The future of hydrogen holds potential for easing global decarbonization issues and achieving carbon-neutral goals.
Despite the difficulties and expenses associated with developing the hydrogen economy, this clean fuel offers a wide range of applications in a variety of industries that are difficult to electrify.
Hydrogen has demonstrated this at this time, with successful tests in a number of nations that would contribute to carbon neutrality, as reviewed in a recent report by the International Energy Forum.
Italy’s steel industry is decarbonizing
In blast furnaces at GIVA’s steelmaking factory in Italy, hydrogen was mixed 30 percent with natural gas. The use of hydrogen in the company’s three steel factories may save about 16.5 thousand tons of carbon dioxide per year.
The new blend did not require any industrial adjustments, nor did it alter the equipment or the finished product, according to Snam, the Italian company’s key partner.
This is the first step, and its widespread use would help accelerate the decarbonization of the iron and steel sector, which emits two tons of carbon for every ton produced.
In the iron industry, replacing hydrogen with fossil fuels in blast furnaces, in whole or in part, eliminates carbon, with only hydrogen released as a by-product as water vapor.
Companies employed 5 million tons of hydrogen in steelmaking worldwide in 2020, with an increase projected from pilot projects in Austria, Germany, and Sweden.
Chilean electricity storage
Due to the intermittent nature of these sources, hydrogen provides potential prospects to store extra power from renewable sources, to be utilized as needed, and to maintain the dependability of electrical networks.
During times of abundance, low-cost renewable energy sources are utilized to make green hydrogen using water electrolysis, which may subsequently be used to store electricity for usage during times of scarcity.
Pilot projects to store electricity in the form of hydrogen have been underway in Australia, Japan, and the European Union, and Enel, the country’s largest electricity and gas distribution company, has been running a pilot project in Chile since 2017, with the launch of the country’s first industrial-scale pilot plant to produce green hydrogen.
In Germany, there is a revival of industrial societies
Even though renewable energy promises to produce much employment, many people are concerned that the energy transition will result in the loss of millions of jobs owing to the closure of companies that use fossil fuels.
Hydrogen has the ability to rejuvenate whole areas and communities that are at risk due to the demise of old carbon-intensive industrial processes due to its numerous applications in a variety of industries.
For instance, in Germany, the Ruhr project intends to develop a multi-sectoral hydrogen economy in the heavily populated Ruhr area of North Rhine-Westphalia, which is at the core of the country’s dwindling heavy industry.
The initiative, which brings together eight organizations from the energy, transportation, housing, and research sectors, intends to control hydrogen consumption and imports, as well as renewable energy capacity, and utilize this data to estimate the necessary hydrogen infrastructure.
According to the International Energy Forum, the 1.25-megawatt facility will start generating hydrogen using a wind-powered electrolyzer in the second quarter of this year.
Taking use of Britain’s infrastructure
One of the benefits of hydrogen is that it can be used in natural gas transmission and distribution infrastructure, which the gas sector uses to justify fresh investment despite calls to cease funding fossil fuel projects.
The HyDeploy project at Keele University in the United Kingdom is mixing hydrogen with natural gas up to 20% to heat 100 houses and 30 buildings over the course of 18 months through the end of last year.
According to the International Energy Forum assessment, there was no damage to the existing gas system or appliances, and no upgrades to end-user equipment were necessary, except for minor infrastructure changes.
The initiative has recently expanded to a bigger pilot project near Gateshead, with the goal of supplying up to 20% hydrogen to 688 homes, schools, and businesses.
In South Korea, public transportation is in use of hydrogen
Other means of transportation are failing to minimize emissions, despite the momentum of electric cars, which are selling 18,000 units per day, and the diminishing number of gasoline vehicles.
By 2050, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the transportation sector, which represents a barrier to decarbonization, will be the second-largest user of renewable hydrogen.
Hydrogen-powered vehicles are most likely to be used in the shipping and aviation industries, which are difficult to electrify, as well as public transit, which will have issues with the use of electric batteries.
Seoul, the capital of South Korea, is one of several cities that will begin operating hydrogen buses in December 2020, with some bus lines.
