“We believe it is a carbon-free energy vector that can and will be required to revolutionize the energy system,” Karsten Wilbrand, a Senior Principal Scientist at Shell, said of hydrogen power.
Hydrogen is critical for Wilbrand and the rest of Shell to help the world shift from carbon-emitting fossil fuels to renewable energy.
“We believe it will be impossible to achieve without hydrogen.” It will be extremely useful for transportation, storage, and a variety of other purposes,” Wilbrand says.
Are Wilbrand and Shell, however, correct? Is hydrogen the often-overlooked missing piece of the sustainable transportation puzzle?
Hydrogen as a Source of Energy
“We think of hydrogen as an energy carrier that can be stored.” You can import it since it’s a molecule, which has benefits over electrons because electrons are really difficult to store,” Wilbrand argues.
“We believe molecules are superior for very large-scale storage, and we view hydrogen as an essential energy transporter for the energy system.”
This understanding of hydrogen as fundamentally distinct from electrons is critical to comprehending Shell’s view of hydrogen’s role in its plans.
We’re meeting with Wilbrand at the Shell Technology Centre in Hamburg, where we’ve just finished a tour of the facility and heard from a number of corporate officials about how the oil corporation is working toward a nearly fossil-free future.
“A lot more hydrogen will be required by industry,” Wilbrand continues.
“Think about the steel and chemical industries; they’ll utilize hydrogen even for heating operations.” However, we believe that the combination will be crucial. While power is locally accessible from solar and wind when the sun is shining and the wind is blowing, it makes more sense to utilize it since you can use it directly and avoid losses.
“However, you must ensure that you have enough energy for when it is dark outside and the wind isn’t blowing.” So you’re going to need an energy carrier, and that’s how we’re going to do it.”
This concept of employing hydrogen as an energy carrier distinguishes it from the usage of electron-storing batteries — even if those batteries are being used to store energy in a home, for example.
Hydrogen production is also very different. Shell established its “Green Energy Hub” in Hamburg last January to work on electrolysis to produce hydrogen from water.
The project, which was constructed on the site of a defunct coal power station, has the capacity to create up to 100 megawatts of hydrogen. The facility would use solar electricity to electrolyze hydrogen from water, which would then be stored and transferred. The hydrogen is then converted back to electricity in a vehicle’s fuel cell and utilized to power it.
Do Not Confront the Market
Shell recognizes the parallels between hydrogen and oil in terms of storing and transporting electricity throughout the planet.
We ask Wilbrand if a hydrogen commodities market would arise in the future as governments and enterprises that create hydrogen want to profitably move it around the world.
“I believe that is the future, and it is the focus of the European hydrogen plan,” he says.
“It is apparent that many nations, such as Germany, will not be able to produce all of our renewable energy on our own.”
Nations that can create a lot of green hydrogen, such as those with a lot of sunny or windy days, might become the next energy exporters, similar to how many Middle Eastern countries are now.
“Germany consumes 3,000 terawatt-hours of primary energy every year, and we presently have 500 terawatt-hours of electrical demand, with 40-50 percent of that renewable,” Wilbrand explains.
“As a result, the desired expansion indirect local renewable energy generation would not be achievable, and we will have to import energy as we do now.” We import around 75% of our energy from places like the Middle East and other nations that buy coal or gas from Russia.
“A commodities market, similar to what we have now with fossil fuels, will be required in the future.” We’ll have it with hydrogen, or there’s a lot of talk about alternative energy carriers like ammonia or methanol, which are similar to hydrogen molecules. So we usually mention it might be hydrogen or hydrogen derivatives.”
According to Wilbrand, a number of countries are capable of producing and exporting hydrogen. Natural gas pipes under the Mediterranean Sea, for example, connect North African countries to Europe and might be converted to hydrogen. Meanwhile, liquid hydrogen could be transported across long distances by ship.
Investing in green hydrogen infrastructure might be the way to go for governments trying to get ahead of the next major energy boom.
What Drivers Desire
Of course, what firms and consumers want to use to power their cars and activities determines Shell’s strategy.
“In the end, we’ll provide what our clients want,” Wilbrand says.
“In that sense, we are a really customer-centric organization.” And we’re seeing an increase in demand for electric vehicles. So that’s why we’re working so hard to build up our charging infrastructure because we know how much our customers like driving electric cars and how much they enjoy charging. So that’s the first thing we’ll do.”
Shell is developing hydrogen vehicles with its partners and hopes to have 25 on the road this year. This figure is expected to triple by 2023.
In Germany, however, the corporation has 100 hydrogen refueling facilities for passenger automobiles.
“Ultimately,” Wilbrand continues, “we want to establish a pan-European hydrogen network so that you can truly travel throughout Europe.”
Shell used to be an oil business, but Wilbrand believes it is well on its way to becoming a hydrogen corporation.
