Green Hydrogen

HEADLINES:

Why green hydrogen may be the clean fuel for future

WHY IN NEWS:

Declining costs of renewables and urgency to curb greenhouse gas emissions is accelerating potential growth of hydrogen in political and business perspectives

SYLLABUS COVERED: GS 3: Science and Technology

LEARNING:

For PRELIMS it is important to understand the production and important features .

For MAINS go through applications , advantages and disadvantages of Green Hydrogen . Let us dive in !

ISSUE:

Hydrogen is gradually becoming a part of the clean-energy mix for a sustainable and affordable energy future.

Hydrogen is a non-toxic colourless gas, even when it’s referred to as green hydrogen.

It’s the most abundant element – it’s estimated that 90% of all atoms are hydrogen atoms, comprising around three quarters of the total mass in the universe.

Green Hydrogen _ UPSC

Green Hydrogen | UPSC

HOW IS HYDROGEN GENERATED?

There are no natural hydrogen deposits on earth, it has to be extracted from other compounds by a chemical process.

The vast majority of industrial hydrogen is currently produced from natural gas.
This process is known as steam methane reforming or SMR.
Producing hydrogen in this way is sometimes referred to as brown or grey or even blue hydrogen!

GREEN HYDROGEN PRODUCTION

Hydrogen can also be produced by the electrolysis of water.
This is by using an electric current to break water, H₂O, into its component elements of hydrogen and oxygen.

If this electric current is produced by a renewable source (e.g. Solar PV or a wind turbine), the clean hydrogen produced is known as green hydrogen.

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WHAT ARE THE BY-PRODUCTS ?

Steam methane reforming (SMR) reacts with methane in natural gas with high-temperature steam in the presence of a catalyst.
This produces hydrogen, and ultimately carbon dioxide, CO2.
As natural gas is relatively cheap, the hydrogen produced is also relatively cheap.

The standard SMR process has the considerable disadvantage of releasing large quantities of CO2 into the atmosphere.

CO2 is well known to be a highly significant greenhouse gas.
It’s less well known that methane itself has a global warming potential that is 85 times higher that CO2.
So any small gas leakage of methane from its source and on through the process is also a significant contributor to climate change.
The unlimited production of hydrogen using SMR is a major issue in our attempts to avoid climate disaster.

CARBON CAPTURE AND STORAGE

Versions of steam methane reformation where the CO2 is captured and stored in a stable form has been proposed.

Elsewhere this method –Carbon Capture and Storage has been proposed as a better alternative.

CCS may well be workable, however there are doubts around our ability to manage and finance the storage.
Doubts still exist on capturing carbon for future decades and probably centuries or even millennia.

ADVANTAGES OF GREEN HYDROGEN

100 % SUSTAINABLE : Green hydrogen does not emit polluting gases either during combustion or during production.
STORABLE : Hydrogen is easy to store, which allows it to be used subsequently for other purposes.
VERSATILE : Green hydrogen can be transformed into electricity or synthetic gas and used for domestic, commercial, industrial or mobility purposes.
TRANSPORTABLE : It can be mixed with natural gas at ratios of up to 20 % and travel through the same gas pipes and infrastructure .

DISADVANTAGES OF GREEN HYDROGEN

HIGH COST : Energy from renewable sources, which are key to generating green hydrogen through electrolysis, is more expensive to generate.
HIGH ENERGY CONSUMPTION : The production of hydrogen in general and green hydrogen in particular requires more energy than other fuels.
SAFETY ISSUES : Hydrogen is a highly volatile and flammable element and extensive safety measures are therefore required to prevent leakage and explosions.

APPLICATIONS

ELECTRICITY AND DRINKING WATER GENERATOR

These two elements are obtained by reacting hydrogen and oxygen together in a fuel cell.
This process has proved very useful on space missions.

EXAMPLE

It provides crews with water and electricity in a sustainable manner.

ENERGY STORAGE

Compressed hydrogen tanks are capable of storing energy for long periods of time.

Thus they are also easier to handle than lithium-ion batteries because they are lighter.

TRANSPORT AND MOBILITY

Hydrogen’s great versatility allows it to be used in those consumption niches that are very difficult to decarbonise, such as heavy transport, aviation and maritime transport.
There are already several projects under way in this area, such as Hycarus and Cryoplane.
These projects are promoted by the European Union (EU) and aim to introduce it in passenger aircraft.

IASbhai WINDUP:

IMPACT OF GREEN HYDROGEN

Hydrogen as a fuel is a reality in countries like the United States, Russia, China, France and Germany.

Others like Japan are going even further and aspire to become a hydrogen economy.

Hydrogen technologies will supply 18 per cent of the world’s total energy needs in future.
It will be able to power around 425 million vehicles around the world by 2050– Hydrogen Council.
The European Commission’s Energy Roadmap for 2050 has proposed that 85 per cent of energy will be produced by renewables.

SUGGESTED READING : https://www.iberdrola.com/sustainability/green-hydrogen

SOURCES:DownToEarth | Green Hydrogen | UPSC

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