Tag Archive for: hydrogen fuel

Back to Basics: Blue vs. Green Hydrogen

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Anyone who follows current events knows that we are currently in a race against time when it comes to offsetting the effects of global warming. Transport emissions are a key part of this race as, in today’s globalised society, they contribute significantly to the rises in temperatures throughout the globe. According to the International Energy Agency tracking report from 2022, transport emissions are responsible for roughly 7.7 Gt CO2 annually – a number that needs to drop to less than 6 Gt before the end of the current decade if we want to reach the Net Zero goal set by the UN.

From biofuels, to liquified natural gas, to electric batteries – the transport sector is currently exploring a variety of solutions that can be put in place to make transport cleaner whilst maintaining its efficiency. One such alternative fuel source is hydrogen – a lot of hype has been given to this fuel source in the industry – and this is why we chose it as the focus of our #BacktoBasics article this month.

What is hydrogen?

Most of us know the formula for the element – H2. We know it is colourless, has no taste or smell, and is highly combustible –we learned this in school. In recent years, research has helped us develop systems that can transform the heat generated by this element into energy.

Today, in many sectors of our society, hydrogen is already being used as a “clean” source of energy. Some such examples are:

  1. Fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs): FCEVs use hydrogen fuel cells to generate electricity, which then powers the vehicle’s electric motor. FCEVs have a longer range than battery electric vehicles and can be refuelled in a matter of minutes.
  2. Hydrogen internal combustion engines (HICEs): HICEs are like traditional gasoline or diesel engines but use hydrogen as the fuel source. HICEs produce lower emissions than traditional engines, but not as low as fuel cell electric vehicles.
  3. Hydrogen-powered buses: Several cities around the world have implemented hydrogen-powered buses in their public transit systems (including London (England), Aberdeen (Scotland), Cologne (Germany) and Tokyo (Japan). These buses emit only water vapor and have similar range and refuelling times as FCEVs.
  4. Hydrogen-powered trains: Hydrogen fuel cells are being used to power trains in some areas, such as Germany and the UK. These trains emit only water vapor and have lower noise levels compared to diesel trains.

When thinking about the freight transport sector, we can see that we already have:

  1. Hydrogen fuel cell trucks: Several companies are developing fuel cell-powered trucks for cargo transport (including Toyota and Kenworth). These trucks have a range of several hundred miles and emit only water vapor.
  2. Hydrogen-powered forklifts: Hydrogen fuel cells are being used to power forklifts in warehouses and distribution centres. These forklifts have the advantage of emitting only water vapour and refuelling quickly, reducing downtime compared to battery-powered forklifts.
  3. Hydrogen-powered trains: hydrogen fuel cells are being used to power trains in some areas. These trains could potentially be used for cargo transport as well, with the added benefit of emitting only water vapour and having lower noise levels compared to diesel trains.
  4. Maritime transport: There are several projects underway to develop hydrogen-powered ships for cargo transport. For example, the Hydrogen Energy Supply Chain project in Japan is developing a hydrogen-powered supply chain for liquefied natural gas transport.
  5. Air cargo transport: While hydrogen is not yet being used for commercial air transport, there are several projects underway to develop hydrogen-powered aircraft. For example, Airbus is developing a concept for a zero-emissions aircraft powered by hydrogen fuel cells.

Green or Blue (or both?)

Hydrogen is a clean-burning fuel that can be produced from a variety of sources, including natural gas, biomass, and renewable energy. Blue and green hydrogen are two different types of hydrogen production methods that have distinct differences in terms of their environmental impact and production processes;

  1. Green hydrogen

It is produced through the process of electrolysis, which uses electricity to split water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen. The electricity can be generated from renewable sources such as wind, solar, and hydroelectric power. Since green hydrogen is produced using renewable energy, it is generally considered a clean fuel that has a low carbon footprint. It can be used in fuel cell vehicles, which are powered by hydrogen and emit only water vapor as a by-product. The use of green hydrogen in transport can significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and contribute to a more sustainable future.

  1. Blue hydrogen

It is produced from natural gas using a process called steam methane reforming (SMR). During SMR, natural gas is heated with steam to produce hydrogen and carbon monoxide. The carbon monoxide is then converted into carbon dioxide, which is captured and stored underground. This process is known as carbon capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS), which helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions by storing carbon dioxide instead of releasing it into the atmosphere. While blue hydrogen is considered to have a lower carbon footprint than conventional natural gas, it still relies on fossil fuels, making it less environmentally friendly than green hydrogen.

Both green and blue hydrogen can (and are) be used in fuel cell vehicles. However, since green hydrogen is produced using renewable energy, it is considered the most sustainable and environmentally friendly option for transport today. Blue hydrogen, on the other hand, is considered a transitional fuel that can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions while the world transitions to a fully renewable energy system.

According to a report by the International Energy Agency (IEA), the use of blue hydrogen in transport can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 30% compared to conventional gasoline or diesel vehicles. However, the report also notes that blue hydrogen should be used as a stepping stone to green hydrogen, which is the ultimate goal for a sustainable hydrogen economy.

Final thoughts

At the moment it is still unclear which hydrogen option the markets will favour. Blue and green hydrogen are essentially depictions of two different types of hydrogen production methods that have differences in terms of their environmental impact and production processes. Most experts agree that “green” is the better option as it appears to be a net-zero fuel. It is unfortunately also true that green hydrogen is the most expensive one to make (Forbes estimated the production of green hydrogen at $6/kilogram – 2-3 times more expensive than blue hydrogen). Thus, it can be said that most industry members would opt for the blue option – at least in the short term. While blue hydrogen can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, green hydrogen remains the more sustainable and environmentally friendly option for transport. So, while we work on making green hydrogen more accessible to the markets, we can remain satisfied with the knowledge that even with blue H we are keeping pace with the global warming race. After all, the use of hydrogen (any hydrogen) as a fuel in transport can significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and contribute to a more sustainable future.

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Green hydrogen ‘comes back to the future’

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Green hydrogen as a source of fuel can be essential for decarbonizing the transport sector, especially for covering the limitations of electric solutions and other clean energies, since it is found easily and thanks to the increase of research projects worldwide, green H is getting cheaper.

Anthony-Rampersad_Unsplash_Green Hydrogen

What is ‘Green Hydrogen’?

Green Hydrogen is a source of energy that has no colour, no odour or taste, is abundant and it does not emit any carbon dioxide emissions when used to power fuel cells.

There are different types of hydrogen and every type has its characteristics; they’re essentially colour codes, used within the energy industry to mark each type of hydrogen.It can be grey, blue, green, brown and even yellow and pink, depending on the type of products used, different colours are assigned to the hydrogen.

As the iconic movie trilogy of the mid-’80s “Back to the future” predicted, we can say that hydrogen “comes back to the future”.

Many factors make this raw material so appealing as a great alternative in comparison to electric and carbon fuels. And especially, now is the time to incentivise green fuels as the need for decarbonising the planet is one of the goals that countries around the world have set for 2050, especially the European Union.

How does Green Hydrogen work?

As explained before, hydrogen has no colour, but the name of the colour is given by the type of waste in the production process. Grey and blue come from fossil fuels that generate CO2, and the resulting emissions are captured, stored and not released into the atmosphere. Pink hydrogen comes through electrolysis powered by nuclear energy, yellow is a relatively new phrase for hydrogen made through electrolysis using solar power. Brown hydrogen is made using black coal or lignite (brown coal), these black and brown hydrogen are the opposite of green hydrogen in the hydrogen spectrum and the most environmentally damaging – whereas green hydrogen does not generate any emission neither in the production process nor the combustion.

Green Hydrogen is produced with no harmful greenhouse gas emissions and is generated by using clean electricity from surplus renewable energy sources, such as solar or wind power, to electrolyse water. Electrolysers use an electrochemical reaction to split water into its components of hydrogen and oxygen, emitting zero-carbon dioxide in the process, according to National Grid information.

How can the transport sector make use of green hydrogen?

Since the transport sector represents the source of one-third of total CO2 emissions in Europe, it could benefit from the renewed attention on hydrogen to replace fossil fuels and meet the European Union decarbonisation goals. This way it could be a lead actor in the transport sector where batteries are an impracticable solution to substitute fossil fuels powering ferries, coasting trade or inland waterways and in rail applications.

Currently, the production of green hydrogen represents a small percentage of the overall, this is due to the elevated costs of production. Green hydrogen will come down in price as it becomes more common, providing an answer to one of the great challenges facing the energy sector. Developing systems to store surplus energy from renewables on a large scale, reduce Europe’s energy dependence, and cover gap areas since electric energy cannot be used in all transport systems as in maritime transport.

What are the obstacles to using green hydrogen?

So, can green hydrogen be implemented right away in the transportation sector? One of the biggest barriers to the adoption of this fuel for the transport sector comes from the low supply, since FC vehicles are expensive, although mass-production could reduce costs, as well as the difficulties of mass market diffusion in hydrogen storage. If applied in the current scenario of mass production vehicles for transport and fuels, hydrogen could reach areas where batteries and electric energy sources cannot cover.

Application in maritime transport

One of the major consumers of oil products and heavy fuels is the maritime sector, harming the quality of air, especially around ports. If applied to the engines of the maritime transport sector, green hydrogen could reduce not only emissions during sea navigation, but also those deriving from port operations.

In the last year, there have been some steps towards creating the world’s first hydrogen-powered cargo ship. Implementing this technology on ships, ferries and other coastal crafts could strongly reduce CO2 emissions.

Application in rail transport

Currently, it is difficult to electrify certain sections of railway lines on which fossil fuel-powered trains are used. Hydrogen trains are considered competitive for those railway sections that don’t depend on electric energy, with a low frequency of service and operate on long distances. These conditions are frequent in rail transport, making hydrogen rail mobility interesting from an economic point of view and an excellent opportunity to further decarbonise public transport, according to Enea, (Agenzia nazionale per le nuove tecnologie, l’energia e lo sviluppo economico sostenibile).

 

Certainly, we will see green hydrogen powering sectors that strongly depend on carbon fuels as companies and countries meet the goals for reducing carbon dioxide emissions, especially in the maritime and rail transport sectors. This is without a doubt a comeback to clean and essential sources of energy and as the famous DeLorean from the film, engines will be using clean hydrogen to keep up the pace.

 

Sources:

The hydrogen colour spectrum | National Grid Group

 Hydrogen and “green transport” – EAI (enea.it)

Green Hydrogen: an essential element for decarbonization (cepsa.com)

Alternative Fuels Data Center: Hydrogen Benefits and Considerations (energy.gov)

 

Clean fuels, electrification, water and hydrogen – How are ports handling energy transitions?

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Written by Lidia Slawinska

Written by: Lidia Slawinska, Consultant

Over the past few months, a lot of our articles have focused on sustainable solutions in intermodal transport – whether they were connected to port operations, maritime transport or port-railway solutions. Focusing on alternative and clean energy solutions is vital, in particular in light of this summer’s heat waves, floods, and other weather phenomena which are gaining in strength every year. The European Union has recently renewed its dedication to the Green Deal, committing itself to substantially lowering the carbon emissions of the EU by an extremely ambitious 55% by 2030, and to eliminate net emissions by 2050. Taken together, all of this suggests that sustainability needs to take centre stage in all of our transport operations if we are to meet those goals and help protect our Blue planet.

The Escola is committed to promoting sustainable transport and incorporates its principles to all of its courses – and this is why this month we wanted to touch upon one of those. The upcoming course on Energy Transitions in Ports will take place in October of this year, and will aim to raise awareness and provide information to the management and technical staff of port authorities that are part of the MEDPorts Association on specific aspects related to energy transition in ports. However, when we talk about said “energy transition”, what do we mean?

The current climate

According to some scientific estimates (2019: The Atlantic), it is likely that sea levels will rise considerably by the end of this century, therewith putting 14% of the earth’s major ports susceptible to flooding and erosion. This is near-universally explained by the rising global temperatures, which contribute to a faster melting of the ice caps.

Maritime transport currently is responsible for about 80% of freight transported globally (by volume). As such, nearly 3% of CO2 emissions are sent into the atmosphere alone – a percentage that has increased by more than 30% in the last two decades. This characteristic of the current “golden age of oil” has had a detrimental effect on our climate already. Continuing on this same trajectory will increase this number to nearly 17% of all global emissions by the middle of our century – therewith further hastening the rise of the sea levels.

All of this suggest that leading ports need to take action now and adapt their infrastructures to offset any threats that may arise from the rising sea.

Clean fuels

When thinking about the prospect of energy transition in ports, the fuel used by the visiting vessels is central. Ships – whether they are cruises or container-carriers – need to stay in the ports they visit – to load and unload, and to re-supply. This requires the ships to stay powered whilst these operations are taking place, and ports have had to design alternative electrical systems of On-Shore Power Supplies (OPS) to lower their emissions in-port. Many ships have already started to run on new alternative fuels that have considerably smaller carbon footprints – including LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas), hydrogen, ammonia and ethanol.

The vessels that operate within a port – the ones transporting the pilots or tugging the larger vessels entering the harbour – would also need to be modified. Some ports have already taken initiative such zero-emission crafts – one example being the Hydrotug boat under construction in the Port of Antwerp.

This transformation of the vessels, which also includes the capacity to be powered by the on-shore electrical or gas-powered systems, would need to be accelerated for the industry to become greener.

Electrification

As hinted in the previous section, electrification is a vital process in the energy transition of ports. Making sure that the modern ports have adequate electric facilities and technologies in place, be it through either OPS, electrified wharfs, or electric ferries or vessels that perform other port operations.

Energy production

Trying to make sure that the energy transition in ports is not a double-edged sword, which then puts increasing pressures on existing power infrastructures in their hinterlands (and therewith continue to leave a significant carbon footprint), ports also need to think about using their vicinities to generate their own power. Turning seawalls into energy producers, or having offshore wind turbines can significantly increase the Gigawatts that the ports will depend on – therewith limiting the strain on the traditional infrastructures. It is vital that ports transform their mindset and develop new technologies that can create electricity from solar power, marine power, or bioenergy. Ports will need to become electricity producers that depend on a multitude of sources to supply their operations, whilst making sure that they are doing so with limited or no emissions to comply with the emerging global regulations.

In fact, some estimates now say that by the middle of this century, industrial ports will have the capacities to generate ten times more than today. This data was presented in the DNV GL’s study on Ports: Green Gateways to Europe. The report also stated that the energy transition methods that many ports are either considering or already implementing could easily account for the increase in port activities – traffic has been consistently increasing as globalisation has driven the economies forward. In order for this to take place consistently, the report recommends 10 specific transitions that would need to take place:

  1. Electrification of port-related activities
  2. Fuel switch for maritime transport
  3. Electrification of industry
  4. Integration of offshore wind
  5. Energy system integration
  6. Hydrogen as a feedstock and energy vector
  7. Phase-out of fossil-fuelled power plants
  8. Carbon capture and storage
  9. New regulations
  10. A circular and bio-based economy

(Source: Offshore Energy)

Final thoughts

Transforming our current energy infrastructure has taken centre stage is both our political and social dimensions. The transport sector has also taken note, and many private and public entities have already taken (sometimes) drastic steps to try to lower the carbon footprint of transport. Ports, in particular, have taken note – knowing that they represent the connection between the sea and the land, and therefore need to lead in the sustainable revolution and guide both land, rail and sea transport operators on the path towards decarbonisation.

Automation and innovative technologies already exist that can help ports become energy-efficient. With new laws and guidelines already in place, including the Paris Climate Agreement, the European Green Deal, and the latest EU 2030 Climate and Energy Framework, the path ahead for ports is doubtlessly difficult and winding, but righteous. Smart Ports and Green Ports are now becoming synonymous with the Ports of Tomorrow. The journey forward is green, and to survive, ports need to make sure that they on it.

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