Time to reinvent for hydrogen economy
Hydrogen, and especially green hydrogen, is said to be the missing piece in the puzzle of decarbonising industry and transport, replacing fossil fuels with clean energy.
There is much talk about “the hydrogen economy” as the key to global energy security and sustainability, and of hydrogen fuel cell-powered vehicles potentially overtaking battery electric vehicles as the zero emissions vehicle of choice.
Globally, major automotive manufacturers have recently announced hydrogen vehicle strategies and ramped up on hydrogen fuel cell technologies, with some manufacturers reportedly shifting entirely from electric to hydrogen vehicles.
Locally, Hive Hydrogen SA’s planned investment in one of the world’s largest green ammonia plants, powered by renewable energy, in the Coega SEZ, is expected to create more than 20,000 direct and indirect jobs and represents significant opportunities for Nelson Mandela Bay to get in on the green hydrogen value chain.
But what is the hydrogen economy, and what are the opportunities for business?
Simply put, hydrogen is a fuel that can be used to generate electricity, stored in a fuel cell for an electric vehicle, or combusted similarly to an internal combustion engine.
Unlike coal, oil and gas, it is carbon-free and burns “clean”, with water vapour its only emission.
As a store of energy, hydrogen is in essence a “battery”, with applications in various types of vehicles and modes of transport as well as in energyintensive industrial processes and energy storage.
Hydrogen is produced by electrolysing water, with the process run on renewable wind or solar energy to produce green hydrogen, and from there, green ammonia which has applications in agriculture (fertiliser production) and the chemical and mining industries.
Green ammonia is expected to become the fuel of choice in the maritime sector, and is also being used to drive locomotives.
The challenge is that hydrogen is highly explosive and not easy to store.
Unlike LPG gas, it is not easily liquefied and has to be stored under extreme pressure.
However, major advances in storage technologies and materials science have now made it safe and efficient to tank pressurised hydrogen, while minerals such as palladium — often referred to as a “hydrogen sponge ”— are being looked at for storage in fuel cells for electric vehicles.
More practical is to convert the hydrogen into another chemical like ammonia (by reacting it with nitrogen from the air).
Ammonia can easily be compressed and liquefied for handling, transport and storage, and it can then be combusted or converted back into hydrogen and used in a fuel cell.
The range of hydrogen vehicles rivals that of petrol and diesel vehicles, and they are refuelled at a filling station rather than requiring new charging infrastructure and inducing the “range anxiety” experienced by drivers of electric vehicles.
The refuelling infrastructure for hydrogen largely exists already in the countrywide network of service stations — granted, they will need adaptation with new tanks and transport and dispensing systems.
Hydrogen vehicles appear to be more cost-effective and, by some calculations, greener than battery electric vehicles, which are only carbon-free if the electricity used to charge them is from a renewable source.
The batteries themselves are expensive, don’t last forever, don’t have a widespread recycling infrastructure and can be mining-intensive.
These factors all point to green hydrogen as a viable alternative in mobility and other industrial applications — albeit the explanation here is highly simplified, and the technical complexities are not for the faint-hearted.
The hydrogen economy is not just about production of green hydrogen and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, it is about an entire value chain.
It will require new technology and business developments in electrolysers, fuel cells, storage vessels, transportation systems, large-scale solar plants, water desalination, safety systems, and services and refuelling infrastructure.
Hydrogen fuel cells are essentially a platinum catalyser
— pointing to reinvention opportunity for our strong local catalytic converter industry whose components are redundant in battery electric vehicles.
The UK, Europe and some Asian countries have already set goals towards increased use of hydrogen energy in transportation and manufacturing; and are expected to require substantial imports of renewable hydrogen and its derivatives by 2050.
Upscaling and commercialising green hydrogen is a key component in our country’s energy transition plan.
The Hydrogen Society Roadmap and Green Hydrogen Commercialisation Strategy detail the route to a hydrogen economy in which the country leverages its mineral resources and natural endowments for renewable energy generation to produce and export green hydrogen.
The over-arching aims are to increase the role of hydrogen in decarbonising heavy transport and energy-intensive industries, develop local manufacturing in the hydrogen value chain and target export markets for green hydrogen and its derivatives, and components such as fuel cells.
The envisaged outcomes are sustainable job creation and increasing export value while also enabling greater uptake locally of affordable, sustainable clean energy.
The framework and the opportunities are there, and we cannot discount this future potential shift for our economy.
South African businesses all too often wait for the disruption before acting, meaning we are always chasing.
By seeing the signs early enough, we can prepare for change and get in on the ground floor of opportunities.
It is time to start thinking reinvention and this is why the Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber has initiated a Local Economy Reinvention Think Tank.
We need to get ahead of the curve so we can retain and grow our manufacturing base in the Bay.