Hydrogen fuel is increasingly viewed as a crucial enabler to decarbonise difficult to electrify heavy industries like steel, cement, shipping and chemicals. These sectors account for a substantial portion of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions and moving to low-carbon alternatives like hydrogen might be essential for global climate objectives. As a clean energy carrier, hydrogen could substitute fossil fuels in industrial processes and therefore provide a practical path to reduce emissions in sectors where various other sustainable energies aren’t feasible.
This versatility would be just one of the major reasons hydrogen is appealing to heavy industries. Hydrogen could be utilized as a gas or feedstock in different industrial uses. It can drive high-temperature processes including steel and cement production which presently work with natural gas and coal. For instance, in the steel industry, hydrogen could substitute coal for direct reduced iron (DRI) generation, which is an important stage in steelmaking which presently utilizes fossil fuels. This particular process creates water vapor as opposed to CO2 making use of hydrogen rather than coke or coal.
Hydrogen has zero carbon emissions when created green (by electrolyzing drinking water with renewable energy to produce hydrogen and oxygen), which helps make it attractive. Burning and/or utilizing hydrogen in fuel cells creates just water vapor, therefore it’s a cleaner alternative to the carbon rich power of heavy industry. This particular feature places hydrogen in the center of worldwide decarbonization initiatives, particularly for industries where electrification is challenging because of the high power intensity of the procedures.
A second potential application area for hydrogen fuel is in chemical manufacturing. Hydrogen is currently used for the generation of ammonia and various other chemical substances, however the present hydrogen manufacturing procedures are carbon intensive, mainly through steam methane reforming (SMR). The shift to green hydrogen – hydrogen created by electrolysis using alternative energy – might lessen the carbon footprint of chemical industry. Green hydrogen could be used to create low-carbon fertilizers along with other manufacturing chemicals required to decarbonise farming along with other items used by these sectors.
Along with its manufacturing applications, hydrogen can transform heavy transportation sectors including aviation and shipping, which can also be notoriously hard to decarbonize. Electrification works with light vehicles but isn’t ideal for long haul transport due to the power density and mass limits of existing battery technology. Hydrogen, particularly hydrogen fuel cells or ammonia (a hydrogen carrier) might power long distance shipping vessels and airplanes as an alternative to the fossil fuels which presently dominate these industries. Hydrogen ships, for instance, can replace heavy fuel oil and lower emissions from maritime transportation – a sector that has nearly three% of worldwide emissions.
But it faces challenges for its wide usage in heavy industries. The primary barrier is the cost of green hydrogen. Presently, hydrogen creation through electrolysis is a lot more costly compared to conventional techniques like SMR. Nevertheless, as alternative power becomes less expensive and electrolyzer technology improves, the price of green hydrogen will probably fall and it is going to become much more competitive with fossil fuels. Investment in hydrogen infrastructure (production facilities, pipelines & storage systems) will also be crucial to accelerate its usage in heavy industry.
Another challenge applies to the energy efficiency of the hydrogen generation and usage. It’s less effective to transform electrical energy directly into hydrogen and then back to useful power by combustion or energy cells than to make use of power directly. Because of this, hydrogen might be most helpful where direct electrification isn’t feasible, like high temperature industrial processes and long distance transport.
Additionally, infrastructure improvement is going to be necessary to switch to hydrogen. Heavy industries presently dependent on natural gas or coal will require new infrastructure to create, store and transport hydrogen efficiently and safely. This particular infrastructure is going to require time and financial investment and will require collaboration between governments, industries and power providers, to be constructed at scale.
But momentum is growing. A number of nations, like the European Union, South Korea and Japan, have hydrogen strategies describing plans to boost production and usage. For instance, the EU’s hydrogen plan requires the installation of forty gigawatts of electrolyzers to create green hydrogen by 2030. Big industrial players are also beginning to explore hydrogen’s potential. In the steel business, businesses like ArcelorMittal and Thyssenkrupp are pursuing pilot projects which create steel utilizing hydrogen in place of coal.
Lastly, hydrogen fuel could decarbonize major industries and also offer a green replacement for carbon intensive processes which presently dominate sectors for example steelmaking, cement production and delivery. Regardless of the difficulties – primarily in terms of price, effectiveness and infrastructure development – the possible green advantages of hydrogen make it a crucial player in the global move to a low carbon economy. As investments in green hydrogen and supporting infrastructure increase, hydrogen might be the key to decarbonizing emissions from some of the hardest-to-decarbonize industries and achieving worldwide climate objectives while driving manufacturing transformation.