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Public policies are essential for hydrogen to become widespread throughout the world, according to a study by BloombergNEF, SNAM and the International Gas Union.

The generalisation of hydrogen will probably require large production units such as those of electricity companies, and industrial users of hydrogen located between 50 km and 100 km away.

The investments will be considerable.

According to BloombergNEF. About $11 trillion will be needed to build the production, storage and transport infrastructure required to meet about a quarter of the world's energy needs in 2050.

Electrolysis using renewable energy is a viable option to meet this demand using existing gas and energy infrastructure at provided that this supply is supported by geological storage in salt or rock caverns, without ruling out the possibility of producing so-called "blue" hydrogen with carbon capture.

The production of clean hydrogen is still reported to be too expensive, but subsidised development, experts say, could bring costs down from around $4/kg today to around $2/kg in 2030 and $1/kg in 2050. By the end of the first half of the century, annual revenues for the hydrogen sector would amount to $700 billion. "However, if policy measures to meet emission targets and promote the use of hydrogen do not materialise, demand is unlikely to increase significantly outside current uses," the study says.

There are currently 4,542 km of dedicated hydrogen pipelines worldwide. They could be expanded if the existing gas infrastructure were converted to transport hydrogen. For example, gas mixtures containing up to 5-20% hydrogen can be easily transported without modifying the pipelines used by existing gas networks. On the other hand, the transport of pure hydrogen would require polyethylene pipes, which are not likely to weaken the hydrogen.

The cost of transporting hydrogen by pipeline is similar to that of natural gas, although the hydrogen is less dense. The cost of materials used for hydrogen pipelines is also broadly comparable to that of gas pipelines. Transnational and long pipelines are seen as an important factor in reducing transport costs.

Certain steps need to be taken to develop a hydrogen economy. Long-term national emission reduction targets need to be set; all rules that prohibit the current use of hydrogen in many countries need to be removed; decarbonisation roadmaps need to be created for industrial sectors such as steel and cement manufacturing, chemicals, aviation, shipping and heavy transport.

https://www.pv-magazine.com/2020/09/03/hydrogen-economy-needs-public-policies/

PV Magazine of 3 September

Editor's note In order to calm down the ecologists, who are hostile to all hydrocarbons, the Europe of the Commission or of the States believes it would be useful to make the most of the arrival of hydrogen. We are far from achieving its daily use. No one knows at what price hydrogen can become widespread in the economy. In order to satisfy pressure groups, the community is being asked to finance this transition, without being able to determine the amount, the duration and the result of the research. Hydrogen users and producers are happy to be funded cheaply and they continue their hype and media hype to prevent the public from looking too closely at what they are going to be asked!