The Netherlands may face serious repercussions if hydrogen does truly replace other energy sources in the future as planned. This will result in the transportation of extremely huge amounts of poisonous ammonia, which is required to create hydrogen, across the nation, among other things.
An analysis conducted by Arcadis, Berenschot, and TNO for the Ministries of Infrastructure and Water Management and Economic Affairs and Climate makes this conclusion clear. Ammonia can be moved by train, water, or — as the researchers propose — a network of pipelines that is still under construction. The call states that the government must already take action to reduce the safety threats.
Because there are significant safety hazards and it is impossible to predict the implications of a significant occurrence, the government has discouraged the shipment of ammonia by rail since 2004. The researchers contend that the government must now make decisions in order to safely move this large rise of ammonia compounds from point A to point B.
The researchers present a potential substitute: moving hydrogen over a network of pipelines. They are urging the government to begin planning for this immediately because it will take years to build. The need to first convert the ammonia supplied to the port into hydrogen complicates matters.
In so-called ammonia crackers, this is accomplished. A large-scale ammonia cracker with the potential to produce 1 megaton of hydrogen annually is already the subject of studies near the port of Rotterdam. A large number of these kinds of squatters are required, according to the research.
