The View | Why China is likely to set the pace in hydrogen industry growth
- More economies are turning to green and blue hydrogen to help decarbonise, but local geography and weather conditions will continue to affect their ability to do so
- With its abundant wind and solar resources and forecasts of fast-rising demand for hydrogen, China is poised to take a lead
Green and blue hydrogen are central to decarbonisation strategies in the Asia-Pacific, Europe and North America. It is easy to see why.
The only major by-products of hydrogen combustion are water and heat, making it an appealing fuel to help decarbonise the planet. Yet, today, hydrogen applications are mostly limited to the chemical industry (ammonia and methanol) and refining.
In the future, it could be used in power generation, as a storage medium for electricity, as fuel for heavy trucks, as a reduction agent in the production of iron from iron ore, and blending into gas grids for residential and commercial buildings.
While the technology already exists to pursue these applications, there is one problem – most hydrogen production is itself carbon emitting. This so-called “grey” hydrogen is sourced from fossil fuels (mostly natural gas, although in China it comes mainly from coal).
Blue hydrogen adds carbon capture and storage to traditional grey hydrogen. Green hydrogen is produced by an entirely different process, using electrolysers that split water into its component molecules through a chemical process. The power used for the process must come from renewable sources like wind, solar or hydro.