German Manager Magazin: Hydrogen: The most important questions and answers000841

What can hydrogen do?

hydrogen (in gas form H2) is considered the most common element in the universe, it has a high energy density. Will it be burned or otherwise converted to this energy release, instead of harmful exhaust gases, only water vapor and heat are produced – these are the outstanding advantages. However, H2 must first be obtained, usually by separating it from oxygen in the water (electrolysis). Because it takes up an enormous amount of space, hydrogen is usually compressed or liquefied for storage and transport. All of these processes cause energy losses. And hydrogen is highly explosive, so it has to be specially secured.

Where is hydrogen used today?

For a future technology, hydrogen is already quite present. Currently consumed Germany According to the federal government, around 55 terawatt hours of hydrogen annually, the majority of which is either in the chemical industry for the production of ammonia (mostly as fertilizer) or in oil refineries as a by-product and at the same time an aid for the production of fuels. Hydrogen can also be burned directly in engines, for example as rocket fuel.

Fuel cells that drive electric motors with the help of hydrogen are rather rare, which saves space but leads to further energy losses. After decades of research, however, the first cars are already on the market.

Some countries like Japan or South Korea are already relying on large-scale replacement of natural gas as a heat source or process gas, for example in the chemical industry, with hydrogen. At least some of the existing gas infrastructure can be used for this.

What makes hydrogen a hope for the future?

For a climate-neutral future, hydrogen makes sense, “where electrification is not economically or process-technically difficult,” says Daniel Kronenwett, partner at the management consultancy Oliver Wyman. to manager magazin. As a rule, climate protection is more efficient if you rely on electricity from renewable sources without any further detours.

But this is technically out of the question for large parts of the economy. Especially the Steel- and the Cement industry As large CO2 emitters, whose products are still needed, are still looking for a way to fulfill the promise of climate neutrality. Burning hydrogen is now the only plausible answer for most companies – but the technology is only in the pilot stage.

What do the different colors mean?

The hydrogen economy follows its own color theory. Only green hydrogen is really climate-neutral, which is generated from water by electrolysis with the help of green electricity. Currently, gray hydrogen is used almost exclusively, for the production of which natural gas is vaporized and thus CO2 is released.

The rest is mostly blue hydrogen, which is produced using the same method as gray, but without releasing CO2 into the atmosphere. Instead, it is saved. A special form is turquoise hydrogen: the methane pyrolysis process leaves solid carbon that can be reused as a raw material – but only so far happens on a small scale. The carbon footprint of these methods depends, among other things, on whether the heat is generated using renewable energy. Hydrogen is low in CO2, but not green but red or purple, if the electrolyser is operated with nuclear power. And as a variant of the gray, black or brown hydrogen is also spoken of when coal is burned instead of natural gas.

While Japan initially wants to establish a gray hydrogen economy and later switch to green, the German and European hydrogen strategy are relying on a quick breakthrough for green technology – which means, among other things, that much more green electricity is needed than already. The federal government therefore wants to promote the import of huge amounts of green hydrogen from sunny and windy countries.

What does this cost?

Green hydrogen is not price competitive today. That could only change with mass use – or with clearly three-digit numbers CO 2 -Prices. And everything is missing for the conversion of the previous fossil processes: electrolysers, distribution networks, storage … In order to realize the EU hydrogen strategy, Oliver Wyman considers investments of 350 billion euros to be necessary by 2030 alone – and that is only the impetus before the market really starts moving from 2040 onwards. It will not work without government subsidies. At the same time, however, a lucrative business is also emerging, especially for mechanical engineering.

Who’s in the running?

Hydrogen is hot. Hardly any industrial or energy company takes the opportunity to adorn itself with H2. Some can still be highlighted. The industrial gas company Linden tree sees itself as a world leader in several stages of the hydrogen business. On the site of the Total Leuna refinery in Saxony-Anhalt, Linde plans to open the world’s largest electrolyser for green hydrogen with a capacity of 24 megawatts next year, and the Sultanate of Oman, with the help of various Asian companies, is increasing it with 25 megawatts. The city of Hamburg is aiming for as much as 100 megawatts at the site of the abandoned coal-fired power station Moorburg. The plant is supposed to build Siemens Energy, which has teamed up with Linde’s French competitor Air Liquide as a major hydrogen player.

The previous record holders with 10 megawatts each were set up by Toshiba in Fukushima, Japan, and Shell in the Rhineland refinery. Like other oil and gas companies, Shell sees its future in the hydrogen business. The steel company Thyssenkrupp His fate does not only depend on it for green steel production, he also sees a short-term hope in the company’s own plant construction in order to secure survival in a weak core business and at the same time gigantic future investments. Thyssenkrupp, for example, has a contract for a 20 megawatt electrolyser for the Saudi Arabian art city Neom, where ex-RWE boss Peter Terium (57) acts as energy director and wants to build a world center for hydrogen exports for five billion dollars.

Why is there a dispute about hydrogen?

That usually happens when it comes to mobility. Volkswagen boss Herbert Diess (62), for example reacts touchedwhenever fuel cells are brought into play as an alternative to battery electric cars, in which his company is investing tens of billions of euros. “The hydrogen car is proven NOT the climate solution” and “pure waste of time”, he tweeted to Federal Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer (46, CSU) – who sees it very differently, in line with Wolfgang Reitzle (72). The Linde and Continental supervisory board chairman looks at the previous energy transition and fixation Electric cars as the wrong path. Reitzle and Diess were once in the management of BMW.