Technically feasible, but unprofitable and a waste of tax dollars. Cost accounting. Space needs. Investment requirements. Green hydrogen increases the cost of storage electricity by five times. Hydrogen for the manufacturing of steel is a step backward in time.
“Climate neutrality” is to be attained with hydrogen. This energy source for Germany dispenses with the use of nuclear, coal, oil, and natural gas. Is this economical and feasible?
Hydrogen produced using water electrolysis and solely using wind and sun energy is referred to as “green” hydrogen. When there is not enough wind or sunlight, this hydrogen will be used to produce energy once more in gas-fired power plants. This indicates that it should function as a battery for storing electricity. Additionally, hydrogen will take the place of current heating fuels and serve as the raw material for the manufacture of synthetic fuels and other chemical goods that are currently made from petroleum. Even iron ore must be converted with hydrogen to iron.
Technically feasible, but expensive and a waste of government dollars
In theory, all of this is technically feasible. The Federal Government plans to allocate a total of 9 billion euros over the following several years to develop and test plants for the use of hydrogen. It is a waste of public dollars to do this. This is a result of the continually inefficient planned procedures. This can be calculated by any professional. The price of electricity is already the highest in Europe and is rapidly increasing. Green hydrogen products are significantly more expensive than those found on the global market. They don’t engage in rivalry. The EU is aware of this. It is being discussed to use import charges, also known as a “carbon border tax,” to shield expensive home items against considerably cheaper foreign goods.
Price tracking
The chemical sector accounts for the majority of the world’s consumption of “grey” hydrogen, which is currently over 30 million tonnes. (The energy content equates to 1% of the total energy demand in the globe.) The price per ton is between 2,000 and 3,000 euros, or 5 and 8 cents per kilowatt hour (cents per kWh) of heat. The cost of producing one ton of “green” hydrogen through electrolysis using wind and solar energy is between 10,000 and 12,000 euros, or 25 and 30 cents per kWh. By pointing out that wind and solar power, including the line for electrolysis, will only cost a maximum of 10 cents per kWh, proponents and beneficiaries of the energy shift will cast doubt on this estimate.
However, they disregard the high capital expenditures of the low-capacity facilities, which can only be run with excess electricity, and the substantial conversion losses of electrolysis of more than 30%. Rolf Schuster from the organization “Vernunftkraft” displays the periods of surplus electricity on the Internet every month. Even a threefold increase in installed wind and solar power capacity results, on average, in just seven days per month of electricity surpluses with high outputs requiring significant electrolysis.
Energy losses of 60% must be anticipated when “green” hydrogen is transformed into electricity in gas-fired power plants. Costs associated with converting hydrogen back into energy range from 60 to 75 cents per kWh. This price does not include the cost of storing and moving the hydrogen to the gas-fired power plant.
Requirements for space
Weather impacts solar and winds energy. The turbines cannot produce electricity if there is no wind or sunlight. The performance of the turbines is impacted by clouds and light winds. Therefore, the installed capacity, which can only be reached under ideal circumstances, is well below the typical annual output. Barely approximately 20% of Germany’s installed capacity is produced by wind generators, and only 10% by solar power.
The installed wind power capacity must be expanded mathematically from 60,000 to 300,000 megawatts (MW = 1000 kW), or fivefold if wind and solar power are to account for half of the energy supply. Due to the reduced efficiency, it is even 600,000 MW for solar energy. A 10-fold rise, then. Then 6000 square kilometers, or around 2% of the country, are reflected.
Whether such extensive environmental harm can be enforced is debatable. The roughly 30,000 wind turbines that are currently in use have unmistakably “asparagured” the landscape and prevented the protection of bird and bat species.
The funds that would need to be invested
Wind generators cost one million euros per installed megawatt as a general rule for investments in wind and solar power projects. The cost of photovoltaics is half.
This means that 480 billion euros, or 240 billion euros each, must be spent on the anticipated expansion of solar and wind-generating projects. These, however, are just the expenses for the power plants. There are additional expenses for grid connection and transportation using transformers and rectifiers. Direct current with low voltage and high current is used to power electrolysis.
Additional substantial investments are needed for the massive electrolysis facilities, the compressors for the hydrogen gas—which must be stored at pressures of up to 700 bar—and the caverns in salt domes.
But more electricity is also required for heat pumps and electric vehicles
Only those expenses for converting the present electricity demand to wind and solar power that would result if the current electricity demand was entirely converted to wind and sun have been evaluated up to this point. However, this electricity should also be utilized to power heat pumps and electric automobiles, and “green” hydrogen should also be used to make fuels and polymers. However, this would require a huge increase in the production of wind and solar energy. For just electric cars, we require 30% more electricity. The conversion to hydrogen technology is expected to consume 600 billion kWh of energy, according to the chemical industry. The amount of electricity used today would increase double. The same magnitude change should be made when switching to heat pumps for heating. In order to meet the demand outlined above, wind and solar power systems would need to be quadrupled, an impossible goal with investment expenditures of about 2,000 billion euros. That equates to 50 percent of Germany’s GDP.
Stable grid frequencies cannot be produced by electricity that is weather-dependent
New control systems are needed to maintain the stability of the power grid and adjust output to demand as part of Germany’s anticipated supply that is wholly or mostly derived from wind and solar energy. Large coal-fired power facilities have up until now specified and maintained the grid frequency. Changes in the steam supply to the turbines automatically manage network fluctuations. On the other hand, it is impossible to operate the grid using weather-controlled solar and wind energy. Quite the opposite. Along with the variations in demand, it is also necessary to account for the significant swings in wind and solar power. Control expenses have already climbed tenfold as a result of wind and solar power.
Without specifying how the grid would afterward be stabilized and regulated, the Bundestag voted to shut down the coal-fired power facilities. The decision to shut down the huge power facilities will almost probably result in a widespread power outage (blackout).
“Green” hydrogen doubles the cost of storing electricity.
The cost of storing electricity with “green” hydrogen is multiplied by five. The same price increase must be anticipated for fuels and chemicals that use coal as a raw material. The price is increased fivefold as a result, even as a fuel for heating.
Using hydrogen to produce steel is a throwback to the past
The use of hydrogen to produce steel is a return to the past. Iron ore was then reduced in charcoal-fueled raging fires. The outcome was a slag-filled, porous lump of iron. Iron ore reduced with hydrogen produces porous solid iron resembling the byproduct of racing fire. Contrary to the blast furnace, hydrogen cannot be used to create iron. Because water vapor dissociates, or splits into hydrogen and oxygen, at 1000 degrees Celsius, hydrogen and oxygen can only react with each other to form water vapor at temperatures below that point.
Hydrogen must be used to produce iron in the solid form at temperatures below 1000 degrees Celsius. The ore is coarsely crushed and heated to 800 to 900 degrees in containers that are tightly closed for this purpose. Nitrogen is used to purge the atmosphere of oxygen, and then hydrogen is added. The resulting water vapor is then expelled. The sponge iron and sintered iron beads are still present in the container. In order to produce the necessary steel quality, this sponge iron is melted in an electric arc furnace and alloyed with carbon and other elements. There is a lot of energy and room needed for this discontinuous operation. Much more than blast furnaces used nowadays.
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Hans-Günter Appel
