RENEWABLE ENERGY
DECARBONISING THE ECONOMY: NO-REGRETS PATHWAYS TO HYDROGEN Wayne Bridger, Decarbonisation & Hydrogen Applications, BOC UK & Ireland
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here are high hopes for hydrogen and the role it can play in decarbonising our economy. These hopes are well founded. We have zero-emission vehicles running today, fuelled by green hydrogen. Demonstration projects have shown that we can use hydrogen to make green steel, decarbonise glassmaking and many other high temperature, directfiring industries such as ceramics production and minerals processing. As far as hydrogen goes, it’s time to believe the hype. So, where’s the catch? Despite hydrogen’s potential, the UK’s net-zero ambition raises some important questions. The stated aim is to achieve 5 gigawatts (GW) of low-carbon hydrogen production capacity by 2030. For context, currently, just 1% of the world’s hydrogen is produced by electrolysis using renewable energy. The UK’s electrolysis production capacity is estimated at around 20-30 megawatts (MW). Bridging the gap to 5 GW requires that we increase capacity up to 250x in under 10 years, which will require a hugely focused effort. Achieving such a scaleup in production requires investment. We need to develop and deploy bigger, more efficient electrolysers. Access to cheaper renewables will help to drive down operational costs while availability
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of capital will fund infrastructure build. As well as developing the capacity to produce green hydrogen at scale, the aim should be to drive down costs so that it becomes cheaper than fossil-fuel alternatives. We must also invest in education and training to address the hydrogen skills gap. The challenge of producing green hydrogen at scale may explain the government’s decision to simultaneously back blue hydrogen in its 2021 strategy. Steam Methane Reforming (SMR) is the industrial process commonly used to extract hydrogen from natural gas, which is the feedstock for most of the hydrogen produced today. This process, which results in grey hydrogen, emits CO2. When the CO2 is captured, the hydrogen is designated as blue. The low-carbon credentials of blue hydrogen are being challenged from many sides. Simply put, the effectiveness of the carbon capture process is critical to achieving a truly low-carbon supply of hydrogen. It’s fair to say that carbon capture efficiency varies considerably, but the latest technologies are much more effective in capturing carbon than before. Blue hydrogen production plants planned for the UK will use Autothermal Reforming (ATR), which captures CO2 as part of the production process rather than as a separate step. ATR is proven and its 97% effectiveness in capturing CO2 is backed up with production data.
ENERGY MANAGER MAGAZINE • NOVEMBER 2021
Just like green hydrogen production using electrolysis, the carbon intensity of the electricity supply used by the ATR system ultimately determines the carbon intensity of the blue hydrogen. Wellengineered solutions using the latest technology can produce hydrogen with emissions of the order of 10-20g CO2/MJ. The independent Committee on Climate Change (CCC) has itself recommended that significant volumes of blue hydrogen can help industry cut emissions faster than would be possible if we wait for green hydrogen to become widely available.
BRIDGING THE HYDROGEN GAP While fuel-switching to hydrogen is the long-term solution for many hardto-abate processes, there are other proven existing technologies that we can use to reduce energy consumption and, therefore, carbon emissions today. These are ‘no-regrets/low-regrets’ strategies that use well-understood technologies, which can help businesses take the first steps towards reducing carbon emissions.
FUEL-SWITCHING AND INTENSIFYING PROCESSES When devising a decarbonisation strategy, it makes sense to do the easier things first. Being more efficient with the use of any fuel falls into that category; using less fuel emits less carbon.
