Power supply 10% IRENA 10
blue hydrogen was “anything but green”, as companies using it will continue to emit greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
Of carbon emissions could be cut by 2050 through the increased production of green hydrogen.
The argument for blue hydrogen is that most of the
emissions from its production are captured before they’re released into the atmosphere. ‘Grey hydrogen’, on the other hand, is made from natural gas, but the CO2
CO2 million
Tonnes of renewable hydrogen will be produced by the EU each year by 2030 using 40GW electrolysers.
European Commission
emissions are not captured. That is why blue hydrogen is considered a low-carbon option. Both Stuart and Oliver have more nuanced views, acknowledging that blue hydrogen still poses many problems and is far from an ideal solution to the problem at hand. However, at present it can be a cheaper option than green hydrogen for many companies and could make sense for those looking to transition from fossil fuels to hydrogen power. “We believe all forms of clean hydrogen are really needed. It’s not about a silver bullet – it’s silver buckshot,” says Stuart. “We believe green hydrogen is the ultimate way to go. However, there are some organisations, particularly the hydrocarbon processing areas that are already using hydrogen in very large quantities, where it may make more sense for them to focus on blue hydrogen, provided they really do reduce carbon dioxide emissions.” “We’re not opposed to blue hydrogen, because it can be a very low-carbon fuel, even if not absolutely zero.” He adds that gaining experience in working with hydrogen is more important to the decarbonisation journey than the colour you start with. If coal, diesel or other carbon intensive fossil fuels are being displaced, both would consider this progress in the transition towards net zero, and towards the development and uptake of green hydrogen. And given the scope of the challenge at hand, any and all progress can be appreciated.
If the price is right
The EU intends to become climate neutral by 2050 – an entire economy with net-zero greenhouse gas emissions. It’s hard to see how that goal can be achieved without substantial investment in hydrogen power, which is exactly what it is doing – the EU has announced plans to have 40GW of green hydrogen electrolysers producing up to ten million tonnes of renewable hydrogen each year by 2030. Thanks to this measure and others like it, the cost curve for green hydrogen is declining, which will make the fuel increasingly cost competitive. Stuart notes that we’ve already seen similar cost curves come down for solar panels and wind turbines, and he predicts that we’ll see a similar rapid drop for hydrogen in the near future as it starts to be deployed more widely. This will soon make green hydrogen very competitive with blue hydrogen in terms of pricing, and with the recent rise in fossil fuel pricing, that point might be very near indeed. Back in July 2020, Bloomberg stated that green hydrogen will be competitive by 2050 at a cost of
36
$2 per kilogram. A few months later, in October, IRENA estimated that hydrogen will be competitive in 2030. Some energy industry leaders have since said 2025, others put it even closer.
“Green hydrogen is kind of like a solar panel or wind turbine, or hydroelectric dam – it’s a capital investment upfront,” says Stuart. However, after that initial investment, such infrastructure can operate at a defined cost for the next 20–30 years. With fossil fuels, he notes, you can’t be entirely certain of what the cost next month will be, and this will only get worse as reserves continue to deplete. Similarly, hydrogen is less reliant on location than fossil fuels. If a gold mine is opened with plans to operate for ten years, when it’s time to close down operations all of the hydrogen infrastructure and technology can be packed up and redeployed at another site. “Electrolysers are not huge, and fuel cells are compact,” Oliver says with a smile. “All of this is portable, compact technology that doesn’t need to remain attached to the mine site. You pick it up and you move it, reducing your remediation costs after the fact.”
The challenges ahead
While Stuart believes the uptake of hydrogen “needs leadership within the mining industry” in order to reach its potential within the sector, “we can’t necessarily expect the mining industry to absorb all those costs”. Leaders in the industry need to make tangible process in reducing their emissions not by 2050 or even 2030, but by 2025, he adds. Hydrogen can deliver tremendous value in the context of mining companies environmental, social and governance (ESG) programmes, but that role should also be recognised and supported by governments, with “clear incentives put in place”.
Moves such as that by the UK government to invest £4bn ($5.29bn) into hydrogen by 2030 to help decarbonise heavy-emitting, carbon-intensive industries like mining are steps in the right direction. Other countries plan to spend even more: Italy is investing $10.5bn, Germany $9bn, France $7.2bn and the US $6.7bn. However, along with these outlays, hydrogen also faces a number of obstacles. For Oliver, the key challenge that lies ahead for hydrogen and its implementation within heavy industries is the need “to fill the void on familiarity”. The mining industry can be a conservative one at times, unwilling to take risks with technologies that it’s unfamiliar with.
“People who are familiar with hydrogen, they like it,” he explains. “They can rhyme off all the advantages, the benefits – they can also rhyme off the risks and the things you’ve got to watch out for. But people with no familiarity with hydrogen tend to fill that void with their worst fears.” With all the positive developments in hydrogen power, however, there’s good reason to think that this fear will soon be consigned to the past. ●
World Mining Frontiers /
www.nsenergybusiness.com
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