FAQ
Status: 08/24/2022 08:58 a.m
The agreement with Canada, which is to deliver hydrogen to Germany from 2025, is being celebrated as a milestone. But what is hydrogen anyway? And why is it so important for the energy transition? Answers to some questions.
What is hydrogen – and where is it already used?
Hydrogen is a natural chemical element and at the same time the most common element in the universe. It also has the lowest atomic mass and is 14 times lighter than air. However, the bearer of hope does not occur on earth in its pure form, but only in connection with other elements – above all with oxygen and thus as water (H2O).
Hydrogen has long been used as a raw material for the chemical industry, for example to produce ammonia, a starting point for fertilizers. Hydrogen is also used as an energy source to generate electricity in cars with fuel cells. According to the National Hydrogen Strategy (NWS, 2020), around 1.65 million tons of hydrogen with an energy content of around 55 terawatt hours are consumed in Germany every year.
How is hydrogen produced – and when is it “green”?
To produce it, hydrogen must be separated from a compound such as water, natural gas or oil using energy. However, the procedures can differ. So far, it has mainly been obtained from methane, i.e. the main component of fossil natural gas. However, this is anything but climate-friendly: the production of this so-called “grey” hydrogen produces a lot of climate-damaging carbon dioxide (CO2).
If the carbon dioxide is stored instead, the hydrogen is referred to as “blue”. If solid carbon is obtained in the process, it is called “turquoise”. However, “green” hydrogen, which is produced in a climate-neutral manner using green electricity from wind or sun, is best for the climate. In this so-called electrolysis, the water is split into hydrogen and oxygen using “green” electricity. So far there is hardly any “green” hydrogen in Germany, but it is becoming more and more popular.
Why is hydrogen a beacon of hope?
Hydrogen is considered a key building block in the future climate-neutral energy mix. The use of its energy content should close gaps and be used where not everything can be operated with electrical energy. Hydrogen can be stored as an energy carrier, transported and used for energy conversion. It is an important product, especially in industry.
“There are so many things in our energy system, in transport, in heating and in industrial processes, that we can electrify directly. And wherever we can electrify something directly, we have to do it,” says Giles, head of the European wind power association Windeurope dickson “But we can’t electrify everything directly.” This is exactly where hydrogen comes into play, “for parts of heavy industry, for parts of heavy goods traffic that we have to decarbonize with hydrogen”.
In the steel industry, for example, the substance is to take on a central function: Where carbon has previously removed the oxygen from the iron ore in the production of pig iron, hydrogen is to be used in the future. The waste product is then no longer climate-damaging CO2, but water. Changing the process is very expensive, but it can have a major impact: According to its own statements, the steel industry in Germany is responsible for around 30 percent of industrial CO2 emissions.
How much hydrogen does Germany need?
For the year 2030, the hydrogen strategy of the federal government assumes a requirement of around 90 to 110 terawatt hours in Germany. According to previous plans, up to 14 terawatt hours of this should be produced by new electrolysis plants in Germany. However, most of the hydrogen demand will probably have to be imported. However, the assumptions are likely to change: according to the coalition agreement, the government is planning an “ambitious update” of the strategy this year. The generation capacity planned for Germany by 2030 compared to the NWS was already doubled in the coalition agreement.
Where will the imports come from?
Among other things, the federal government relies on international cooperation – for example with Australia and Africa, i.e. regions with plenty of sunshine. A potential atlas has already been compiled for West Africa. One result: Hydrogen generated with solar power can be produced much more cheaply in North Africa than in Germany.
German companies have also been working on supply networks for a long time in order to bring climate-neutrally produced hydrogen and hydrogen compounds such as ammonia to Germany in a few years. The energy company E.ON and the chemical company Covestro have concluded agreements with an Australian company. It was announced yesterday that E.ON and the energy company Uniper want to purchase green hydrogen from Canada. It is to come bound in ammonia to Germany.
Can hydrogen replace natural gas in power plants?
That’s the idea. New gas-fired power plants should therefore already be built “H2-ready”. This should make it possible to burn hydrogen there later. They should guarantee the power supply when the wind isn’t blowing and the sun isn’t shining. So far, natural gas was intended as a bridge. However, how the gas crisis will affect the Russian war against Ukraine is unclear. “The whole war is now also accelerating the green hydrogen agenda,” said Climate Secretary Patrick Graichen in mid-March.
How does the hydrogen get to the users?
Where the hydrogen is not used directly next to an electrolysis plant in a chemical plant, it is to be transported to the customer via lines. The long-distance gas network operators have long since started planning accordingly. The so-called H2 network in Germany should be around 5100 kilometers long in 2030. Around 3,700 kilometers of pipeline are based on existing, converted natural gas pipelines. It will still be expensive: the investment costs by then are estimated at around six billion euros.
Where are the bottlenecks?
The ambitious plan is a huge task for business and politics. Because for many of the intended applications, solutions that can be implemented on a large scale still have to be developed. In addition, “green” hydrogen is far from being available in sufficient quantities at competitive prices. And finally, the distribution networks in which the huge quantities are transported to where they are needed first have to be created.
It is therefore a question of ramping up demand, infrastructure and supply at the same time. That is why, at the end of May 2021, the federal government put together a multi-billion dollar funding package as part of the “Important Projects of Common European Interest” program specifically for hydrogen. It includes 62 major projects that revolve around the entire value chain for “green” hydrogen.