Hydrogen as Green Fuel: The Future of Clean Energy
With the world struggling to find a solution to the two issues of climate change and the burning of fossil energy sources, hydrogen as green fuel has come as a possible answer to a future sustainable energy supply. The most common element in the universe, Hydrogen has a massive future potential to be a clean, efficient and renewable energy carrier that can transform transportation, power generation and industrial sectors.
What is Green Hydrogen?
Green hydrogen is hydrogen generated by renewable energy sources such as wind, solar or hydroelectric energy sources rather than fossil fuels. It is called the process of making green hydrogen and requires electrolysis in which electricity separates water to produce hydrogen and oxygen. The electricity is sourced out of renewable materials thus the overall process is a carbon free fuel alternative; therefore a really sustainable alternative
Conversely, natural gas is used in production of grey or blue hydrogen, which produces a lot of carbon dioxide. Instead, green hydrogen generates zero emissions; it does not generate any emissions during the production and consumption, only vapor of water is emitted during burning or power usage in a fuel cell.
Benefits of Green Hydrogen
Hydrogen green fuel has a great advantage in that it is versatile. It can be employed in the fuel cells to drive electric cars, produce electricity to be used in homes and industries, and store the surplus renewable energy. Hydrogen can be stored and transported without difficulty unlike batteries which become ineffective with time.
Also, green hydrogen systems are associated with the decarbonization of hard to electrify sectors, including steel, cement, and heavy transport. Green hydrogen can be used in conjunction with renewable power to enable the countries to more effectively meet their net-zero carbon targets.
Hydrogen is also very high in energy density, nearly three times greater than gasoline, and this fact means that it can be used in transport with long range and in aviation. In addition, its ability to be integrated with the currently existing natural gas pipelines can hasten the switch to cleaner energy grid.
Implementation Problems
Although this is a promise, there are a number of obstacles to the popularization of hydrogen as green fuel. Production cost is high because of the high cost of the electrolyzers and large-scale renewable infrastructure. More so, storage and transport need special materials and technologies because hydrogen is highly flammable and its energy to volume ratio is low.
Cost reduction and efficiency improvement however, is being achieved due to continued technological advancements and government efforts across the world. Green hydrogen will be cheaper and more available as economies of scale are realized leading to a global energy revolution of green energy.
The Road Ahead
The future of green hydrogen systems is bright as countries and industries start to realize the promise that hydrogen has in the realization of a carbon-neutral world. Research and production plants as well as infrastructures investments are increasingly rising. Through the combination of green hydrogen and renewable energy policies, the world can be taken to a more sustainable, clean energy system.
The shift to the hydrogen-based system will be central in determining a sustainable future as the level of awareness and innovation increases. Companies like Enviropol are on the forefront to advance green technologies and contribute to the transition of the world to hydrogen as the green fuel.
