Green hydrogen - tomorrow's natural gas

For the sake of the world, we need to stop using fossil fuels. Although green shift has been advocated, there have been many doubts of it being feasible, and also many points have been made especially about storing energy produced for later use. For example, when green electricity is produced, its storage is problematic with the present-day batteries. Further, battery production causes multiple environmental problems.

Green hydrogen production and its use as the major energy source is clearly a way forward. Further, it can be transported from where it is produced to where it is consumed using to some extent the infrastructure already available. Also, motors using hydrogen as the fuel can be made for heavy traffic, ships and planes. Green hydrogen is produced by using electricity produced by windmills, solar cells, hydroelectric power or whichever way of producing fossil-free electricity. The produced hydrogen can be stored in tanks/containers just like natural gas and transported in pipelines. I don’t see why pipelines that have been used for natural gas transport couldn’t be modified for hydrogen transport. The small amount of hydrogen that leaks from the pipelines acts indirectly as a greenhouse gas, but it is estimated that the leak-induced greenhouse effect is less than 5 % of the greenhouse effect caused by the same amount of energy produced by oil.

The problem of windmills, i.e., that energy production is proportional to wind strength is not a problem, since the hydrogen-producing plants may adjust their production according to wind. Hydrogen-fuelled vehicles already exist, and the service station concept with rapid tanking can be continued enabling service station owners to continue their livelihood.

 Altogether, green hydrogen enables the green shift to occur with a minimum of fuss. It is the way forward.