The month of May, 2020 saw ten major European energy companies join together to launch a campaign that promoted a product that none of them have anything to do with-especially in terms of business. The product in question is renewable hydrogen, or as the marketers like to call it “Green Hyrdogen”. Even though this is not a primary concern for those companies (Enel, EDP, BayWa, etc), they have all understood the fact that renewable hydrogen shall play a key role in the achievement of thorough decarbonization of the energy system.

It must be mentioned that there is a significant rise in the interest of renewable hydrogen amongst the major oil and gas companies. Europe alone, is amidst the planning stages of making hydrogen a major part of the trillion-dollar Green Deal Package.

Giles Dickson, the CEO of WindEurope has even stated that “Some industrial processes and heavy transport will run on gas, and renewable hydrogen is the best gas. It is completely clean. It will be affordable with renewables being so cheap now.”

So, with all that being said, lets have a quick look at what this “Green Hydrogen” truly is. According to the research by Wood Mackenzie, most of the gas used in the world can be of brown or gray in color. The brown type is typically used as a form of ignitor. The gray kind on the other hand is the type that is made through steam methane reformation. Neither of these two processes are carbon friendly. The cleaner option is of course known as “Blue Hydrogen”. Here the gas is produced through the method of steam methane reformation where the emissions are curtailed using carbon capture. The process on paper is supposed to decrease the production of carbon by half. Having said that it is still not free of emissions.

A more recent discovery is the production of “Turquoise Hydrogen”. This is produced by the breakdown of methane into the form of hydrogen and solid carbon. The process is called pyrolysis. This is considered to be low in emissions as the carbon produced can be disposed of through burial or used up in the process of making steel or batteries. However, studies have now showed that turquoise hydrogen is on par with the same degree of emissions as blue hydrogen.

In order to make hydrogen green, the method of electrolysis is harnessed. Here large quantities of hydrogen can be produced using water and electricity. If the electricity in question is produced through methods such as wind and solar, the hydrogen is in theory completely green. The challenge at the moment remains the fact that there is a shortage of “electrolyzers” in the market and therefore the process therefore continues to be expensive.

However, the challenges faced by the industry are being met with bullish determination to succeed, as the pipeline associated with “Green Hydrogen” projects have tripled during 2020 with lots more growth ahead.

With Green Recruitment Solutions being at the forefront of the industry, we are well poised to accelerate the growth and development the Green Hydrogen market. So if you are part of this exciting industry and are seeking to employ talent, or are keen to be employed, please contact:

T: +44 121 285 6070
M: +44 7580 170 406
E: ilohiya@greenrs.co.uk
W: greenrs.co.uk