The Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences is now researching “green plus” hydrogen at the Institute of Coal Chemistry and Chemical Materials Science of the Federal Research Center for Coal and Coal Chemistry.
During the Open Interview project, the Institute’s Director, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Zinfer Ismagilov, spoke about this.
“We’re researching not only “green” hydrogen, but “green plus” hydrogen with colleagues from the Institute of Catalysis. The unique feature of such hydrogen is that it produces not only hydrogen as the primary product, but also carbon fibers, carbon nanotubes, and carbon composite materials, all of which are important by-products. Another method of producing hydrogen is by a catalyst-assisted methane aromatization process, which yields nine hydrogen molecules plus benzene, a secondary product, from six methane molecules. This is what I term “green plus” hydrogen because we receive hydrogen without emitting CO2 and other valuable compounds as a “plus,” he explained.
Zinfer emphasized that many countries are focusing on the development of hydrogen energy today and that such research is critical.
The Russian Ministry of Energy announced on February 18 that the country’s hydrogen sector will require $33.4 billion in expenditures between now and 2030. It is projected that the hydrogen sector would be able to employ up to a million people and generate tax revenues of 3.9–5.6 trillion rubles. Furthermore, from 2025 to 2030, the industry has the potential to enhance Russia’s gross domestic product by 0.25–0.47% annually.
Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said in October 2021 that 9 billion rubles would be set aside for the development of Russian hydrogen energy technology through 2024.