Material Solutions for the growing hydrogen market
Hydrogen and its potential as a clean fuel are hitting headlines , as countries representing over half of the global GDP announced a 12-month plan at the COP27 climate talks in Sharm el-Sheikh .
Pragati Verma , Greene Tweed
The fuel of the future
All stars seem aligned for Hydrogen to help make clean technologies cheaper and more accessible everywhere . Here ’ s why : The 47-nation group , including Australia , China , the UAE , the European Commission , and all G7 nations , agreed to deploy at least 100 Hydrogen valleys — locally integrated hydrogen ecosystems that cluster several industrial and research initiatives to carry out pilot projects across the complete hydrogen value chain . Additionally , their target to deploy “ 50 large scale net zero emission industrial plants ” is likely to create demand for hydrogen production . While COP27 sent a clear signal of policy direction to investors and companies , this push for Hydrogen is not new to the energy sector that has already been scaling up investments in cleaner and more sustainable technologies to achieve net zero . Philippe Allienne , industry expansion manager at Greene Tweed says , “ More and more big oil companies are pursuing multimillion-dollar hydrogen projects to reduce carbon emissions and create a long-term carbon-free future . In power generation , hydrogen is one of the leading options for storing energy from renewables in large quantities over a long period . Under pressure to decarbonize , the transportation industry is pursuing Hydrogenpowered vehicles , such as buses , trucks , and even airplanes . Energy-intensive industries , such as cement and steel manufacturing , are reconfiguring their processes to replace fossil-fuel-based energy sources with hydrogen fuel .”
Stumbling blocks
Proponents of Hydrogen have identified several potential planet-saving applications and lined up exciting mega-projects . Even as plans to produce and use hydrogen move ahead , several challenges to position it as the reliable , next-generation , clean fuel remain . Firstly , limited quantities of hydrogen molecules occur naturally and the cheapest way to manufacture hydrogen uses petroleum or natural gas and requires a lot of energy while emitting a vast amount of carbon dioxide , detracting from the sustainability benefits . Several methods for producing hydrogen that reduce or eliminate these disadvantages are emerging . Blue hydrogen , for example , is derived from natural gas ,
40 Valve World March 2024 www . valve-world . net