Over half of heavy industry eyeing low carbon hydrogen

Subject : Environment

Concept :

As many as 62% of heavy industry companies across sectors are looking at low-carbon hydrogen to replace carbon-intensive systems, says a new report from the Capgemini Research Institute.
The report, “Low-Carbon Hydrogen – A Path to a Greener Future,“ also found that on average, Energy and Utilities (E&U) companies expect low-carbon hydrogen to meet 18% of total energy consumption by 2050.

Green Hydrogen

It is a colourless, odourless, tasteless, non-toxic and highly combustible gaseous substance.
Hydrogen is the lightest, simplest and most abundant member of the family of chemical elements in the universe.
Future hydrogen: The colour — green — prefixed to it makes hydrogen the “fuel of the future”.
The ‘green’ depends on how the electricity is generated to obtain the hydrogen, which does not emit greenhouse gas when burned.
Green hydrogen is produced through electrolysis using renewable sources of energy such as solar, wind or hydel power.

Uses:

Chemical industry: Manufacturing ammonia and fertilisers.
Petrochemical industry: Production of petroleum products.
Furthermore, it is starting to be used in the steel industry, a sector which is under considerable pressure in Europe because of its polluting effect.

Other Types of Hydrogen:

Brown Hydrogen: Most of the gas that is already widely used as an industrial chemical is either brown, if it’s made through the gasification of coal or lignite.
Grey Hydrogen: If it is made through steam methane reformation, which typically uses natural gas as the feedstock. Neither of these processes is exactly carbon-friendly.
Blue Hydrogen: Where the gas is produced by steam methane reformation but the emissions are curtailed using carbon capture and storage.