More than just switching to renewable and low-carbon energy sources, reaching net-zero requires a more comprehensive approach. The entire UK economy must shift to low-emissions sources of energy. The steel, cement, and heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) sectors are only a few examples of the “hard-to-abate” businesses that are included in this category.
Hydrogen is a potential solution. A fuel that generates just heat, water vapor, and nitrous oxide when burned in the air is possible using the ultra-light element. As a carbon-free fuel, a “hydrogen economy” might decarbonize hard-to-abate industries like transportation.
Despite the fact that hydrogen is carbon-neutral fuel, its manufacturing techniques can be. Hydrogen production must be scaled up in order for the hydrogen economy to work in a carbon-neutral manner in the United Kingdom. Aside from wind and solar power, biomass might play a significant role in the future of energy production.
A £5 million Hydrogen BECCS Innovation Program was started in January 2022 by the UK government. Hydrogen production for hard-to-decarbonize industries and carbon dioxide removal is also part of the plan. Biomass and hydrogen play an important part in achieving the net-zero UK, as this effort shows.
Hydrogen production at a large scale
The lightest and most plentiful element in the universe is hydrogen. The problem is that it seldom exists in its entirety. In form of H2O, it is more typically found in nature. Pure streams of hydrogen must be created rather than retrieved from a well, like oil or natural gas, because of hydrogen’s inclination to make strong connections with other elements.
To manufacture ammonia fertilizer and chemicals like methanol or to eliminate contaminants during oil refining, roughly 70 million tonnes of hydrogen is produced each year. Steam methane reforming, in which hydrogen and CO2 are produced as byproducts of the reaction, accounts for 96% of the total amount of hydrogen produced. CO2 is discharged into the atmosphere, where it functions as a greenhouse gas and contributes to climate change without the use of carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) systems.
Electrolysis is another way to make hydrogen. In this method, water is split into hydrogen and oxygen molecules using an electric current. Only if the electricity source is carbon-neutral can this technology be considered carbon-neutral.
An electric grid powered entirely by renewable energy sources like wind, solar, hydro, and biomass is required for commercial-scale electrolysis to sustain hydrogen generation on a large scale.
BECCS, on the other hand, provides a second way to produce carbon-free renewable hydrogen while also eliminating emissions from the environment and storing it — permanently.
Using biomass to generate hydrogen and reduce greenhouse gas emissions
To avoid total combustion, biomass (or other organic matter) is subjected to high temperatures and a small quantity of oxygen. This process is known as “biomass gasification.”
Biomass is reduced to a gaseous combination called syngas, which may be utilized as an alternative to methane-based natural gas in heating and power generation or used to produce fuels. Hydrogen and CO2 can be produced as a result of the water-gas shift process.
Hydrogen can be used while CO2 is emitted in a conventional manner. However, in a BECCS process, the CO2 is securely and permanently stored. The resulting emissions are harmful.
As an example, consider what happens in the following scenario. BECCS begins with forest biomass that has been responsibly managed. A lot of people think of wood that isn’t suited for things like furniture or building as trash. The simplest way to get rid of it is to burn it. However, biomass may be generated from this low-grade wood.
The CO2 absorbed by trees as they grew and is held in the wood is released when biomass is consumed in a process like gasification. A BECCS method, on the other hand, captures the CO2 and moves it to sites where it may be kept indefinitely.
While CO2 is removed from the atmosphere, hydrogen is produced. For the UK and the rest of the globe to achieve net-zero emissions and combat climate change, technologies like BECCS are deemed crucial.
Working together to achieve net-zero as a society
Hydrogen’s future importance is still up in the air. As part of the Climate Change Committee’s (CCC) 2018 paper titled “Hydrogen in a Low Carbon Economy,” the CCC lays out four possible futures: There is a wide range of potential energy output from hydrogen generation in 2050, ranging from less than 100 terawatt-hours (TWh) per year to more than 700 TWh.
Furthermore, the importance of biomass to hydrogen generation varies depending on the specific circumstances of each case. The CCC’s analysis estimates that the quantity of hydrogen generated by BECCS in 2050 will range from 50 TWh to over 300 TWh. When it comes to biomass gasification, this range is dependent on things like the amount of technical preparedness. BECCS can meet the high-end hydrogen production projection if it can be demonstrated and scaled up, as Drax is now doing.
Also, the UK’s commitment to BECCS and sustainable biomass will have an effect on the quantities. The “UK BECCS hub” scenario proposed by the CCC as part of an overall worldwide effort to absorb and store CO2 is a scenario in which the United Kingdom may use more of global biomass resources than nations with less established carbon capture and storage systems. To be a worldwide leader in BECCS supply chains, infrastructure, and geological storage capacity, the UK must improve on its present position. Biomass and BECCS might be integral to a hydrogen economy if this can be realized
Whether or if a net-zero UK can be achieved by combining the latest advances in hydrogen and BECCS technology is still an open question. HGVs and other gas systems can be converted to hydrogen, and carbon collection, transportation, and storage systems can be made more efficient. BECCS and hydrogen production costs have yet to be determined.
When it comes to advancing BECCS and hydrogen development, proper government regulations and incentives are essential. Successful outcomes in both domains can open the door to a collaborative zero-carbon economy that provides a carbon-free hydrogen fuel source and negative emissions through BECCS.
