4 minute read
X marks the spot – sustainability’s une-X-pected treasure trove
Sandra Au
With no country untouched by climate change, governments, organisations and stakeholders are galvanizing efforts for a global energy transition. Through extensive collaboration and large-scale investments, the momentum for the decarbonisation of key sectors and economies has reached fever pitch.
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Green hydrogen plays a primary role in fronting this change, with its potential to simultaneously meet the world’s growing appetite for energy while realising net-zero ambitions for a sustainably energized future.
According to the United Nations, around 770 million people still lack access to electricity. With alleviating measures delayed by Covid-19, it remains probable that a population nearly twice that of the United States will continue to experience restricted electricity access until 2030. On top of that, it is predicted that global energy demand will increase by around 25 per cent through 2040, with emission levels consequently increasing in tandem.
While fossil fuels remain dominant in the energy sector, advances in clean energy solutions and renewables make them increasingly cost-effective and viable for large-scale adoption. On the demand side, combining innovative technologies and fostering ecosystem partnerships with public and private stakeholders has significantly accelerated adoption.
A match made in heaven – coupling sectors and Power-to-X
Green technology and innovation can help to bridge the sustainability gap and drive decarbonisation among energy-heavy industries. Despite a sharp focus on decarbonising the electricity sector, it only accounts for about 40 per cent of total carbon emissions. Usage-heavy sectors like mobility, building, industry and heating constitute the bulk of total emissions. Sector coupling can support the decarbonisation agenda, reducing primary fossil fuel consumption by up to 50 per cent. Enter Power-to-X, a process that converts electrical energy to liquid or gaseous chemical energy sources. When combined with sector coupling, Power-to-X is the key to creating closed CO2 cycles and CO2-neutral infrastructures.
It enables energy-dense synthetic fuels (e-fuels) to be generated from renewable electrical energy. E-fuels are sustainable, carbon-neutral and easily stored, including e-methanol, e-methane, e-jet fuel and e-diesel.
Most crucially, they can be mixed with conventional fuels to reduce the latter’s carbon content over time without the need to change existing vehicle or fuel logistics infrastructure. This is critical for adoption by long-haul heavy transportation in the marine and aviation sectors, where the potential for electromobility is limited or non-existent.
Globally, 70 million to 80 million tonnes of hydrogen are produced annually, mainly by steam methane reforming or autothermal reforming. How hydrogen is produced determines the extent of how climatefriendly the resulting product is.
Each type is labelled by colour – from the least sustainable grey hydrogen (from fossil fuels), to blue hydrogen (steam methane reforming of natural gas), to the cleanest option (green hydrogen from water electrolysis powered by renewable energy such as solar and wind).
Battle of the ‘x’-es
In line with our commitment to supporting the transition to a sustainable world, it only makes sense that Siemens Energy produces green hydrogen via the Power-to-X process. This process uses water electrolysis powered by renewable electrical energy derived from excess electricity produced by wind or solar farms, which would otherwise result in a temporary shut down or reduction in electrical grid activity due to oversupply.
When sustainably produced, hydrogen empowers the decarbonization of industry, transport and the built environment – which combined, produce more than half of the global carbon emissions. For example, energy-efficient hydrogen fuel cells are set to replace diesel engines for trains and are a sustainable alternative to electric-vehicle batteries in cars and heavy vehicles, circumventing limitations such as long charge times as well as maximum mobility ranges.
Hydrogen’s many applications also include hydrocarbon cracking in refineries, fat hardening in food production, and as a component in ammonia phosphate and urea. It can also be used as direct fuel for mobility or as feedstock for various industries.
As more sectors explore clean alternatives to fossil fuels, the demand for green hydrogen is expected to increase in the coming years.
Using a proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolysis system splits water into hydrogen and oxygen, powered by renewable electricity, which makes the entire process completely free of CO2. While intermittent supply is an oft-cited challenge to a system reliant on renewable energy, Siemens Energy’s intuitive and elegant solution is its Silyzer product line that dynamically responds to power fluc tuations. By storing energy when available in abundance, and subsequently tapping into this reserve during periods of low power supply, it maximises efficiency in the production of renewable green hydrogen production.
In combination with other energy-efficient technologies such as heat pumps, electromobility and combined heat and power plants, Power-to-X is essential for reducing carbon emissions and for building a sustainably energised society. It enables a smooth, gradual transition from a fossil fuel world to a carbon-free one by steadily increasing the sustainable content in fuels and making green hydrogen a cost-effective option.
Mr. Markus Lorenzini, Managing Director of Siemens Energy Thailand (Cambodia, the Lao PDR and Myanmar) and Siemens Energy Philippines, strongly attests to green hydrogen’s game-changing ability to revolutionise energy systems.
He draws attention to the first order of business, whereby “the challenge now is to scale up the production and bring green hydrogen to other sectors in order to electrify the entire ecosystem. No matter which transition phase companies are in, Siemens Energy is committed to supporting the decarbonization of the entire energy system.”
Contact details: Vasinee Sukumwattanakij, Communications, Siemens Energy Limited, Vasinee.sukumwattanakij@siemensenergy.com, Tel: +66 61 413 2530, https://www.siemens-energy.com/apac
