Jump to content

Racing for hydrogen: How gas giants are vying to stay relevant


 Share

Recommended Posts

Internal Moderator

af_hydrogen_3005.jpg?itok=7iioPFax&times

Clean hydrogen could meet a quarter of the world's energy needs by 2050, with annual sales reaching $1.02 billion.PHOTO: NYTIMES

LONDON (BLOOMBERG) - The global gas industry is in an existential race: Either find a way to be part of the next generation of energy or risk getting supplanted by alternatives.

BP, Sinopec, Equinor and Royal Dutch Shell are among the producers looking to hydrogen to help secure demand that otherwise may falter as decarbonisation speeds up. They want to utilise existing pipelines, storage tankers and fuel supply to make blue hydrogen, a process that uses natural gas but captures the carbon emissions and stores them.

The straightest route to net-zero emissions uses hydrogen produced by renewable electricity - known in the industry as green hydrogen - but the blue variety is expected to be cheaper until at least 2030 as wind and solar power ramp up.

Gas companies aiming to lower emissions now and avoid obsolescence next decade are planning to pour billions of dollars into building their blue businesses.

At least 15 projects are scheduled to go online until 2027 in Britain, Germany, Norway, the Netherlands, Sweden and New Zealand.

"Green is the destination, but we'll get there on a blue highway," said Mr Al Cook, executive vice-president for development and production at Equinor in Stavanger, Norway.

"At some point, green hydrogen might well be lower cost than blue, but that will likely not be for at least a decade."

Clean hydrogen could meet a quarter of the world's energy needs by 2050, with annual sales reaching €630 billion (S$1.02 billion).

Production of blue needs to be scaled up quickly because projects that do not come online by 2030 risk becoming uncompetitive, according to BloombergNEF (BNEF).

Right now, hydrogen is expensive to make without expelling greenhouse gases, is difficult to store and is so highly combustible that the United States’ National Aeronautics and Space Administration uses it to propel rockets into space.

Still, demand is expected to increase six-fold by 2050 as the transportation, steel and chemicals industries move to reduce pollution, the International Energy Agency said in its road map for net-zero emissions published on May 18.

Natural gas is used in almost all hydrogen production today. That earns the disdain of environmental, social, and governance investors, environmental groups and governments trying to slow climate change because the most common method, called steam-methane reforming, also produces large amounts of carbon dioxide that are dumped in the air.

The quickest way to remedy that is by capturing the carbon and storing it underground or reusing it. The process has been around for decades and it is usually deployed in natural gas plants, fertiliser manufacturing and ethanol production facilities.

Gas currently is cheaper than renewable electricity, giving blue hydrogen an advantage even with the added costs of carbon capture and storage.

Bolting on carbon capture means blue hydrogen projects can be rolled out at scale from day one, said Mr Paul Bogers, vice-president for hydrogen at Shell. The Netherlands-based company is involved in several, including Britain's Acorn Project and Net Zero Teesside, both scheduled to go online in 2025.

"Industry by industry, you'll see that the mix of where blue and green can be applied, and where it's affordable, will be different," he said. "It's not as simple as saying: 'Well, here's the crossover, so from that point you only invest in one'."

Swopping gas for hydrogen is one way energy companies could advance their efforts to meet increasingly strict mandates for lowering emissions.

Shell previously pledged to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 20 per cent within a decade, but a court in The Hague ordered the company last Wednesday (May 26) to slash them by 45 per cent in the same time period.

China is the world's largest producer of hydrogen, mostly by using fossil fuels. Spurred by the nation's target for carbon neutrality by 2060, China Petroleum and Chemical Corp, or Sinopec, said it plans to have a one million-tonne carbon capture project by 2025.

China also will cooperate with Saudi Aramco, the world's biggest oil producer, on blue-hydrogen projects.

The urgency for gas companies stems from the near-universal backing for green hydrogen, made from water and renewable electricity. The cost of green hydrogen is expected to fall 80 per cent by 2030 and be cheaper than blue in all 28 markets analysed by BNEF, as renewable energy and the electrolysers using it to make hydrogen both come down in price.

Iberdrola, Europe's biggest utility, is focusing on renewable power and green hydrogen, bolstered by Spain's commitment to spend €35 billion of European Union stimulus on energy transition.

American industrial giant Cummins said last Monday it will partner with Iberdrola to build a factory in central Spain for making electrolysers.

"In the short term, there are opportunities in which you can apply blue, but in the mid term - five to 10 years - it's going to be a stranded asset," said Mr Diego Diaz Pilas, head of new ventures at Iberdrola.

Source:  https://www.straitstimes.com/world/racing-for-hydrogen-how-gas-giants-are-vying-to-stay-relevant

Quote

It seems like the car manufactuer and the petrol station are not talking to each others. If car manufactuer is selling electric cars and petrol station are banging on hydrogen, how the consumer choose ah?

 

↡ Advertisement
Link to post
Share on other sites

Supersonic

Jupiter, Saturn and Neptune are certainly struggling to stay relevant. 

But from what I hear, Uranus remains very popular among all the lads. 😁

dc4f37deba54ce8a24e1e36d064342bd361794d6.gif

  • Haha! 2
Link to post
Share on other sites

So in a nut shell, this option is not working well like batteries. 

 

Batteries may catch fire, this one simply explode. Gulp... 

  • Haha! 4
Link to post
Share on other sites

Hypersonic
24 minutes ago, kobayashiGT said:

af_hydrogen_3005.jpg?itok=7iioPFax&times

Clean hydrogen could meet a quarter of the world's energy needs by 2050, with annual sales reaching $1.02 billion.PHOTO: NYTIMES

LONDON (BLOOMBERG) - The global gas industry is in an existential race: Either find a way to be part of the next generation of energy or risk getting supplanted by alternatives.

BP, Sinopec, Equinor and Royal Dutch Shell are among the producers looking to hydrogen to help secure demand that otherwise may falter as decarbonisation speeds up. They want to utilise existing pipelines, storage tankers and fuel supply to make blue hydrogen, a process that uses natural gas but captures the carbon emissions and stores them.

The straightest route to net-zero emissions uses hydrogen produced by renewable electricity - known in the industry as green hydrogen - but the blue variety is expected to be cheaper until at least 2030 as wind and solar power ramp up.

Gas companies aiming to lower emissions now and avoid obsolescence next decade are planning to pour billions of dollars into building their blue businesses.

At least 15 projects are scheduled to go online until 2027 in Britain, Germany, Norway, the Netherlands, Sweden and New Zealand.

"Green is the destination, but we'll get there on a blue highway," said Mr Al Cook, executive vice-president for development and production at Equinor in Stavanger, Norway.

"At some point, green hydrogen might well be lower cost than blue, but that will likely not be for at least a decade."

Clean hydrogen could meet a quarter of the world's energy needs by 2050, with annual sales reaching €630 billion (S$1.02 billion).

Production of blue needs to be scaled up quickly because projects that do not come online by 2030 risk becoming uncompetitive, according to BloombergNEF (BNEF).

Right now, hydrogen is expensive to make without expelling greenhouse gases, is difficult to store and is so highly combustible that the United States’ National Aeronautics and Space Administration uses it to propel rockets into space.

Still, demand is expected to increase six-fold by 2050 as the transportation, steel and chemicals industries move to reduce pollution, the International Energy Agency said in its road map for net-zero emissions published on May 18.

Natural gas is used in almost all hydrogen production today. That earns the disdain of environmental, social, and governance investors, environmental groups and governments trying to slow climate change because the most common method, called steam-methane reforming, also produces large amounts of carbon dioxide that are dumped in the air.

The quickest way to remedy that is by capturing the carbon and storing it underground or reusing it. The process has been around for decades and it is usually deployed in natural gas plants, fertiliser manufacturing and ethanol production facilities.

Gas currently is cheaper than renewable electricity, giving blue hydrogen an advantage even with the added costs of carbon capture and storage.

Bolting on carbon capture means blue hydrogen projects can be rolled out at scale from day one, said Mr Paul Bogers, vice-president for hydrogen at Shell. The Netherlands-based company is involved in several, including Britain's Acorn Project and Net Zero Teesside, both scheduled to go online in 2025.

"Industry by industry, you'll see that the mix of where blue and green can be applied, and where it's affordable, will be different," he said. "It's not as simple as saying: 'Well, here's the crossover, so from that point you only invest in one'."

Swopping gas for hydrogen is one way energy companies could advance their efforts to meet increasingly strict mandates for lowering emissions.

Shell previously pledged to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 20 per cent within a decade, but a court in The Hague ordered the company last Wednesday (May 26) to slash them by 45 per cent in the same time period.

China is the world's largest producer of hydrogen, mostly by using fossil fuels. Spurred by the nation's target for carbon neutrality by 2060, China Petroleum and Chemical Corp, or Sinopec, said it plans to have a one million-tonne carbon capture project by 2025.

China also will cooperate with Saudi Aramco, the world's biggest oil producer, on blue-hydrogen projects.

The urgency for gas companies stems from the near-universal backing for green hydrogen, made from water and renewable electricity. The cost of green hydrogen is expected to fall 80 per cent by 2030 and be cheaper than blue in all 28 markets analysed by BNEF, as renewable energy and the electrolysers using it to make hydrogen both come down in price.

Iberdrola, Europe's biggest utility, is focusing on renewable power and green hydrogen, bolstered by Spain's commitment to spend €35 billion of European Union stimulus on energy transition.

American industrial giant Cummins said last Monday it will partner with Iberdrola to build a factory in central Spain for making electrolysers.

"In the short term, there are opportunities in which you can apply blue, but in the mid term - five to 10 years - it's going to be a stranded asset," said Mr Diego Diaz Pilas, head of new ventures at Iberdrola.

Source:  https://www.straitstimes.com/world/racing-for-hydrogen-how-gas-giants-are-vying-to-stay-relevant

 

Hydrogen can be relevant for shipping. 

Think one of the SK yards is building a hydrogen powered ship. 

But hydrogen powered vehicles seems to have lost the war for consumer vehicles and definitely up to light good vehicles. Maybe big container lorries still might use hydrogen. 

  • Praise 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

31 minutes ago, Hamburger said:

So in a nut shell, this option is not working well like batteries. 

Batteries may catch fire, this one simply explode. Gulp... 

There are EV catching fire.

But haven't heard about hydrogen explode.

 

  • Praise 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

10 minutes ago, inlinesix said:

There are EV catching fire.

But haven't heard about hydrogen explode.

 

Everyone just remembers the Hindenburg, without bothering to understand.

  • Haha! 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

Internal Moderator
59 minutes ago, inlinesix said:

There are EV catching fire.

But haven't heard about hydrogen explode.

 

There is 100,000 EV and 1 catch fire.

There is 100 Hydrogen and none caught fire.

 

The stats still cannot add up. 🤣

  • Haha! 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

Internal Moderator
1 hour ago, Lala81 said:

Hydrogen can be relevant for shipping. 

Think one of the SK yards is building a hydrogen powered ship. 

But hydrogen powered vehicles seems to have lost the war for consumer vehicles and definitely up to light good vehicles. Maybe big container lorries still might use hydrogen. 

yeah. Hydrogen will be applicable for trucks.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Hydrogen fuel is more suitable for planes and ships.

Tell me what kind of fuel isnt volatile or flammable? As if we are using water now.

  • Praise 1
  • Haha! 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

Internal Moderator
18 minutes ago, Watwheels said:

Hydrogen fuel is more suitable for planes and ships.

Tell me what kind of fuel isnt volatile or flammable? As if we are using water now.

Hydrogen is water mah. hahahhahah. H2O. hahahha.

  • Haha! 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

(edited)
16 minutes ago, kobayashiGT said:

Hydrogen is water mah. hahahhahah. H2O. hahahha.

Hahaha...I am talking about the fuel we use now lah.

Anyway whatever is not viable now doesnt mean hydrogen is not practical for cars in the near future. We can see the push for improvements to climate change is real. Relying only on battery tech alone isnt enough. We should look to more alternative fuel and clean fuel. Spent batteries are not 100% recyclable. There will still be waste material.

Like most things it will have pros and cons. We can always work towards the pros and reduce the cons. If hydrogen fuel has that potential we should work on it.

Edited by Watwheels
Link to post
Share on other sites

Hypersonic

Petrol cars burn and explode and people worry about electric cars catching fire and hydrogen cars exploding.

:D

The fear is not logical 

Link to post
Share on other sites

Hypersonic
(edited)

I will be the last person to get an electric or hydrogen car for my MIL.

Petrol is twice the risk.

If it all goes as plan it will both burn and explode.

:D

Edited by Jamesc
Link to post
Share on other sites

10 hours ago, ToyotaShuttle said:

Hydrogen will be much more feasible than ev in a country like singapore. Hdb dwellers how to charge their cars?

Ah Gong said car-lite already, so why worry about charge or explode, enjoy the fossil fuel while still can......:grin:

  • Haha! 2
Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...