To decarbonize freight, every mode of transportation is investigating hydrogen and hydrogen-based fuels such as e-methanol. However, there is a dispute about whether hydrogen must be green right once or if the business should use blue hydrogen until the expense of green hydrogen becomes more affordable.
Green hydrogen is created by converting renewable electricity into electrolyzers that split water into hydrogen and oxygen. Blue hydrogen is created through natural gas reformation, but its CO2 emissions are caught and stored. While blue hydrogen has the potential to assist increase demand for and production of green hydrogen, there are concerns about keeping natural gas in the loop.
Demand signals, hastening the transition to a more sustainable future
As green hydrogen gathers traction, using blue hydrogen would send demand signals to potential green hydrogen producers, possibly hastening the switch as hydrogen-powered trucks, locomotives, aircraft, and vessels are constructed.
“The primary benefit of investing in downstream technology is that it acts as a demand driver — a signal that pulls forward and provides producers with a clear signal to de-risk some of those investments, which you have to do to drive down costs,” Tyler Cole, director of carbon intelligence at FreightWaves, explained.
Blue hydrogen could assist solve the chicken-and-egg conundrum, in which producers are hesitant to invest in green hydrogen production, while firms are hesitant to invest in hydrogen-powered vehicles until adequate quantities of hydrogen are available.
“It’s not perfect, but it might be good enough while we wait for green fuels to actually make it into the mix,” Torben Nrgaard, head of energy and fuels at the Mrsk Mc-Kinney Mller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping, told FreightWaves.
What is the industry holding its breath for? It is waiting for economies of scale and technological breakthroughs to bring the cost and availability of green hydrogen down.
Infrastructure investments at the federal and state levels, as well as investments in green hydrogen technologies, could hasten the shift. The Department of Energy’s Hydrogen Earthshots Initiative aims to cut the cost of green hydrogen below $1 per kilogram by 2030, representing an 80% reduction from current costs.
“What I’ve seen is that hydrogen gets a bad rap, but electric car charging doesn’t receive as bad a rap.” Nobody is demanding, ‘All charges must use green power by tomorrow.'” Kimberly Okafor, Trillium’s strategic business development manager, stated this during a Fuels Institute webinar.
The vast majority of EVs are charged through the grid, which is fueled by a variety of energy sources including natural gas, coal, and renewable energy. However, there is little question over whether EVs are a wise investment because as the grid becomes more environmentally friendly, so does the electricity used to power EVs. As renewable energy gains traction, the EV industry is focusing on infrastructure and technology.
Similarly, Okafor believes that there should be less emphasis on whether hydrogen is green right away and more emphasis on creating hydrogen technology.
“Sometimes, whether it’s politicians, legislators, or anything, they throw hydrogen in a bucket and expect it to be green on day one.” “All of it has to come from solar and wind, and it has to happen right now,” Okafor said.
“Instead of shooting for green hydrogen on day one,” Okafor added, “let’s obtain what we can get that makes economic sense and have a goal to get to that white horse in the end.”
Blue hydrogen may pose problems.
One risk of using gray or blue hydrogen, according to Cole, is “locking in emissions by investing in infrastructure or providing prolonged life to assets that should be retired.”
Aside from prolonging hydrogen-related emissions, a lack of finance may be a reason why transitioning to green hydrogen right soon is critical. If the sector believes it has limited cash, it may prioritize expenditure on the most effective emissions-reduction options available, putting green hydrogen ahead of all other hydrogen generation processes, according to Cole.
According to Nrgaard, there is one main environmental barrier to employing blue hydrogen: methane leaks. Because blue hydrogen is made from natural gas, there is a chance that methane will be released into the atmosphere either upstream or during transportation. “That is something that needs to be addressed in order for this to make sense,” he explained.
When manufacturing blue hydrogen, it is also critical to ensure that caught and stored carbon dioxide does not escape into the environment, according to Nrgaard.
Blue and green hydrogen’s future
Blue fuels, such as blue hydrogen, are less expensive and easier to expand since they frequently repurpose existing infrastructure, according to Nrgaard. “That’s why they’re effective.”
He stated that there are various obstacles to address before adopting blue fuels, such as fugitive methane emissions, but employing blue hydrogen might help scale hydrogen-powered fleets that are ready to operate on green hydrogen as soon as it becomes available.
“If we can make blue fuels work, we have a potential to speed the shift,” Nrgaard added.
Cole is optimistic about hydrogen, predicting that 100,000 over-the-road trucks in the United States will be powered by green hydrogen by 2030. In terms of carbon reduction, he added that while it may not be regarded as a tremendous accomplishment, ramping up from nearly zero to 100,000 hydrogen-powered trucks in the United States in a decade would be “quite spectacular.”
“The difficulty for the industry is that we don’t have that much time,” Nrgaard remarked. We must begin the transition and decarbonize aggressively. By 2050, we hope to have a totally decarbonized industry. But it’s not just the eventual goal of 2050 that’s important. It is also the path we choose to get there, the rate at which we decarbonize, that is important.”
