a> at Sarreguemines.</p>
<p>Inaugurated in April 2017, FaHyence is the first fuel station in Europe that produces hydrogen by electrolysis on site using green electricity from renewable energies delivered by Electricity of France (EDF). The site has a capacity of 40 kg of hydrogen per day, representing the need of about 20 to 25 vehicles per day for charging pressures between 350 to 420 bar.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250480/original/file-20181213-178558-hscf9q.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250480/original/file-20181213-178558-hscf9q.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=264&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250480/original/file-20181213-178558-hscf9q.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=264&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250480/original/file-20181213-178558-hscf9q.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=264&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250480/original/file-20181213-178558-hscf9q.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=332&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250480/original/file-20181213-178558-hscf9q.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=332&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250480/original/file-20181213-178558-hscf9q.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=332&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sketch of the filling station published with kind authorization of the society EIFER.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Ranges of about 350km, without any greenhouse gas emission</h2>
<p>Other hydrogen fuel stations in France include the HyWay project, which has been operational since summer 2018 on the CEA (French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission) site at Grenoble, and two others are under construction at Rodez and Nantes. FaHyence is the result of a collaboration between EDF, EIFER, McPhy, Symbio Fcell and the Urban Conglomeration of Sarreguemines Confluences (CASC). In order to ensure a regular operation of the gas station, about ten hydrogen vehicles run in the urban conglomeration: Electric Kangoo ZE (Renault) equipped by Symbio Fcell with a fuel cell acting as range extender. The PEM (polymer electrolyte membrane) type fuel cells run with pure hydrogen and consequently without any greenhouse gas emission with ranges up to 350 km, thereof 200 km thanks to a 33kWh Li-ion battery and 150 km thanks to a 5kWh PEMFC connected to a 1.8 kg hydrogen tank pressurized at 350 bar.</p>
<p>Even if the filling station is not at free access, any vehicle – French, European or international – running on hydrogen can make a recharge after simple authorization apply at the CASC with one evident advantage: the hydrogen filling is completely free. As a consequence, nine additional utility vehicles have been bought in between by other professional partners in the conglomeration and several private German and Belgian users have already filled their reservoirs at Sarreguemines.</p>
<p>FaHyence makes part of the H2ME (Hydrogen Mobility Europe) project funded by the European program FCH JU (Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking) which aims at deploying 49 hydrogen filling stations and 1,400 vehicles over the EU by 2020. Hydrogen is the third chapter of the sustainable mobility project of FaHyence besides electricity and bio-methane. It is an ambitious living laboratory and an evident application example of hydrogen technology.</p>
<h2>A full tank in four minutes flat</h2>
<p>Users learning how to take advantage of the filling devices has gone smoothly. The interface is classical and the procedure similar to conventional systems using fossil fuel allowed to minimise the adaptation period. Improvements are still needed in terms of ergonomics and interactions, but the operation principle remains quite simple. Compared to hours of charging necessary for conventional battery-based electric vehicles, the four minutes to fill a vehicle’s tank with hydrogen seem to be more than acceptable.</p>
<p>The station contains an alkaline electrolyser with a production capacity of 1.8 kg/h which requires 50 litres of water per kilogram of produce hydrogen. In addition, there is a two-level compressor, the first reaching pressures of about 30 bar, and the second equipped with a cooling circuit down to -20°C allows to reach pressures up to 420 bar. This compression device provides two major advantages: The first is that it allows to fill not only hydrogen vehicles at 350 bar (case of FC-EV such as the Kangoo ZE), but as well, for sure with some volume limitations, electric vehicles operating with hydrogen requiring filling pressures of 700 bar and reaching ranges of about 450 km (case of FCV such as the Toyota Mirai, the Honda Clarity Fuel Cell and the Hyundai Nexo…). The second advantage is that the cooling system reduces the filling time to four minutes compared to seven minutes for systems operating at ambient temperature.</p>
<h2>An under-exploited gas station which could easily become competitive</h2>
<p>“Hydrogen technology itself is not the limiting factor”, says Christian Hector, head of the technical service of Cofluences and initiator of the FaHyence project. “The most constraining element is the electrolyser”. With an average of 2.2 fuelings per day, representing barely 5% of its nominal capacity, the station is clearly under-exploited. As a consequence, the per-filling cost remains too high to be competitive with classical systems. While the per-kilogram cost of hydrogen depends on local conditions; at Sarreguemines it is 10€ per kg, and the national average is of about 6€ per kg. Note that it takes about 1 kg of hydrogen to travel 100km.</p>
<p>For the station to be cost-efficient, a minimum of 30 vehicles daily filling their tank would be required. “But the economic profit was not the motivation of this project,” says Hector. “The purpose was to test electric mobility in a cross-border context, as well as to validate the technical reliability of a hydrogen gas station in combination with an electrolyser on-site”. Even if the future of this station, whose financial support ends in 2020 remains uncertain, the objectives have been reached and this thanks to the tenacity of Hector and his green mobility team at the CASC.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/109587/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Les auteurs ne travaillent pas, ne conseillent pas, ne possèdent pas de parts, ne reçoivent pas de fonds d'une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n'ont déclaré aucune autre affiliation que leur organisme de recherche.</span></em></p>The development of a hydrogen charging station has made it possible to run vehicles without producing greenhouse gases.Robin Vivian, Maitre de conférences, Université de LorraineJulia Mainka, Maître de Conférences, Université de LorraineLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1068442018-11-30T04:47:44Z2018-11-30T04:47:44ZWhy battery-powered vehicles stack up better than hydrogen<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/245460/original/file-20181114-194500-iw2c1a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=233%2C0%2C3760%2C2245&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A battery electric vehicle in The University of Queensland's vehicle fleet.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Low energy efficiency is already a major problem for petrol and diesel vehicles. Typically, only 20% of the overall <a href="https://definedterm.com/well_to_wheel_wtw">well-to-wheel</a> energy is actually used to power these vehicles. The other 80% is lost through oil extraction, refinement, transport, evaporation, and engine heat. This low energy efficiency is the primary reason why fossil fuel vehicles are emissions-intensive, and relatively expensive to run.</p>
<p>With this in mind, we set out to understand the energy efficiency of electric and hydrogen vehicles as part of a <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/328782184_Where_are_we_heading_with_electric_vehicles">recent paper</a> published in the <a href="https://www.casanz.org.au/shop/publications/casanz-air-quality-journal/">Air Quality and Climate Change Journal</a>.</p>
<h2>Electric vehicles stack up best</h2>
<p>Based on a wide scan of studies globally, we found that battery electric vehicles have significantly lower energy losses compared to other vehicle technologies. Interestingly, however, the well-to-wheel losses of <a href="https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/fuelcell.shtml">hydrogen fuel cell vehicles</a> were found to be almost as high as fossil fuel vehicles. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/245474/original/file-20181114-194494-a7nqpf.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/245474/original/file-20181114-194494-a7nqpf.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/245474/original/file-20181114-194494-a7nqpf.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=786&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/245474/original/file-20181114-194494-a7nqpf.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=786&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/245474/original/file-20181114-194494-a7nqpf.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=786&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/245474/original/file-20181114-194494-a7nqpf.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=988&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/245474/original/file-20181114-194494-a7nqpf.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=988&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/245474/original/file-20181114-194494-a7nqpf.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=988&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Average well-to-wheel energy losses from different vehicle drivetrain technologies, showing typical values and ranges. Note: these figures account for production, transport and propulsion, but do not capture manufacturing energy requirements, which are currently marginally higher for electric and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles compared to fossil fuel vehicles.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>At first, this significant efficiency difference may seem surprising, given the recent attention on using hydrogen for transport.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-hydrogen-power-can-help-us-cut-emissions-boost-exports-and-even-drive-further-between-refills-101967">How hydrogen power can help us cut emissions, boost exports, and even drive further between refills</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>While most hydrogen today (<a href="https://www.theccc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Hydrogen-in-a-low-carbon-economy.pdf">and for the foreseeable future</a>) is produced from <a href="https://afdc.energy.gov/fuels/hydrogen_production.html">fossil fuels</a>, a zero-emission pathway is possible if renewable energy is used to:</p>
<ul>
<li><p><a href="https://publications.anl.gov/anlpubs/2015/10/121551.pdf">extract and treat water</a> </p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://www.energy.gov/eere/fuelcells/hydrogen-production-electrolysis">“crack” the water into hydrogen</a></p></li>
<li><p>liquefy or compress the hydrogen to an economic volume <em>(1 kg of hydrogen takes up 12 cubic metres @ standard atmospheric pressure; 1 kg of hydrogen = roughly 100 km driving range)</em></p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://www.energy.gov/eere/fuelcells/hydrogen-delivery">transport hydrogen for distribution</a></p></li>
<li><p>and finally deliver hydrogen to a fuel cell vehicle. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>Herein lies one of the significant challenges in harnessing hydrogen for transport: there are many more steps in the energy life cycle process, compared with the simpler, direct use of electricity in battery electric vehicles. </p>
<p>Each step in the process incurs an energy penalty, and therefore an efficiency loss. The sum of these losses ultimately explains why hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, on average, require three to four times more energy than battery electric vehicles, per kilometre travelled.</p>
<h2>Electricity grid impacts</h2>
<p>The future significance of low energy efficiency is made clearer upon examination of the potential electricity grid impacts. If Australia’s existing 14 million light vehicles were electric, they would need about 37 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity per year — a 15% increase in national electricity generation (roughly equivalent to Australia’s existing annual renewable generation). </p>
<p>But if this same fleet was converted to run on hydrogen, it would need more than four times the electricity: roughly 157 TWh a year. This would entail a 63% increase in national electricity generation. </p>
<p>A recent <a href="http://www.infrastructurevictoria.com.au/AVadvice">Infrastructure Victoria report</a> reached a similar conclusion. It calculated that a full transition to hydrogen in 2046 – for both light and heavy vehicles – would require 64 TWh of electricity, the equivalent of a 147% increase in Victoria’s annual electricity consumption. Battery electric vehicles, meanwhile, would require roughly one third the amount (22 TWh).</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-electric-cars-can-help-save-the-grid-73914">How electric cars can help save the grid</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Some may argue that energy efficiency will no longer be important in the future given some forecasts suggest Australia could reach <a href="http://energy.anu.edu.au/files/Australia%27s%20renewable%20energy%20industry%20is%20delivering%20rapid%20and%20deep%20emissions%20cuts.pdf">100% renewable energy as soon as the 2030s</a>. While the current political climate suggests this will be challenging, even as the transition occurs, there will be competing demands for renewable energy between sectors, stressing the continuing importance of energy efficiency.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/at-its-current-rate-australia-is-on-track-for-50-renewable-electricity-in-2025-102903">At its current rate, Australia is on track for 50% renewable electricity in 2025</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>It should also be recognised that higher energy requirements translate to higher energy prices. Even if hydrogen reached price parity with petrol or diesel in the future, electric vehicles would remain 70-90% cheaper to run, because of their higher energy efficiency. This would save the average Australian household <a href="https://thedriven.io/2018/10/03/how-australia-can-save-20-billion-a-year-by-switching-to-evs/">more than A$2,000 per year</a>.</p>
<h2>Pragmatic plan for the future</h2>
<p>Despite the clear energy efficiency advantages of electric vehicles over hydrogen vehicles, the truth is there is no silver bullet. Both technologies face differing challenges in terms of infrastructure, consumer acceptance, grid impacts, <a href="https://www.toi.no/getfile.php/1348918/Publikasjoner/T%C3%98I%20rapporter/2018/1655-2018/1655-2018-elektronisk.pdf">technology maturity and reliability</a>, and driving range (the <a href="https://www.energy.gov/eere/fuelcells/hydrogen-storage">volume needed for sufficient hydrogen</a> compared with the battery energy density for electric vehicles). </p>
<p>Battery electric vehicles are not yet a suitable replacement for every vehicle on our roads. But based on the technology available today, it is clear that a significant proportion of the current fleet could transition to be battery electric, including many cars, <a href="https://www.createdigital.org.au/electric-buses-public-transport-future/">buses</a>, and <a href="https://reneweconomy.com.au/australian-company-creating-sea-change-towards-electric-trucks-54816/">short-haul trucks</a>.</p>
<p>Such a transition represents a sensible, robust and cost-efficient approach for delivering the significant transport emission reductions required within the short time frames outlined by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s recent <a href="http://www.ipcc.ch/report/sr15/">report on restraining global warming to 1.5°C</a>, while also reducing transport costs.</p>
<p>Together with other energy-efficient technologies, such as the <a href="https://www.pdc.wa.gov.au/news-media-2/news-media/study-reveals-solar-could-be-pilbaras-next-big-energy-export">direct export of renewable electricity overseas</a>, battery electric vehicles will ensure that the renewable energy we generate over the coming decades is used to reduce the greatest amount of emissions, as quickly as possible. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-norths-future-is-electrifying-powering-asia-with-renewables-17286">The north's future is electrifying: powering Asia with renewables</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Meanwhile, research should continue into energy efficient options for long-distance trucks, shipping and aircraft, as well as the broader role for both hydrogen and electrification in reducing emissions <a href="https://www.theccc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Hydrogen-in-a-low-carbon-economy.pdf">across other sectors of the economy</a>.</p>
<p>With the <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Electric_Vehicles/ElectricVehicles">Federal Senate Select Committee on Electric Vehicles</a> set to deliver its final report on December 4, let’s hope the continuing importance of energy efficiency in transport has not been forgotten.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/106844/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dr Jake Whitehead is a Research Fellow at The University of Queensland, Director of Transmobility Consulting, and is a member of the Australian Labor Party.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>I am an Adjunct Professor with University of Technology Sydney, a honorary senior fellow with the University of Queensland and chair of the Transport Special Interest Group of the Clean Air Society of Australia and New Zealand (CASANZ).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Simon Washington does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>It’s unclear exactly what mix of technologies will drive the zero-emission vehicles of the future. But in terms of ‘well-to-wheel’ efficiency, electric batteries outperform hydrogen.Jake Whitehead, Research Fellow, The University of QueenslandRobin Smit, Adjunct professor, The University of QueenslandSimon Washington, Professor and Head of School of Civil Engineering, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/949112018-04-13T04:17:30Z2018-04-13T04:17:30ZExplainer: how do we make hydrogen from coal, and is it really a clean fuel?<p>Energy giant AGL this week <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jan/12/victorias-plans-for-hydrogen-exports-to-japan-are-way-of-making-brown-coal-look-green">unveiled plans</a> to produce hydrogen power at its Loy Yang A coal station. But how do we transform coal, which is often thought of as simply made of carbon, into hydrogen – a completely different element?</p>
<p>In fact, coal is not just made of carbon. It also contains other elements, one of which is hydrogen. But to get a lot of hydrogen, the coal needs to be “gasified” rather than burned, creating compounds that can then be reacted with water to make hydrogen. This is where the majority of hydrogen comes from in this case – not from the coal itself.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-is-hydrogen-fuel-making-a-comeback-22299">Why is hydrogen fuel making a comeback?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>What is coal made of?</h2>
<p>In simple terms, coal is a mixture of two components: carbon-based matter (the decayed remains of prehistoric vegetation) and mineral matter (which comes from the ground from which the coal is dug). The carbon-based matter is composed of five main elements: carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen and sulfur. </p>
<p>You can think of coal’s formation process as a progression from biomass (newly dead plant matter) to charcoal (almost pure carbon). Over time, the oxygen and some hydrogen are gradually removed, leaving more and more carbon behind.</p>
<p>Brown coal thus contains slightly more hydrogen than black coal, although the biggest difference between the two is in their carbon and oxygen contents.</p>
<iframe src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/HUgdy/2/" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" width="100%" height="170"></iframe>
<h2>What is gasification?</h2>
<p>We can understand gasification by first understanding combustion. Combustion, or burning, is the complete oxidation of a fuel such as coal, a process that produces heat and carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide itself cannot be further oxidised, and thus is the non-combustible end product of the burning process.</p>
<p>In gasification, however, the coal is not completely oxidised. Instead, the coal is reacted with a compound called a gasification agent. Gasification is endothermic, which means it doesn’t produce heat. Quite the opposite, in fact – it needs heat input to progress. Because the resulting gas is not fully oxidised, that means it can itself be burned as a fuel.</p>
<h2>So how do we make hydrogen?</h2>
<p>Now we know the key concepts, let’s start again at the start. To produce hydrogen from coal, the process begins with partial oxidation, which means some air is added to the coal, which generates carbon dioxide gas through traditional combustion. Not enough is added, though, to completely burn the coal – only enough to make some heat for the gasification reaction. The partial oxidation also makes its own gasification agent, carbon dioxide.</p>
<p>Carbon dioxide reacts with the rest of the carbon in the coal to form carbon monoxide (this is the endothermic gasification reaction, which needs heat input). No hydrogen yet.</p>
<p>Carbon monoxide in the gas stream is now further reacted with steam, generating hydrogen and carbon dioxide. <em>Now</em> we are making some hydrogen. The hydrogen can then be run through an on-site fuel cell to generate high-efficiency electricity, although the plan at Loy Yang A is to pressurise the hydrogen and ship it off to Japan for their Olympic showcase.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/214644/original/file-20180413-587-j6tl5a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/214644/original/file-20180413-587-j6tl5a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/214644/original/file-20180413-587-j6tl5a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=346&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214644/original/file-20180413-587-j6tl5a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=346&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214644/original/file-20180413-587-j6tl5a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=346&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214644/original/file-20180413-587-j6tl5a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=435&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214644/original/file-20180413-587-j6tl5a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=435&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214644/original/file-20180413-587-j6tl5a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=435&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Making hydrogen from coal.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">J. Allen</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Brown coals are generally preferred for gasification over black coals for several reasons, which makes the brown coal of Victoria’s Latrobe Valley a good prospect for this process.</p>
<p>The main reason is that, because of the high oxygen content of this type of coal, it is less chemically stable and therefore easier to break apart during the gasification reaction. Plus there is a small boost from the hydrogen that is already present in the coal.</p>
<p>Hydrogen produced in this way is not a zero-emission fuel. Carbon dioxide is emitted through the combustion and thermal decomposition reactions, and is also a product of the reaction between carbon monoxide and water to make hydrogen and carbon dioxide.</p>
<h2>So why bother making hydrogen?</h2>
<p>When hydrogen is used as a fuel, it releases only water as a byproduct. This makes it a zero-emission clean fuel, at least at the point of use. </p>
<p>Producing hydrogen from coal in a large, central facility means pollution control can be put in place. Particulates, and potentially carbon dioxide, can be removed from the gas stream very efficiently. </p>
<p>This is not possible on a small scale, such as hanging off the back of your car. Road transport currently emits <a href="http://www.who.int/sustainable-development/transport/health-risks/air-pollution/en/">dangerous levels of pollutants in our cities</a> every day.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-protons-can-power-our-future-energy-needs-93124">How protons can power our future energy needs</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Gasification processes that use hydrogen fuel cells on site can <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0166516205001230">substantially increase their efficiency</a> compared with traditional coal-fired power. However, depending on the end-use of the hydrogen, and subsequent transport processes, you might be better off in terms of energy output, or efficiency (and therefore carbon emissions), just straight-up burning the coal to make electricity.</p>
<p>But by using gasification of coal to make hydrogen, we can start building much-needed infrastructure and developing consumer markets (that is, hydrogen fuel cell vehicles) for a truly clean future fuel.</p>
<p>I predict that hydrogen power will be zero-emission one day. It can be made in a variety of ways through pure water splitting (including electrolysis, or through solar thermochemical and photoelectrochemical technologies, to name a few). It’s not there yet in terms of price or practicality, but it is certainly on its way. Boosting development of the hydrogen economy through production from coal in the meantime is, in my book, not a terrible idea overall.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/94911/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dr Jessica Allen is funded by NSW Coal Innovation on an unrelated project and has previously been funded to research hydrogen production from water splitting technology. </span></em></p>AGL has announced plans to use coal to make hydrogen fuel at its Loy Yang A station in Victoria’s Latrobe Valley. Wait, isn’t coal made of carbon, not hydrogen? Yes, but here’s how the process works.Jessica Allen, Researcher and Lecturer in Low and Zero Emission Energy, University of NewcastleLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/931242018-03-12T07:53:07Z2018-03-12T07:53:07ZHow protons can power our future energy needs<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/209858/original/file-20180312-30994-1en5r6j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The proton battery, connected to a voltmeter</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">RMIT</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>As the world embraces inherently variable renewable energy sources to tackle climate change, we will need a truly gargantuan amount of electrical energy storage.</p>
<p>With large electricity grids, microgrids, industrial installations and electric vehicles all running on renewables, we are likely to need a storage capacity of <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360319911022154?via%3Dihub">over 10% of annual electricity consumption</a> – that is, <a href="https://www.iea.org/Textbase/npsum/WEO2016SUM.pdf">more than 2,000 terawatt-hours</a> of storage capacity worldwide as of 2014. </p>
<p>To put that in context, Australia’s planned <a href="https://theconversation.com/turnbull-unveils-snowy-plan-for-pumped-hydro-costing-billions-74686">Snowy 2.0 pumped hydro storage scheme</a> would have a capacity of just <a href="http://www.snowyhydro.com.au/our-scheme/snowy20/">350 gigawatt-hours</a>, or roughly <a href="https://www.aemo.com.au/Electricity/National-Electricity-Market-NEM/Planning-and-forecasting/Electricity-Forecasting-Insights/Summary-Forecasts/Annual-Consumption">0.2% of Australia’s current electricity consumption</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/tomorrows-battery-technologies-that-could-power-your-home-41614">Tomorrow's battery technologies that could power your home</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Where will the batteries come from to meet this huge storage demand? Most likely from a range of different technologies, some of which are only at the research and development stage at present.</p>
<p>Our <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360319918302714">new research</a> suggests that “proton batteries” – rechargeable batteries that store protons from water in a porous carbon material – could make a valuable contribution.</p>
<p>Not only is our new battery environmentally friendly, but it is also technically capable with further development of storing more energy for a given mass and size than currently available lithium-ion batteries – the technology used in <a href="https://theconversation.com/yes-sas-battery-is-a-massive-battery-but-it-can-do-much-more-besides-88480">South Australia’s giant new battery</a>.</p>
<p>Potential applications for the proton battery include household storage of electricity from solar panels, as is currently done by the <a href="https://www.tesla.com/en_AU/powerwall">Tesla Powerwall</a>.</p>
<p>With some modifications and scaling up, proton battery technology may also be used for medium-scale storage on electricity grids, and to power electric vehicles.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/209854/original/file-20180312-30965-1srowrm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/209854/original/file-20180312-30965-1srowrm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/209854/original/file-20180312-30965-1srowrm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209854/original/file-20180312-30965-1srowrm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209854/original/file-20180312-30965-1srowrm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209854/original/file-20180312-30965-1srowrm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209854/original/file-20180312-30965-1srowrm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209854/original/file-20180312-30965-1srowrm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The team behind the new battery. L-R: Shahin Heidari, John Andrews, proton battery, Saeed Seif Mohammadi.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">RMIT</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>How it works</h2>
<p>Our latest proton battery, details of which are <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360319918302714">published in the International Journal of Hydrogen Energy</a>, is basically a hybrid between a conventional battery and a <a href="http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/hydrogen/tech.html">hydrogen fuel cell</a>. </p>
<p>During charging, the water molecules in the battery are split, releasing protons (positively charged nuclei of hydrogen atoms). These protons then bond with the carbon in the electrode, with the help of electrons from the power supply. </p>
<p>In electricity supply mode, this process is reversed: the protons are released from the storage and travel back through the reversible fuel cell to generate power by reacting with oxygen from air and electrons from the external circuit, forming water once again.</p>
<p>Essentially, a proton battery is thus a reversible hydrogen fuel cell that stores hydrogen bonded to the carbon in its solid electrode, rather than as compressed hydrogen gas in a separate cylinder, as in a conventional hydrogen fuel cell system. </p>
<p>Unlike fossil fuels, the carbon used for storing hydrogen does not burn or cause emissions in the process. The carbon electrode, in effect, serves as a “rechargeable hydrocarbon” for storing energy.</p>
<p>What’s more, the battery can be charged and discharged at normal temperature and pressure, without any need for compressing and storing hydrogen gas. This makes it safer than other forms of hydrogen fuel.</p>
<p>Powering batteries with protons from water splitting also has the potential to be more economical than using lithium ions, which are made from globally scarce and geographically restricted resources. The carbon-based material in the storage electrode can be made from abundant and cheap primary resources – even forms of coal or biomass.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-guide-to-deconstructing-the-battery-hype-cycle-79180">A guide to deconstructing the battery hype cycle</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Our latest advance is a crucial step towards cheap, sustainable proton batteries that can help meet our future energy needs without further damaging our already fragile environment.</p>
<p>The time scale to take this small-scale experimental device to commercialisation is likely to be in the order of five to ten years, depending on the level of research, development and demonstration effort expended.</p>
<p>Our research will now focus on further improving performance and energy density through use of atomically thin layered carbon-based materials such as graphene.</p>
<p>The target of a proton battery that is truly competitive with lithium-ion batteries is firmly in our sights.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/93124/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>RMIT's research into a proton batteryt has been partly funded by the Australian Defence Science and Technology Group and the US Office of Naval Research Global.</span></em></p>A new rechargeable ‘proton battery’ - made chiefly from carbon and water - promises to outperform conventional lithium-ion batteries, while also being more environmentally friendly.John Andrews, Professor, School of Engineering, RMIT UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/824522017-08-17T02:38:44Z2017-08-17T02:38:44ZOf renewables, Robocops and risky business<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/182350/original/file-20170817-27872-jzrxxh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">What a gas: one of Moreland's new hydrogen-powered garbage trucks.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Takver/Flickr.com</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A while ago I asked <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-types-of-people-will-lead-our-great-energy-transition-75909">what types of people will lead our great energy transition</a>.</p>
<p>Well, some of them seem to be living in North Melbourne. Earlier this month I watched as Victoria’s Climate Change Minister Lily D’Ambrosio announced <a href="http://www.premier.vic.gov.au/building-australias-first-hydrogen-refuelling-station/">A$1 million for a hydrogen refuelling station</a> to power zero-emission local government vehicles. The money, from the <a href="http://www.business.vic.gov.au/support-for-your-business/future-industries/new-energy-technologies">New Energy Jobs Fund</a>, will sit alongside A$1.5 million that <a href="http://www.moreland.vic.gov.au">Moreland Council</a> is investing over three years. </p>
<p>The Council hopes that rainwater it harvests from its buildings can be turned into fuel, with the help of power from its solar panels and wind turbines, which can in turn be used to run its fleet of garbage trucks. If (and it is an if) everything works, then residents get less air and noise pollution, and the council gets a smaller energy bill and carbon footprint. You can read my account of the launch <a href="http://reneweconomy.com.au/moreland-council-launches-hydrogen-powered-garbage-truck-scheme-35203/">here</a>. </p>
<p>Of course, there are doubters. One commenter under my report wrote:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>It amazes me how anybody could still think [hydrogen fuel cells] are a step in the right direction for domestic land transportation. Their inherent lack of efficiency compared to batteries, difficulty with storage, explosion risk and the cost of building the support infrastructure has been demonstrated innumerable times.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Yet Japan is <a href="http://www.enecho.meti.go.jp/en/category/whitepaper/">planning for 800,000 hydrogen-fuelled vehicles by 2030</a>. Are all of these governments really backing the wrong horse?</p>
<p>This is the nub of the problem: technological outcomes generally become clear after the fact, and rarely before. After a “<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominant_design">dominant design</a>” has survived the battles then hindsight, via historians, tells us it was obvious all along which type of gizmo was going to win.</p>
<p>Scholars have long pointed out that this is a fallacy – starting with the <a href="https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/social-construction-technological-systems-0">humble bicycle</a>. The truth is that technological innovation is not the clean predictable process that pristine white lab coats and gleaming laboratories would have us think. </p>
<p>The history of technology is littered with the carcasses of superior ideas that were killed by inferior marketing (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betamax">Betamax</a> tapes, anyone?). Meanwhile there are the success stories that only happened through serendipity – such as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sildenafil#History">Viagra</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Text_messaging#History">text messages</a>, and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-it_note#History">Post-it notes</a>. Sometimes technologies simply don’t catch the public eye, and their proponents withdraw them and repurpose them (hello <a href="http://nymag.com/selectall/2017/07/the-rebirth-of-google-glass-on-the-factory-floor.html">Google Glass</a>).</p>
<p>Even the most successful technologies have teething problems. Testing prototypes is not for the faint-hearted (as anyone who’s seen <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZZhhA87d6g">Robocop</a> will vividly remember).</p>
<p>If there’s no clear and obvious technological route to follow, then an industry can end up “<a href="http://www.dictionary.com/browse/perseverate">perseverating</a>” – repeating the same thing insistently and redundantly. As these <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048733314002091">two</a> <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nenergy201613">studies</a> show, the American car industry couldn’t decide what should replace the internal combustion engine, and so hedged their bets by flitting between various flavours of the month, from biofuels to LPG to hybrids and everything in between.</p>
<h2>Risky business</h2>
<p>This is what makes Moreland Council’s choices so interesting. It might make “more sense” to wait and see, to let someone else run all the risks, and then be a fast follower, with the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com.au/youre-better-off-being-a-fast-follower-than-an-originator-2010-10?r=US&IR=T">advantages and disadvantages</a> that entails. But of course if everyone does that, then nothing ever gets done. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, if civil society is pushing for change, and a council’s own political makeup shifts (the Greens did well in the last local elections), and there are determined officers, then an experiment can be conducted. Coincidentally enough, Moreland Council’s chief exective Nerina Di Lorenzo recently completed a PhD on local governments’ attitudes to risk. Within a year or three she’ll no doubt have enough material for a post-doc.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill seems to have lost all hope that the black hole-sized vacuum in federal energy and climate policy will ever be fixed. He has famously commissioned the world’s biggest <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-07-07/sa-to-get-worlds-biggest-lithium-ion-battery/8687268">lithium battery</a> and, now, a <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-south-australia-can-function-reliably-while-moving-to-100-renewable-power-73199">long-awaited</a> concentrated solar thermal power plant <a href="https://twitter.com/JayWeatherill/status/896965896610095104/photo/1">in Port Augusta</a>.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"896965896610095104"}"></div></p>
<h2>Learning process</h2>
<p>What we are seeing in Moreland is a local council and its state government acting together (what academics snappily call “<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-level_governance">multilevel governance</a>”), while further west we have another state government that has resolved to push its chips onto the green baize and spin the roulette wheel.</p>
<p>Will these experiments work? Will the right lessons be learned, from either failure or success (or more likely, living as we do in the real world, a mixture of both)? How can the “successful” technologies (however that is defined) be scaled up at tremendous speed, so we somehow clamber up the learning curve faster than we slither up the <a href="https://scripps.ucsd.edu/programs/keelingcurve/">Keeling Curve</a> of atmospheric carbon dioxide levels?</p>
<p>Can it be done? We need industrial quantities of luck, and optimism. And seriously – what do we have to lose by trying, other than the love of some vested interests?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/82452/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
A local council goes for hydrogen. A state government goes for lithium and mirrors. They are taking punts on technology. What are the risks?Marc Hudson, PhD Candidate, Sustainable Consumption Institute, University of ManchesterLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/806922017-07-10T12:44:32Z2017-07-10T12:44:32ZWhy Volvo going ‘all-electric’ is not as revolutionary as it seems<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/177516/original/file-20170710-29726-1tjsikc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The announcement from Volvo that all of its new models from 2019 will include an element of electric vehicle technology was a PR coup for the Swedish car maker. It received a disproportionate amount of attention as the <a href="https://www.dezeen.com/2017/07/05/volvo-first-major-car-company-scrap-combustion-engine-design-transport-news/">“first major car company”</a> to switch to all-electric. But the <a href="https://www.media.volvocars.com/global/en-gb/media/pressreleases/210058/volvo-cars-to-go-all-electric">statement</a> by their CEO Hakan Samuelson that this “marks the end of the solely combustion engine powered car”, is more a reflection of Volvo’s position in the market than any justification of a global change. </p>
<p>Volvo, known for decades <a href="https://www.thebrandbite.com/2014/01/15/volvo-brand-positioning-safety-end-of-volvo/">for its safety</a>, has fallen behind other manufacturers when it comes to environmental credentials. It recently introduced hybrid versions of the XC90, XC60, S90 and V90. But let’s not forget that Toyota introduced the mass-produced hybrid, its Prius, worldwide in the year 2000. Toyota now have <a href="http://www.hybridcars.com/hybrid-sales-rising-globally-says-toyota/">around 80% of the global market</a> for hybrid vehicles. </p>
<p>The question we should be asking is why Toyota or any of the other mainstream manufacturers have not come out with the same proposition to end the role of solely combustion engine powered cars? The answer lies in the fact that the major part of Volvo’s sales take place in Europe, the US and China. These markets have the potential to have the basic infrastructure in place that’s needed to support the electrification of vehicles. </p>
<p>Other manufacturers have a more global perspective and appreciate that in parts of the world such as Africa and parts of South America the idea of a regular supply of electricity for basic needs is of more pressing concern than the facility to plug in an electric vehicle. To some extent this position is really an admission that Volvo has limited expansion plans in developing markets and is happy to concentrate in its more established countries. A cynic might also suggest that the move helps the company meet the new <a href="http://www.acea.be/industry-topics/tag/category/euro-standards">more stringent EU emissions targets</a> that are due to be introduced over the next few years. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/177518/original/file-20170710-29730-n4r4rj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/177518/original/file-20170710-29730-n4r4rj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/177518/original/file-20170710-29730-n4r4rj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/177518/original/file-20170710-29730-n4r4rj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/177518/original/file-20170710-29730-n4r4rj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/177518/original/file-20170710-29730-n4r4rj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/177518/original/file-20170710-29730-n4r4rj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Hybrids use two power sources.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.media.volvocars.com/global/en-gb/media/photos/41628">Volvo</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Hybrid vehicles, by their very nature, require two power sources. One is a small, usually petrol-fuelled engine that charges the battery that drives the car. There are also more sophisticated developments that involve charging the battery while the car brakes but these are usually supplementary to the main form of electricity generation. Volvo’s claim gives the impression that petrol engines are a thing of the past when, with the current technology, they are still a critical part in the hybrid system. </p>
<h2>New infrastructure</h2>
<p>For car companies there is at least one major issue with a truly and entirely electric future. This prospect would mean that for the first time it would be those providing the infrastructure that would dictate what was happening in the motor industry. </p>
<p>Electric vehicles work well when the driver can charge the vehicle on a regular and convenient basis, usually overnight. This is fine if you have a driveway and a power source available. If, however, you live in a block of flats or in a terraced property there is a major issue. Battery life and access to a charging point add barriers in potential customers’ minds over the purchase of an electric vehicle. This makes the hybrid alternative a much more attractive proposition for all the major manufacturers who have or are in the process of developing hybrid models.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/177523/original/file-20170710-22784-4nd4ly.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/177523/original/file-20170710-22784-4nd4ly.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/177523/original/file-20170710-22784-4nd4ly.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/177523/original/file-20170710-22784-4nd4ly.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/177523/original/file-20170710-22784-4nd4ly.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/177523/original/file-20170710-22784-4nd4ly.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/177523/original/file-20170710-22784-4nd4ly.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">More charge points are needed.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">shutterstock.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Volvo’s announcement also steals the show from perhaps the most interesting discussion about the future of cars. That’s whether or not hydrogen-powered vehicles will dominate the market – either as part of a hybrid system or as a fully hydrogen-powered fuel cell engine. There is only the Toyota Mirai available in a <a href="http://www.mytoyotamirai.com/toyota-mirai-availability/">few developed markets</a> and <a href="http://www.businesscar.co.uk/tests/2017/toyota-mirai-review">only 3,000 have been sold globally</a>. The reason: a serious shortage of refuelling stations.</p>
<p>The emissions from these vehicles is water and they are claimed to be environmentally neutral. Toyota and Hyundai have made major advances in this area but face the bigger problem of building the infrastructure to refuel hydrogen-powered cars. The installation of refuelling stations would require significant investment.</p>
<p>So, despite Volvo’s claims, the future of motoring will undoubtedly still include a petrol engine in some format in the immediate future. The only way that this is likely to change is if governments divert their infrastructure spending away from rail into opening up greener alternatives for drivers. This would improve the environment while still allowing the mobility that a car gives to people in everyday use. Even with car ownership declining in some cities, something will have to power the buses and taxis – and the cleaner that can be, the better for all.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/80692/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jim Saker has received research funding in the past from the EPSRC and BMW (UK). He does not currently hold external funding. He is vice president of the Institute of the Motor Industry.</span></em></p>Volvo might be the first car company to go all-electric, but it’s far from the market leader and petrol will continue to be relied upon.Jim Saker, Director of the Centre for Automotive Management , School of Business and Economics, Loughborough UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/625922016-08-30T03:04:53Z2016-08-30T03:04:53ZFinding better ways to get hydrogen fuel from water<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134337/original/image-20160816-13037-117nl1h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Hydrogen fueling stations like this could become more common if materials scientists and other researchers keep pushing for new breakthroughs.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-7965856/stock-photo-hydrogen-fueling-station-for-vehicles.html">fueling station photo via shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>With <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Business/build-california-invests-millions-hydrogen-fueling-stations/story?id=24962830">hydrogen power stations in California</a>, a <a href="https://ssl.toyota.com/mirai/fcv.html">new Japanese consumer car</a> and <a href="http://www.fchea.org/portable/">portable hydrogen fuel cells</a> for electronics, hydrogen as a zero emission fuel source is now finally becoming a reality for the average consumer. When combined with oxygen in the presence of a <a href="http://www.northwestern.edu/magazine/northwestern/winter1999/winter99coverstoryside1.htm">catalyst</a>, hydrogen releases energy and bonds with the oxygen to form water.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.iea.org/publications/freepublications/publication/hydrogen.pdf">two main difficulties</a> preventing us from having hydrogen power everything we have are <a href="http://www.nrel.gov/hydrogen/proj_storage.html">storage</a> and production. At the moment, hydrogen production is energy-intensive and expensive. Normally, industrial production of hydrogen requires high temperatures, large facilities and an enormous amount of energy. In fact, it usually comes from fossil fuels like natural gas – and therefore isn’t actually a zero-emission fuel source. Making the process cheaper, efficient and sustainable would go a long way toward making hydrogen a more commonly used fuel.</p>
<p>An excellent – and abundant – source of hydrogen is water. But chemically, that requires reversing the reaction in which hydrogen releases energy when combining with other chemicals. That means we have to put energy into a compound, to get the hydrogen out. Maximizing the efficiency of this process would be significant progress toward a clean-energy future.</p>
<p>One method involves mixing water with a helpful chemical, a catalyst, to reduce the amount of energy needed to break the connections between hydrogen and oxygen atoms. There are several promising catalysts for hydrogen generation, including <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/C4RA11852A">molybdenum sulfide</a>, graphene and cadmium sulfate. My research focuses on modifying the molecular properties of molybdenum sulfide to make the reaction even more effective and more efficient.</p>
<h2>Making hydrogen</h2>
<p>Hydrogen is the <a href="http://education.jlab.org/glossary/abund_uni.html">most abundant element in the universe</a>, but it’s rarely available as pure hydrogen. Rather, it combines with other elements to form a great many chemicals and compounds, such as organic solvents like methanol, and proteins in the human body. Its pure form, H₂, can used as a transportable and efficient fuel.</p>
<p>There are <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/er.3549">several ways to produce hydrogen</a> to be usable as fuel. Electrolysis uses electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. <a href="http://energy.gov/eere/fuelcells/hydrogen-production-natural-gas-reforming">Steam methane reforming</a> starts with methane (four hydrogen atoms bound to a carbon atom) and heats it, separating the hydrogen from the carbon. This energy-intensive method is usually how industries produce hydrogen that is used in things like producing ammonia or the refining of oil. </p>
<p>The method I’m focusing on is <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364032114009265">photocatalytic water splitting</a>. With a catalyst’s help, the amount of energy needed to “split” water into hydrogen and oxygen can be provided by another abundant resource – light. When exposed to light, a proper mixture of water and a catalyst produces both oxygen and hydrogen. This is very attractive to industry because it then allows us to use water as the source of hydrogen instead of dirty fossil fuels.</p>
<h2>Understanding catalysts</h2>
<p>Just as not every two people start up a conversation if they’re in the same elevator, some chemical interactions don’t occur just because the two materials are introduced. Water molecules can be split into hydrogen and oxygen with the addition of energy, but the amount of energy needed would be more than would be generated as a result of the reaction.</p>
<p>Sometimes it takes a third party to get things going. In chemistry, that’s called a catalyst. Chemically speaking, a catalyst lowers the amount of energy needed for two compounds to react. Some catalysts function only when exposed to light. These compounds, like titanium dioxide, are <a href="http://www.greenearthnanoscience.com/what-is-photocatalyst.php">called photocatalysts</a>.</p>
<p>With a photocatalyst in the mix, the energy needed to split water drops significantly, so that the effort nets an energy gain at the end of the process. We can make the splitting even more efficient by adding another substance, in a role called co-catalyst. Co-catalysts in hydrogen generation alter the electronic structure of the reaction, making it more effective at producing hydrogen.</p>
<p>So far, there aren’t any commercialized systems for producing hydrogen this way. This is in part because of cost. The best catalysts and co-catalysts we’ve found are efficient at helping with the chemical reaction, but are very expensive. For example, the first promising combination, titanium dioxide and platinum, was discovered in 1972. Platinum, however, is a very expensive metal (<a href="http://www.jmbullion.com/charts/platinum-price/">well over US$1,000 per ounce</a>). Even rhenium, another useful catalyst, <a href="https://www.metalprices.com/metal/rhenium/rhenium-metal-99-9-na">costs around $70 an ounce</a>. Metals like these are so rare in the Earth’s crust that this makes them <a href="http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2016/160219/ncomms10771/pdf/ncomms10771.pdf">not suitable for large-scale applications</a> even though there are processes being developed to <a href="https://www.hydrogen.energy.gov/pdfs/progress05/vii_e_1_grot.pdf">recycle these materials</a>.</p>
<h2>Finding a new catalyst</h2>
<p>There are many requirements for a good catalyst, such as being able to be recycled and being able to withstand the heat and pressure involved in the reaction. But just as crucial is how common the material is, because the most abundant catalysts are the cheapest.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134385/original/image-20160817-13720-myswal.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134385/original/image-20160817-13720-myswal.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134385/original/image-20160817-13720-myswal.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134385/original/image-20160817-13720-myswal.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134385/original/image-20160817-13720-myswal.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=630&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134385/original/image-20160817-13720-myswal.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=630&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134385/original/image-20160817-13720-myswal.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=630&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Properties of a good photocatalyst.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Peter Byrley</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>One of the newest and most promising materials is molybdenum sulfide, MoS₂. Because it is made up of the elements molybdenum and sulfur – both relatively common on Earth – it is far cheaper than more traditional catalysts, <a href="https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Molybdenum-Disulfide_60481067845.html?spm=a2700.7724857.0.0.zyIg0g">well under a dollar per ounce</a>. It also has the correct electronic properties and other attributes.</p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134336/original/image-20160816-13037-6wibr9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134336/original/image-20160816-13037-6wibr9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=352&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134336/original/image-20160816-13037-6wibr9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=352&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134336/original/image-20160816-13037-6wibr9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=352&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134336/original/image-20160816-13037-6wibr9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134336/original/image-20160816-13037-6wibr9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134336/original/image-20160816-13037-6wibr9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Chips of molybdenum sulfide.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AMoS2chips.jpg">Materialscientist</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/135089/original/image-20160823-18690-djb0f4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/135089/original/image-20160823-18690-djb0f4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135089/original/image-20160823-18690-djb0f4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135089/original/image-20160823-18690-djb0f4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135089/original/image-20160823-18690-djb0f4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135089/original/image-20160823-18690-djb0f4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135089/original/image-20160823-18690-djb0f4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Single layers of molybdenum sulfide (MoS₂) on glass (SiO₂). Scale bar is 10 micrometers (μm).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Peter Byrley</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF02824960">Before the late 1990s</a>, researchers had found that molybdenum sulfide was not particularly effective at turning water into hydrogen. But that was because researchers were using thick chunks of the mineral, essentially the form it’s in when mined from the ground. Today, however, we can use processes like <a href="http://www.azom.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=1552">chemical vapor deposition</a> or <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/C5NR01486G">solution-based processes</a> to create much thinner crystals of MoS₂ – even down to the thickness of a single molecule – which are vastly more efficient at extracting hydrogen from water.</p>
<h2>Making the process even better</h2>
<p>Molybdenum sulfide can be made even more effective by manipulating its physical and electrical properties. A process known as “phase change” makes more of the substance available to participate in the hydrogen-producing reaction.</p>
<p>When molybdenum sulfide forms crystals, the atoms and molecules on the outside of the solid mass are <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1141483">ready to accept or donate electrons to water</a> when excited by light to drive the creation of hydrogen. Normally, the MoS₂ molecules on the inside of the structure will not donate or accept electrons <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nmat4465">as efficiently as the edge sites</a>, and so can’t help as much with the reaction. </p>
<p>But adding energy to the MoS₂ by <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2014.64">bombarding it with electrons</a>, or <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ncomms4731">increasing the surrounding pressure</a>, causes what is called “<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ncomms5214">phase change</a>” to occur. This phase change is not what you learn in basic chemistry (involving one substance taking forms of gas, liquid or solid) but rather a slight structural change in the molecular arrangement that <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/C5CS00151J">changes the MoS₂ from a semiconductor to a metal</a>.</p>
<p>As a result, the electrical properties of the molecules on the inside become available to the reaction as well. This makes the same amount of catalyst potentially <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.chemmater.5b00986">600 times more effective</a> in the hydrogen evolution reaction. </p>
<p>If the methods behind this sort of breakthrough can be perfected, then we may be a big step closer to making hydrogen production cheaper and more efficient, which in turn will move us toward a future powered by truly clean, renewable energy.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/62592/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter receives funding from the National Science Foundation and the US Department of Education</span></em></p>Modifying chemicals’ molecular properties can make ‘splitting’ hydrogen from water more efficient.Peter Byrley, Ph.D. Candidate in Chemical Engineering, University of California, RiversideLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/512302015-11-25T17:28:07Z2015-11-25T17:28:07ZBreakthrough carbon capture technique ushers in era of guilt-free gas<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/103169/original/image-20151125-23847-1biqc5h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">KIT</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The government <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/nov/18/energy-policy-shift-climate-change-amber-rudd-backburner">is giving no sign</a> that it intends to replace fossil fuels with renewables, so the only way to avoid the carbon emissions from burning natural gas and oil is the widespread use of carbon capture and storage (<a href="http://www.power-technology.com/projects/peterhead-carbon-capture-and-storage-ccs-project-scotland/">CCS</a>) technology to extract CO₂ from the exhaust gases. But there’s still no commercial CCS in operation, grants for developing it <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-34357804">are being axed</a>, and the process of separating hot gases is inefficient and energy intensive, which adds to the cost.</p>
<p>However, while natural gas produces CO₂ when the methane it contains is burned, it also contains the cleanest fuel: hydrogen. When separated from carbon, hydrogen is a <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-33005362">perfect zero-emission fuel</a>, for example for vehicles with high energy requirements. Hydrogen-powered vehicles can use reverse electrolysis in hydrogen fuel cells to generate electricity, or burn hydrogen in an engine, driving pistons through combustion. The only emission from this is pure water. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/103234/original/image-20151125-23864-pq26jc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/103234/original/image-20151125-23864-pq26jc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/103234/original/image-20151125-23864-pq26jc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/103234/original/image-20151125-23864-pq26jc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/103234/original/image-20151125-23864-pq26jc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/103234/original/image-20151125-23864-pq26jc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/103234/original/image-20151125-23864-pq26jc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/103234/original/image-20151125-23864-pq26jc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Hydrogen fuel cells are already in, albeit limited, use.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fuel-cell_bus_London.jpg">Tom Page</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The trick, then, is to separate the hydrogen from the carbon. The technology used to do this for decades has converted methane to hydrogen but only with CO₂ as a by-product. Now the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies and the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany have <a href="http://www.kit.edu/kit/english/pi_2015_139_crack-it-energy-from-a-fossil-fuel-without-carbon-di-oxide.php">demonstrated a process</a> through which it’s possible to strip hydrogen from methane – without producing any greenhouse gases.</p>
<h2>Cracking idea</h2>
<p>In a device only 1.2 metres high built from stainless steel and quartz, the technique passes methane bubbles through a column of molten tin where 78% of the methane is cracked into pure hydrogen without producing any CO₂. Instead, pure carbon forms a solid on the surface of the molten tin. This can be used in car tyres as a filler, as a pigment or, if activated like charcoal, in filters. As a solid, carbon does not contribute to greenhouse warming. </p>
<p>The process requires heating to 1,200°C, but this can be powered by using some of the hydrogen generated. Cracking methane this way is a more efficient way of removing carbon than using CCS on exhaust gases, and it can be done before the hydrogen fuel is burnt. New or older gas power stations refitted to burn pure hydrogen would emit mostly water as steam. </p>
<p>A heavier reliance on gas will result in higher prices and increased pressure to retrieve gas from unconventional sources such as through <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/fracking">fracking</a>. This may remain objectionable for those who fear ground water contamination, but using this methane cracking technique it should not be objectionable on climate change grounds.</p>
<h2>Future fuel</h2>
<p>What will gas refineries of the future look like, and how will hydrogen fuel be distributed? One problem is that transporting hydrogen is hazardous. A possible workaround is ammonia, a combination of hydrogen and nitrogen that is usually found in fertilisers and bleach but is also a fuel. Once hydrogen is bound to nitrogen as ammonia it can be transported at lower pressure, meaning cheaper and lighter fuel tanks. In World War II, Belgian buses were <a href="http://www.agmrc.org/renewable_energy/renewable_energy/ammonia-as-a-transportation-fuel/">fitted to run on ammonia</a>. </p>
<p>However, weight for weight, ammonia has less energy than petrol and unless burnt carefully it produces poisonous nitrogen oxides, which would mean strictly enforcing emissions standards like those for diesel engines (<a href="https://theconversation.com/lessons-from-vw-courage-climate-change-and-the-c-suite-47969">with all their problems</a>). Even with leaps in battery technology, the charging infrastructure for low-emission vehicles is still lacking but zero emission vehicles could carry ammonia for their fuel cells. </p>
<p>The advantage of deriving low emission fuels from natural gas is that there is already enormous infrastructure in place and giant energy firms that are skilled at using it, with known reserves for many years. Now the industry has the techniques to make it carbon free.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/51230/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mark Shackleton does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>New technique captures 78% carbon using molten tin.Mark Shackleton, Professor of Finance, Associate Dean Postgraduate Studies, Lancaster UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/481942015-10-06T13:35:50Z2015-10-06T13:35:50Z‘Dieselgate’ is the wake-up call to look seriously at alternative car technologies<p>We should thank Volkswagen for the <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-vw-test-fixing-is-just-the-start-of-the-car-industrys-problems-48192">wake-up call</a>. The scandal that has engulfed the company has highlighted how an overwhelming focus on carbon dioxide emissions has oversimplified the debate about the negative impacts of all our combustion engines. </p>
<p>Yes, looking at CO<sub>2</sub> works well to quantify effects on global climate and fossil resource depletion, but health impacts are a more complex story. “Dieselgate” is forcing people to realise that most vehicles also produce harmful chemically reactive substances such as nitrogen oxides or tiny particulate matter. </p>
<p>This insight has reached the highest ranks of UK government, where <a href="http://uk.reuters.com/article/2015/10/03/uk-volkswagen-emissions-cameron-idUKKCN0RX0VB20151003">diesel subsidies may soon become re-examined</a>. In fact particulate matter may be responsible for as many as 3m prenatal deaths globally every year, according to a <a href="http://www.nature.com/doifinder/10.1038/nature15371">recent study in Nature</a>.</p>
<p>No one can tell at this point if this is <a href="https://theconversation.com/volkswagen-ceo-has-fallen-on-his-sword-but-is-it-the-death-of-diesel-47980">the end of the diesel engine</a> but surely now is the right moment to look towards cleaner and more sustainable ways to power a car.</p>
<p>Two key technologies are on the rise: electric vehicles, including hybrids, and fuel cell vehicles which run off hydrogen. The problem for electric vehicles is most people like to stay in their comfort zone and are worried about charging stations and mileage. The industry recently <a href="http://evobsession.com/one-million-evsphevs-sold-worldwide-date/">passed the threshold of 1m global sales</a> in total, half of these sold since July 2014, but it is still behind targets set by the US and other governments. </p>
<p>Fuel cell vehicles are a better match with existing habits. Their energy comes from hydrogen stored in a high-pressure tank which then reacts with water to produce electricity that powers the drive train. This allows for mileages similar to those of conventional cars while being refuelled within <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-34278051">a few minutes</a>. <a href="http://www.hyundai.co.uk/about-us/environment/hydrogen-fuel-cell">Hyundai</a> and <a href="http://www.toyota-global.com/innovation/environmental_technology/fuelcell_vehicle/">Toyota</a> already have small numbers of these vehicles on the market, and some other brands are <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/14/business/honda-introduces-vehicle-powered-by-hydrogen.html">not far behind</a>. </p>
<p>Hydrogen suffers from a long-standing damaged reputation since the <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2012/05/75-years-since-the-hindenburg-disaster/100292/">Hindenburg disaster</a> in the 1930s. But lots has changed in the past eight decades. These days, the hydrogen isn’t stored in a flimsy airship but in a tank made of a highly stable carbon composite so the risk of it catching fire is minimal. Hydrogen cars can now be considered as safe as petrol or diesel cars, <a href="http://energy.gov/eere/fuelcells/high-pressure-hydrogen-tank-testing">even in crashes</a>.</p>
<p>The more recent fuelling stations extract hydrogen from water by running a current through it, effectively converting electrical energy into hydrogen fuel (you may remember doing this exact water electrolysis experiment in school). This all takes place on site, next to where the hydrogen is then stored ready for drivers to use. Doing everything in the one place – essentially all you need to bring is electricity and water – helps avoid transporting hydrogen fuel around in trucks. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/HQ9Fhd7P_HA?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">High-school science: water electrolysis.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A point commonly raised in this context is the fact that electricity production still largely relies on fossil fuels and that hydrogen production through electrolysis is not the most efficient way of using that primary energy. And, if one really wished to have hydrogen, the “cheaper” way was large-scale production out of natural gas. But this leads back to the important differentiation between localised emissions that harm your health and global emissions that damage the atmosphere: even if the hydrogen production involves fossil fuels, fuel cell cars are still considerably better for your lungs.</p>
<p>Even the global emissions will benefit from a hydrogen economy in the long run: hydrogen can be stored in tanks, thus allowing for the production of more hydrogen at times of electricity oversupply. Hence, hydrogen fuels will become an <a href="http://www.nature.com/news/energy-reimagine-fuel-cells-1.18392">essential buffer</a> to help smooth out increasing gaps between supply and demand in the electric grid of the future. That grid will be increasingly dominated by solar and wind power – which follow weather and daylight patterns – and nuclear power, which provides a solid base supply but cannot dynamically react to demand fluctuations either.</p>
<p>Economically, all three technologies are <a href="https://theconversation.com/sun-and-wind-could-finally-make-electricity-too-cheap-to-meter-34166">dominated by capital expenditure rather than fuel costs</a>, so producing hydrogen at times when no one else needs the electricity may become even cheaper than today. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/96644/original/image-20150929-31002-z70rol.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/96644/original/image-20150929-31002-z70rol.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/96644/original/image-20150929-31002-z70rol.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/96644/original/image-20150929-31002-z70rol.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/96644/original/image-20150929-31002-z70rol.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/96644/original/image-20150929-31002-z70rol.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/96644/original/image-20150929-31002-z70rol.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/96644/original/image-20150929-31002-z70rol.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Hydrogen is produced on site from wind-generated electricity at this refuelling station in Yorkshire.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">ITM Power</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Hydrogen refuelling stations are stuck in the same chicken-egg problem that battery-charged vehicles had to overcome. This calls for large strategic investments to ensure that a critical mass of cars powered by fuel cells can be reached and operated, which will then drive down the costs of refuelling stations. </p>
<p>Given such stations can be developed and produced in the UK, rolling out hydrogen refuelling infrastructure will serve a double purpose: it paves the way for cleaner air along our roads and it gives the country an opportunity to lead rather than to react in a rising technology.</p>
<p>We should be more than a market for the hydrogen technology that is already embraced and pushed forward by the big technology nations: Japan, Korea, China, and the US. The <a href="https://theconversation.com/serious-issues-for-george-osborne-on-chinas-role-in-the-uks-nuclear-future-48541">recent discussion around the proposed nuclear power plant at Hinkley</a>, French-owned and Chinese-funded, had a similar ring to it. Why is the country that once built the first civil nuclear power plant in the position of a technology-importing customer? On hydrogen, it’s time to take the lead.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/48194/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Harry Hoster does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The VW emissions scandal is an opportunity to forge ahead with fuel cell technology for cars.Harry Hoster, Director of Energy Lancaster and Professor of Physical Chemistry, Lancaster UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/275372014-06-03T14:25:37Z2014-06-03T14:25:37ZAs renewables boom, need for energy storage is more urgent<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/50123/original/xwvhtyqs-1401800059.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Batteries should be included.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/portlandgeneralelectric/8905201835/">Portland General Electric</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>There is a boom in renewable energy sources coming online worldwide, but the predominant types – solar and wind – are problematic due to their variable nature. For most regions of the world, the sun cannot be expected to shine nor the wind blow when required.</p>
<p>What is needed is a way to capture that energy when available, perhaps in the middle of the night, when demand is low, and then store it until it can be used when demand rises. But this is not a trivial problem to solve.</p>
<p>According to the European Wind Energy Association, at the end of 2013, the UK had <a href="http://www.ewea.org/fileadmin/files/library/publications/statistics/EWEA_Annual_Statistics_2013.pdf">10.5GW of wind turbine capacity</a> installed, with more in planning and construction. As the percentage of energy generated from renewables increases, the intermittency problem becomes more acute, as has been seen in countries like Germany or Ireland.</p>
<p>Germany, the country with the <a href="http://www.ren21.net/portals/0/documents/resources/gsr/2013/gsr2013_lowres.pdf">highest renewable capacity in Europe</a>, has faced major technical problems due to the intermittency of renewable energy. The main issue is maintaining sufficient supply in the face of fluctuating levels of wind or sunshine. Back-up supply in the form of conventional power plants is required to meet demand. But as different types of power plant take time to come online – 48 hours for nuclear, 12 hours for coal-fired, down to a few hours for modern gas power plants, or ten seconds for the water released from a dam to start the turbines – having a back-up always available means having power plants running most of the time, which is inefficient and expensive.</p>
<p>Another problem is integrating renewable energy supplies into the high voltage electricity grid. For example, in Ireland given the fact that there is more wind at night when many businesses usage is low, a significant percentage of the energy produced may have been dumped, because the electricity produced cannot easily be transmitted across the grid.</p>
<p>So a means of storing energy is a vital part of any future energy system that includes a substantial amount of variable and uncontrollable renewable energy. Energy storage provides flexibility and reduces the need to rely on fossil fuel back-up power.</p>
<h2>Lots of storage variety</h2>
<p>Current energy storage technologies in use include direct electrical storage in batteries, thermal storage as hot water or in the fabric of buildings, using <a href="http://www.theengineer.co.uk/in-depth/the-big-story/compressed-air-energy-storage-has-bags-of-potential/1008374.article">compressed air energy storage</a>, or chemical storage (<a href="http://www.nature.com/news/liquid-storage-could-make-hydrogen-a-feasible-fuel-1.12518">hydrogen</a>). But identifying which approach is best is complex. </p>
<p>The right storage mix has to match the nature of the renewable energy source, the demands asked of the power grid, and the physical nature of the landscape and geology – as well as political and public opinion too. A lack of clear vision for energy storage means governments fail to adopt a joined-up approach.</p>
<h2>…but too little in use</h2>
<p>So while wind turbines and solar panels are blossoming under government programmes to support them, few governments recognise the importance of storage as the missing piece. In Japan, for instance, 15% of supplied electricity has been <a href="http://www.pnl.gov/news/release.aspx?id=849">cycled through a storage facility</a>, whereas in Europe it is closer to 10%, with Germany being the leading nation.</p>
<p>In Germany, authorities have opted for <a href="http://energystorage.org/energy-storage/technologies/pumped-hydroelectric-storage">pumped hydro storage</a> as an energy storage solution, and has built a regulatory framework around it. <a href="http://www.electricitystorage.co.uk/documents/140513ESNReportfinalweb.pdf">Current UK energy storage</a> deployment consists of pumped hydro (3,000MW), batteries (10MW) and liquid air (0.3MW). The UK’s geography restricts the possibility for pumped hydro despite its appeal, and the same goes for compressed air storage. But the UK government’s current technology-neutral view runs the risk that some of the alternative technologies not yet ready for deployment will not have the support they need to develop in time to address the challenge they are required to meet. So the UK’s solutions could be limited to hydrogen storage, batteries, or liquid air. </p>
<h2>Follow Japan’s lead</h2>
<p>An analysis in 2012 indicated storage would have the greatest effect when <a href="http://www.carbontrust.com/resources/reports/technology/energy-storage-systems-strategic-assessment-role-and-value">deployed closest to demand</a>. There may be a case for installing energy storage at the building level, in blocks of flats or residential areas, industrial estates or commercial districts – far more widely than at it is at present. In Japan, for example, sodium-sulfur batteries have been installed widely and successfully at the electricity distribution level, something that could be replicated in the UK. The Japanese government has also provided support for installing <a href="https://theconversation.com/heat-subsidies-leave-hydrogen-and-fuel-cells-out-in-the-cold-27247">residential fuel cells</a> in order to drive down prices. Between 2004 and 2008 prices <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360319909008039">dropped by 73%</a>, and the installed base is increasing year on year – Japanese investment that the UK and others could capitalise on, and indeed, more international collaboration is needed.</p>
<p>With many storage technologies and varying applications, there is no single perfect storage technology that will suit all. But if we are to hang our low-carbon future on renewables like wind and solar, then <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/18766102/46">governments need to focus</a> on supporting industry to develop energy storage tech – or risk fossil fuel dependence for many decades hence.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/27537/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Catalina Spataru receives funding from RCUK, British Council, Industry. She undertakes research in whole energy systems and networks.</span></em></p>There is a boom in renewable energy sources coming online worldwide, but the predominant types – solar and wind – are problematic due to their variable nature. For most regions of the world, the sun cannot…Catalina Spataru, Senior Researcher, Smart Grids and Energy Networks, UCLLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.