February 2021
Green Hydrogen may help the world get to a fully decarbonized energy sector. Hydrogen is an energy carrier and key chemical in processes. Today the world uses between 120-140 million tons a year, almost all of it made from coal or natural gas, leading to large GHG emissions. There are a rainbow of colors of hydrogen including:
- grey (made with natural gas)
- blue (using carbon capture)
- pink (made with nuclear)
- green (made with water and renewable energy)
More than 40 Gigawatts of new hydrogen production have been announced in the last 2 years with Australia leading the way.
Hydrogen is storage, a fuel, a key component of fertilizer and a feedstock for many processes. In short it is potentially one of the most flexible ways to store excess (or even dedicated) renewable energy. Issues remain in storage, round trip efficiency, and conversion of existing infrastructure to use hydrogen, which creates opportunities for IEEE members.
To help our members keep up with the latest developments in the emerging area of grid resilience, IEEE Power & Energy Society has created a number of resources on hydrogen. Below, we highlight a few notable contributions.
Green Hydrogen: Challenges for Commercialization
Written by Sivapriya Bhagavathy and Jagruti Thakur
Hydrogen has been in use for many decades in sectors like refining and chemical industries. However, its use as an energy source has started receiving increased interest only in recent years. As this interest and end-use grow, the demand for hydrogen will also grow with an expected compound annual growth rate of 5.48% from 2019 to 2025.
Green Hydrogen and Transportation Industry – An Overview of Its Applications
Written by Vishalya Sooriarachchi
Green hydrogen, a major part of the transformation towards 100% renewable energy, is considered an important source of energy. It currently is of considerable cost as of now, and only comprises a minimal amount of energy percentage in the U.S. energy market. However, there is higher interest in determining the level of significance green hydrogen is capable to play in the development of the transportation industry considering a revolutionary development is needed in the sector. The usage of Green Hydrogen in the transportation sector has created a novel requirement to initiate the development of cost-efficient extraction methods and the share of renewable sources rendered for the production of Hydrogen is expected to increase in order to comply with a considerable percentage of energy demand in the transportation sector.
Using Curtailed Renewable Energy to Produce Green Hydrogen
Written by Doug Houseman
In 2020 California curtailed more than 1.3 Tera-watt-hours (TWH)1 up from 1 TWH in 20192. Curtailment is rising faster than installation of new renewables and will continue to grow until storage catches up with renewable production.
Numerous articles from IEEE Power and Energy Magazine and Electrification magazine explore the topic of hydrogen in greater detail. These articles include:
- Solar-to-Hydrogen Tech Sees “Remarkable” Efficiency Jump
IEEE Spectrum April 2021 - Chinese Green Hydrogen Production Potential Development
IEEE Access September 2020 - Solar Panel Splits Water to Produce Hydrogen
IEEE Spectrum March 2019 - Solar Closing in on “Practical” Hydrogen Production
IEEE Spectrum September 2020