Biofore Magazine 2020

46

R enewable hydrogen offers a solution to tackling the critical challenges presented by climate change mitigation. Green hydrogen is produced via electrolysis using electricity from renewable sources. Its versatility means that it can be uti- lised directly to reduce emissions in a range of hard-to-de- carbonise sectors, such as iron, steel and long-haul transport. It can also be combined with captured CO 2 to produce e-fuels and e-chemi- cals that can replace fossil materials. Despite its inherent potential, renewable hydrogen has struggled to gain a commercial foothold. For one thing, producing it is capital- and energy-intensive – in part because there has been a lack of low-cost, low-carbon electricity, and a regulatory framework supporting its use has not been fully developed yet. However, recent developments have A significant development came in July when the EU issued its strat- egy for expanding the use of hydrogen as part of its commitment to reach carbon neutrality by 2050. Renewable electricity is expected to decarbonise a large share of the EU’s energy consumption, and hydrogen has the potential to bridge remaining gaps. moved in amore promising direction. Bridging energy gaps with hydrogen

While hydrogen can be produced using a variety of processes, the production of renewable hydrogen with electrolysis must use elec- tricity derived from zero-carbon emitting energy sources. The basic technology has been around for a long time, but it has been impeded by a lack of available low-cost renewable energy and strong political support to fight climate change. “It took over 10 years for wind power to drop to a competitive cost level, and a similar trendwill happenwith hydrogen if investment into green hydrogen grows significantly. We still need a lot of renewable or zero-emission energy to scale up this technology, but it looks like the clean hydrogen economy is going to start because there is a great deal of activity in Europe and also globally,” says Ilvespää. Hyping up hydrogen’s potential Hype has been growing across Europe in recent years with companies and governments investigating the feasibility of joining the hydrogen economy. Christian Hoffmann , Director of Market Intelligence and Innovation at UPMEnergy, warns that it is not a silver bullet that will

“Since 2010, the world’s attitude to hydrogen has changed a lot. The EU has become progressively more active, regulations are moving and, most importantly, renewable energies are increasing in availability and de- creasing in cost,” says Heikki Ilvespää , Vice President of Research and Development at UPM.

What’s holding hydrogen back?

Renewable hydrogen can decarbonise a large share of the EU’s energy consumption, but it has struggled to gain a commercial foothold.