Is green hydrogen the answer to the climate crisis? | DW Documentary
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Published 2021-11-02
Many believe green hydrogen could provide a miracle solution for countries around the world seeking to decarbonize their economies. But the technology is still in its infancy. Generating sufficient quantities of green hydrogen would require a lot more renewable energy than is currently available. Right now, almost all hydrogen is produced using natural gas in a process that generates large amounts of carbon dioxide. Green hydrogen, by contrast, is climate neutral. It's derived using renewable energy. The principle itself is not new but has, at yet, only found limited usage.
Engineers at the German Aerospace Center are now working with the world's largest artificial sun to try to produce hydrogen without any electricity at all, using only light. If they can succeed, it would allow large-scale production of this valuable gas in countries that receive a lot of sunshine. Hydrogen is already being used as a fuel for buses, trains and cars, with hydrogen-powered planes due to follow shortly. Hydrogen is even the fuel of choice for space rockets, and German submarines glide along almost in silence thanks to hydrogen fuel cells. Manufacturers of airplanes, trucks, and even steel are investing millions in the technology, hoping that hydrogen will be the go-to fuel of a climate-neutral future. But critics warn of major challenges ahead, saying billions stand to be wasted.
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All Comments (21)
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This documentary is also available to watch in Spanish: https://youtu.be/EE9VmNLTT6w
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"Hydrogen is not to be taken lightly", had me cracking up. 🤣
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Well it's comforting to know that the submarines of the future, capable of launching nuclear missiles, will be environmentally friendly
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When considering the risk of hydrogen explosions, it is well worth pointing out that LNG (liquid natural gas) and propane are stored and shipped everywhere, and are more dangerous because, unlike hydrogen, they can pool on the ground from a leak before exploding. (A large LNG tanker could theoretically detonate with the force of a small nuclear weapon and would look like the famous Beirut explosion.) I still remember a video of a white misty fog spreading over the ground from a train carrying propane that derailed. That cloud became a massive fireball. If it was hydrogen, it would have quickly risen away.
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Thanks DW for bringing up such a important topic/content for the public.
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Storage is a huge problem, glossed over here.
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Big oil loves Hydrogen. 1. They can sell you dirty hydrogen now. 2. It is very complex and expensive, so it consumes lots of money that could be spent on useful alternatives to oil. 3. It is ultimately just an inefficient flow battery. There are better alternatives such as iron flow batteries.
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Hydrogen is a great way to store excess renewable energy. It's not 100% efficient but it could theoretically be up to 94% efficient to hydrolyze water with this energy. The problem is we need to desalinize a bunch of seawater for this too. Though once created the water could technically stay in a circular loop forever.
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There has been a saying for many years: “Hydrogen is the energy (means/source) of the future”. The main concern is what if it remains as such for many more years to come!
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So currently green hydrogen can only be created when there’s an over supply of green energy - hydro or wind typically. Otherwise it will always cost more as it’s a lossy conversion from electricity - even if that’s green electricity, it’s a costly conversion.
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A very informative documentary the Hydrogen Fuel cell technology and developments and challenges are explained in a very lucid way.
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Hydrogen is not a Primary fuel, in effect it is simply an energy storage technology. What is proposed is to use hydrogen instead of using batteries or other storage media. This wasteful process may be a useful interim technology for certain heavy applications but logically it will be displaced by efficient nuclear processes in the future. Because you can does not mean you should.
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The inefficiency of the green hydrogen cycle is an insurmountable obstacle for it being used for anything other than niche applications where batteries can't work. Also, using only surplus electricity from renewable sources to create hydrogen means that the costly equipment is unproductive as it sits idle for a lot of the time, making it even more expensive. Storing surplus electricity in a battery is over 90% efficient, and capital costs are also much lower - hydrogen will never compete without a massive breakthrough in efficiency. Just because it is technically possible doesn't mean it will ever be economically realistic.
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On a related note, it would seem that living/working aboard a submarine for months underwater is probably the closest/best training for astronauts preparing for long-range missions (e.g. Mars).
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This gives me hope. TY DW ❤️
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I wish they had touched on the status, trade offs and comparability of liquid ammonia as a hydrogen source, which has more energy density.
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Japan and Germany investing heavily in hydrogen. They have been leading the world in technology for the last 80 years. Even if some of those invention have been for war
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Thanks very much for another great documentary.
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In the south of Argentina an Aussie company is gonna build the biggest project for producing green hydrogen. I was surprised they did not mention it in this report
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Good documentary – very comprehensive despite limited time. Unfortunately, that's not enough explanation for people without some knowledge to really understand the content. Also, it completely left out that nuclear reactors are ideal for producing carbon-free hydrogen: the enormous heat from nuclear reactions far surpasses that of the massive solar-heat installations, so it can split water into hydrogen and oxygen using the same process but at much higher production rates. Since the reactor works as well independent of location, it can be built in Germany or wherever the hydrogen is needed instead of importing it from thousands of kilometers away.
