” Yes my friends. I believe that one day water will be used as fuel, and the hydrogen and oxygen that make it up, when used alone or simultaneously, will provide an inexhaustible source of heat and light at a density that coal cannot see. ” Jules Verne in his work “The Mysterious Island” in 1875.

Hydrogen comes from 95% fossil fuels income . The goal of many countries is not fossil energies, which emit large amounts of greenhouse gases, but from renewable energies or to develop green hydrogen from decarbonised (including nuclear) sources .

What is hydrogen?

6 things to know about hydrogen

Dihydrogen Hydrogen (its real name is systematically composed of two hydrogen atoms, its chemical symbol is H2), is produced by hydrocarbons (or fossil fuels such as coal, gas or oil) and water.
Contrary to what we think, hydrogen is not an energy, but an energy carrier created from a primary source and produced by a chemical reaction. That's why it's always combined with other atoms.
There are three techniques for producing low-carbon hydrogen: gasification, water electrolysis, and steam-to-natural gas conversion.
Approximately 92% of the atoms in the universe are hydrogen atoms. It is the main element of stars and gaseous planets such as Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.
Today, hydrogen is used in refining, in the production of ammonia (NH3) for nitrogenous fertilizers and explosives, in the production of methanol in plastic manufacturing, and in the steel industry for iron and steel.
“Green” hydrogen represents a future lever in the transition to carbon neutrality. However, it currently represents only 1% of the world's hydrogen.

Green hydrogen, assets and constraints

Production methods

Dihydrogen Since it is usually associated with another molecule, it must be removed to isolate the atom. Also, since dihydrogen consists of two hydrogen atoms, it must be split equally so that the molecule has only one hydrogen atom. Different methods of producing hydrogen:

Methane pyrolysis
This green hydrogen production system consists of the combustion of a mixture of CO (carbon monoxide) and H2 (hydrogen) in contact with coal or other biomass. Methane is used because it is the main component of natural gas and its atoms are simple in composition (CH4), so hydrogen is more easily extracted. In fact, the reaction of this process rejects CO2 in solid form. Therefore, it becomes easier to remove H2.

electrolysis of water
The task of water electrolysis is to split the water molecule (H2O) to extract hydrogen and oxygen atoms. This solution is undoubtedly the most used because there is no CO2 emissions. The reaction rejects oxygen only in the form of water.

Electrolysis works by using electricity, which is very heavy. Also, making an electrolysis is very cute. Since this method is rentable, it requires the use of a small amount of carbon-containing electricity, which will be provided by nuclear, nuclear-fueled or a renewable energy intermediate such as solar panels. The loss of these renewable energies is a failure to build large numbers of electrolyzers that do not produce green hydrogen.

Conversion of natural gas to steam
Steam reforming of natural gas is the chemical reaction of methane with water to produce a mixture containing CO2. Through this process, carbon dioxide can produce decarbonized hydrogen.

Benefits

We can use hydrogen to decarbonise some industrial sectors, store electricity or power transportation.
Hydrogen has great potential to contribute to reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
Hydrogen, which is completely clean, does not emit CO2 and is very light. If mass produced, it participates in reducing global warming and is therefore an important player in the energy conversion.

Limitations

The storage of hydrogen poses a real obstacle to its use. It has a high mass energy density, but because it is very light, its volume is low.
One plan is to make it liquid by compressing it at a low temperature of -253°C (4l H2 = 1l oil).

Mass production of low-carbon hydrogen is necessary to create real positive changes to the climate. On the contrary, the production of small amounts of green hydrogen causes global warming.

Green hydrogen is very costly because it depends on electricity, which is very high today. It is also necessary to reduce the costs of renewable energies, electrolyzers and fuel cells, which are the mainstay of green hydrogen production.
The distribution of this green energy also requires huge infrastructures that must have production capacity powered by renewable energies, a transportation network to distribute them, and various storage areas.

What are the uses of green hydrogen?

Public transport

hydrogen engine The most suitable system for fuel cell is the use of . It's lighter and more efficient than batteries, and it's also great for the environment. Indeed, the cells work by combining the hydrogen contained in the engine with the oxygen in the air. This reaction produces electricity to power the vehicle's engine. The only waste product is clean water.

Fuel cells have been used to provide electricity in rockets since 1839. It is still used today to power rockets, as the first ones were used in the Gemini and Apollo space missions. Therefore, fuel cells are more easily selected to provide “green” engines for heavy vehicles. Indeed, to get enough power to run a truck, it would take a lot of electric batteries, making the engine very heavy.

cars and trucks

In France, transport is the leading sector emitting greenhouse gases, 30% of all GHGs. A renewable electrolysis powered hydrogen vehicle It will emit only 15 tonnes of CO2 compared to 45 tonnes for a diesel vehicle. This solution will reduce the carbon impact by 74% compared to a thermal engine vehicle.

If hydrogen is converted into methane, it has the ability to store large amounts of electricity. Therefore, it can be used in the event of failure of replacements such as wind turbines or solar panels that are subject to intermittency. These are effectively climate dependent, so they may be subject to interruptions in electricity production.

The biggest difference between electric and hydrogen vehicles is autonomy. While a hydrogen vehicle can travel up to 600 km and charge quickly, an electric vehicle charges more slowly.

trains

55% of the railway lines in France run on electricity, the rest on diesel. That's why SNCF and other French companies are more CO2 free fleet Trying to distribute it.
For example, Alstom put its first passenger-carrying hydrogen train into service in Germany in August 2022. One with hydrogen fuel cell it works .

airplanes

Airbus wants to participate in this new energy distribution and plans to launch it by 2035. hydrogen planes determined to produce. To do this, the company needs to produce certain products, lightweight fuel cells and acquire powerful electric motors.

burning hydrogen automatically generates heat, so we can consider replacing coal with hydrogen.
For example, producing iron and steel with coal emits large amounts of greenhouse gas emissions. A factory in Sweden uses hydrogen to produce iron. While the production of one ton of iron causes 25 kg of CO2 emissions, the use of coal causes 1850 kg of CO2 emissions for 1 ton of iron.

Steel production, which is done today by reducing iron ore through coal, could be produced tomorrow through decarbonized hydrogen.

electricity storage

More and more companies are getting into the business of producing green hydrogen to help with the energy transition and reducing global warming. Because hydrogen is a dangerous gas, these companies must secure their facilities and protect their employees. That is why we are receiving more and more requests for hydrogen detection devices such as the OLCT100 fixed gas detector, the X-am 2500 4 gas detector, the GasBadge Pro single gas detector or the Spyglass IR3-H2 hydrogen or methanol flame detector

Decarbonizing industries

Worldwide development projects

NortH2 project, It is Europe's largest hydrogen production project, producing green hydrogen using renewable electricity obtained from offshore wind power off the coast of the Netherlands.

German company H2Fly, has been specializing in hydrogen fuel cells for aviation for several years. The first aircraft was successfully launched in 2016.

german company Home Power Solution is a pioneer in the production of domestic solar hydrogen power plants (picea). It forces individuals to consume their energy to stop carbon dioxide emissions.

Swiss company H2 Energy, It has made it its mission to stop global warming by turning hydrogen obtained from renewable energies into an energy column.

France to make hydrogen the energy of the future for France is increasingly investing for . It follows the SNBC (National Low Carbon Strategy) roadmap to achieve carbon neutrality through decarbonised hydrogen.
France Hydrogène association, It brings together many economic actors (large industrial groups or start-ups) to realize the energy transition with hydrogen solutions. Pau in early 2021 hydrogen powered bus fleet
One of the pioneer cities that established With electricity supplied locally by a dam, this reduces the cost of production. John Cockerill company specializes in the energy transition and green hydrogen production and improving the construction of electrolyzers.