Despite recent research challenging the climatic effect of transported hydrogen, German Economy Minister Robert Habeck proposes to import hydrogen from around the world to satisfy Germany’s energy demands.
The German government aims to rely mostly on importing hydrogen from around the world to get closer to climate neutrality – efforts that have been intensified owing to the war in Ukraine and Germany’s reliance on imported hydrogen. Energy from Russia.
The plan is to utilize renewable power to fractionate water, then send the hydrogen to Germany to be used as a raw material and energy source for German industry. Habeck has announced hydrogen cooperation with the United Arab Emirates to achieve this goal.
On March 21, Habeck stated that building worldwide “hydrogen supply networks” will “meet our climate targets while also ensuring our energy security.”
The global hydrogen economy was also discussed during the “Berlin Energy Transition Dialogue” hosted at the Foreign Office in mid-March. Delegates from governments all across the globe signed contracts for the delivery of hydrogen with each other and with German representatives.
The German government foundation H2Global is supporting worldwide hydrogen commerce with 900 million euros from the public budget.
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However, it is unclear if hydrogen, which is meant to decarbonize industrial processes as well as marine and air transportation, can live up to its claims.
Indeed, hydrogen maybe even more detrimental to the environment than previously anticipated, particularly if it escapes and enters the atmosphere before being used.
“We estimate that the GWP(100) of hydrogen is 11 5,” according to a UK government research commissioned by the UK Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.
The Global Warming Potential, or GWP, is a metric that determines how much different chemical substances contribute to the greenhouse effect. The GWP, which is based on CO2, demonstrates how detrimental gases like methane and chlorofluorocarbons, which are now prohibited, are to the climate.
This suggests that over a 100-year period, hydrogen is six times more detrimental to the climate than CO2. In the worst-case scenario, hydrogen maybe 16 times more destructive than the most common greenhouse gas.
Climate change is speeding up
Even with a 20-year horizon, hydrogen, according to the study, would contribute considerably to climate change.
“For a 20-year horizon, the GWP(20) of hydrogen is 33 [33 times worse for the climate than CO2], with a 20-44 percent range of error,” the scientists write.
Hydrogen is not a “true” greenhouse gas; instead, it has an influence by stabilizing other gases in a novel way.
“Hydrogen discharged into the atmosphere is a potent greenhouse gas because it extends the life of methane in the atmosphere, allowing it to linger and add to the impact.” “Gasoline,” said Steven Hamburg, a senior scientist at the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), an American non-governmental organization, and primary author of the UN climate report.
“In the troposphere, hydrogen mixes with oxygen to generate ozone, which contributes to the greenhouse effect.” And hydrogen breaks down into water vapor in the stratosphere, contributing to the greenhouse impact,” he noted.
The negative impact of hydrogen was first published last year, thus the results of British experts merely serve to confirm that hydrogen is not a “green” or climate-neutral energy source, at least for the time being.
However, the actual amount of hydrogen that might be released into the atmosphere is unknown. Despite the fact that a booming hydrogen industry is predicted to emerge by at least 2025, hydrogen production has so far been restricted. So yet, hardly any hydrogen has been transported.
Mr. Habeck noted on Monday, April 11 that hydrogen “is, in a sense, a technology in development that has already passed the testing stage and is in the process of scaling up.”
According to Falko Ueckerdt, a climatologist at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Research, hydrogen molecules are significantly smaller than methane molecules, and about 0.5 to 3% of methane escapes during transit.
The majority of hydrogen leaks are likely to happen during ship shipment, such as from the United Arab Emirates. According to Recharge News, when hydrogen is delivered in liquid form by tankers, more than 13% of the cargo might be lost in route, citing another research by the British government.
Optimism persists
Analysts, on the other hand, think there are grounds to be optimistic.
Gniewomir Flis, a hydrogen expert, said he was “not too concerned” about hydrogen leaks because hydrogen is “relatively lot more expensive” than fossil gas, providing an incentive to keep leaks to a minimum.
Mr. Flis also believes that a large portion of the hydrogen will be used near where it is created, reducing the possibility of leakage.
