The journey of hydrogen from hype to reality

Behind all the hype, you will often find some amount of real substance. After all, there is a reason people get overexcited. Let us deep-dive into one of last year’s most hyped topics: hydrogen.

First, a little bit of context. Hydrogen is an energy carrier. It is the most abundant element in our universe, but very little of it exists in its pure form on the earth, which is why it needs to be produced. It can be extracted from fossil fuels – a process which emits greenhouse gases. Hydrogen produced by this method is referred to as grey hydrogen. If the greenhouse gases are prevented from escaping into the atmosphere using carbon capture technologies, it is called blue hydrogen.

Hydrogen can also be extracted from water using electrolysis and clean electricity, in which case it is described as green hydrogen. Meanwhile, yellow hydrogen is produced by the same method – the only difference is that the electricity source used in electrolysis is based on nuclear energy instead of renewables.

Consuming hydrogen is usually clean, emitting only water vapour. With the world determined to tackle climate change by cutting greenhouse gas emissions, hydrogen is being hailed as nothing less than humanity’s fuel of the future. But is it simply hype?

Perhaps becoming our fuel of the future is extreme, but hydrogen could still play a unique role in addressing climate change. Through the 2015 Paris Agreement, nations have come together and committed to limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. One of the requirements for achieving that target is for the world to generate net-zero emissions by 2050. Yet, there are several industries which have been challenging to decarbonise. These are known as hard-to-abate industries.

Consider iron, steel, and cement production, which are collectively responsible for more than 15 per cent of global emissions. Existing renewables struggle to produce the heat required in these industries.

Hydrogen, on the other hand, burns very hot, making it a clean alternative to fossil fuels. The aviation and maritime shipping industries, which contribute approximately 5 per cent of global emissions, are also hard to decarbonise.

Batteries are heavy, which makes them an unattractive option, whereas hydrogen is light, once again presenting a clean alternative to fossil fuels. There are several other applications where hydrogen is the best option we have today.

Producing hydrogen cleanly is becoming cheaper as well. According to the International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena), green hydrogen could become cost-competitive by 2030. If you feel this is unrealistic, just look at what happened with solar photovoltaic (PV) energy. Within just 10 years, its cost dropped by more than 90 per cent. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), solar PV is now the cheapest source of electricity in many parts of the world.