It feels like everywhere you look, rapid progress is being made today. AI is moving so fast that people worry about their jobs, and the blockchain and decentralized finance industries are also seeing rapid growth. That said, there are a few areas where progress is tough.
Batteries are one example, with the industry being stuck on lithium-ion for some time now. Similarly, the world has been stuck on fossil fuels and it’s about time that something changed. In this context, hydrogen seems to hold great potential as an eco-friendly alternative. Let’s find out if the hype is true.
Hydrogen Is Being Reimagined With Modern Breakthroughs
Hydrogen as a fuel source isn’t a new discovery like graphene, and it’s been used before for transportation as far back as 1783, when Jacques Charles made a trip on a hydrogen-filled gas-filled balloon. The 18th and 19th centuries had many such experiments conducted, with Henri Giffard flying the first hydrogen-filled airship.
Through the years, scientists and researchers have continued working on hydrogen, and in the 21st century, its potential as a fossil fuel alternative has emerged. Recent advancements hold a lot of promise, and several automotive giants have taken interest in the gas.
For example, Toyota recently renamed its California R&D facility to “North American Hydrogen Headquarters,” (H2HQ). Toyota, like many other automotive companies today, is investing heavily in the advancement of fuel cell technology. Hydrogen naturally plays a key role here, and it’s going to be exciting to see what comes out in the near future.
What Makes Hydrogen So Special and Why Is Scaling It Difficult?
You have to remember that of all the elements in the universe, hydrogen is the most abundant. It also burns cleanly, producing only water, which gives it great potential as a ‘clean fuel.” What’s more, hydrogen can be produced in a wide range of ways. When you hear terms like ‘Gray’, ‘Blue’, ‘Pink’, or ‘Green’ hydrogen, it refers to the production method and the environmental impact said method has.
Green hydrogen, as you might have guessed, is the one that everyone wants to focus on, but also the most challenging to make.
While hydrogen is abundant, it also doesn’t exist on its own. One way it is produced is via electrolysis, where electricity is used on water to separate hydrogen and oxygen. The problem with this method is that electrolyzers are expensive to manufacture and maintain.
What’s more, the energy used to run electrolyzers has to come from other renewable sources for the hydrogen to be considered “green”. Electrolyzers are not always efficient as well and use up a good amount of energy when compared to the amount of hydrogen they produce.
In addition, hydrogen is also a low-density gas, and transporting it requires liquefaction or high-pressure tanks. This process is both expensive and complex, which also limits its scalability.
In this context, solid-state storage is one solution, and H2MOF believes it will help enable a wider adoption of hydrogen.
What Are the Benefits of Investing in Hydrogen?
Ultimately, the biggest impact of switching to hydrogen would be the drastic reduction in emissions. If, in the coming years, we saw advancements in hydrogen production, and if industries started to adopt it seriously, the results would be tremendous.
Industries that produce steel and cement, which are currently heavy polluters, would significantly reduce their carbon footprints. We would have cleaner air and less smog, with the benefits extending to climate change as well.
According to Wilson Ricks, an engineer working in Princeton University’s ZERO Lab, hydrogen is the most favored clean energy technology in terms of U.S. policy support.
This support from the government goes a long way in accelerating investment, and innovation.
What’s more, increasing the focus on hydrogen as an alternative fuel source will also open up new economic growth opportunities. Large-scale hydrogen production facilities, particularly for green hydrogen, hold potential for several new industries.
The subsequent growth would be enough to increase demand for engineers, technicians, and skilled laborers. Of course, it doesn’t end there. The export of green hydrogen is a particularly promising opportunity, especially for parts of the world that can’t produce it locally.
To summarize, the switch from traditional fossil fuels is inevitable. Out of the many renewable sources of energy, governments across the world are increasingly favoring hydrogen. Its potential for industrial decarbonization, ability to help meet net-zero ambitions, and job-creating potential are obvious factors.
It’s only a matter of time until the bottlenecks with green hydrogen production are addressed. When that happens, it will be exciting to witness the transformation, not just for industries but also the impact a cleaner world will have on society.
Founder Dinis Guarda
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