Climate change: Making green hydrogen more than hype
OPINION: It seems like the ultimate answer to our desperate need to reduce harmful carbon dioxide emissions to turn abundantly available water into clean, emissions-free energy. Technically, thats already possible through the process of energetic electrolysis. When you run an electrical current through water, you can break the chemical bonds between hydrogen and oxygen atoms, producing charged particles called ions. The charged gas can then be tapped off, stored in a fuel cell and used to power cars, trucks and energy plants. Hydrogen is made all over the world, but mainly sourced from natural gas and coal gasification. There are some big barriers to green hydrogen playing a role in denting our carbon emissions. For starters, our energy infrastructure would have to change to allow vehicles to fuel up with hydrogen, which is a highly flammable gas requiring careful storage. READ MORE: * Climate Explained: Could the world stop using fossils fuels today? * Rolling out the hydrogen highway * Joint venture 'green' hydrogen project tipped as beginning of hydrogen industry in Taranaki * Hydrogen a great step forward but first we must dare to ditch our fossil fuel and economic growth addictions Also, using fossil fuel to make hydrogen doesnt cut it. You need to use renewable energy sources to see the dramatic overall emissions cuts we need. We already produce over 80 per cent of our electricity from hydro, wind and geothermal sources, so using clean energy to make hydrogen, makes perfect sense. But as a team of scientists from the Crown research institute, GNS Science, points out, electrolysis from renewable energy relies on high-cost, inefficient materials to make it work, making hydrogen production in this manner uncompetitive with the conventional fossil-fuel reforming. That team has embarked on an $8.5 million research project to figure out to improve electrolysis methods so we can use hydrogen to reduce emissions not only in our transport sector, which accounts for around 20 per cent of our greenhouse gas emissions but for stationary power plants too. They are aiming for an order-of-magnitude improvement in electrolysis methods to produce hydrogen. If they can pull it off, we could use less oil and gas, but also become an energy exporter, sending tankers of liquid hydrogen to Asia and elsewhere. The Australians are having a crack at this too, also eyeing up hydrogen exports. A team of engineers from the University of New South Wales last week released some models suggesting hydrogen produced from solar power could be competitive with fossil fuels . Based on everything from weather patterns to the type of solar panel, battery and electrolysis technology used, they came up with a range of A$4.04 to A$6.53 to produce a kilogram of green hydrogen. The cost needs to be in the region of A$3.50 to be competitive with fossil fuels. The key to achieving that, say the engineers, are more efficient electrolysers. Meanwhile, the NZ Labour Party is touting a plan to spend billions on pumped hydro to get us closer to 100 per cent renewable electricity production. In comparison, hydrogen projects have been small-scale and modestly funded to date. We need to invest much more in science and innovation underpinning green hydrogen production to make the hype become reality in the next decade.