The future of sustainable energy production begins about 13.8 billion years ago. Neutrons were created shortly before, at about ten billion degrees Celsius, ten seconds after the Big Bang. protons and electrons. The result: hydrogen.
Hydrogen is the most common element in our universe. Almost three-quarters of the mass consists of the smallest atom. The element is much more rare on Earth. less than one percent of the earth’s mass to put hydrogen atoms. But on the surface it is everywhere: in the soil, in the air, and as a component of water. In the 20th century, people turned him into a ghost: with the Hindenburg disaster, they buried the idea of using the airship as a means of travel, fueled the fear of the atomic apocalypse in the hydrogen bomb, and chlorofluorocarbon ozone hole. But after the turn of the century, it becomes a hope for a future without fossil fuels and power outages.
Lots of benefits, big hurdles
There are three reasons why everyone is talking about hydrogen as an energy carrier. On the one hand, hydrogen contains about three times more energy per mass than natural gas. On the other hand, it is highly flammable in the presence of oxygen. It can be used in internal combustion engines or converted into electrical energy called fuel cells. And H goes2 in flames instead of producing CO2 a climate-friendly exhaust gas: water.
The benefits invite you to dream. But there is more than an obstacle on the way to the hydrogen utopia. This First: Natural reserves discovered around the world only in the last decade are of little use. Unlike fossil fuels, evidence is lacking on how and why hydrogen sources accumulate where they form. For this reason, gas must first be produced from other energy sources. Hydrogen is therefore used as a natural resource in European energy strategies. almost aforementioned. If hydrogen is being talked about today, then as an energy store.
Most hydrogen not yet CO2 free
Therefore, hydrogen is in very few cases climate neutral. The most efficient way to produce it is, first of all, fossil fuels. Even today, the cracking of methane, coal or oil to obtain so-called gray hydrogen is the dominant production method worldwide. per ton of hydrogen ten tons of CO is produced2. “You can give up fossil fuels right away,” says Markus Friedl (53), head of the Energy Technology Institute. in the eastern part of Switzerland University of Applied Sciences. “The goal is to produce green hydrogen.” For example, as in Switzerland.
In this country, the climate is neutral H2 Solothurn, Aargau and St. Only a few places use hydropower, including in the cantons of St. Also, it was closed five years ago retailer, transport companies and gas station operators come together to form the “H2 Mobility Promotion Association”. Twelve gas stations and 47 hydrogen trucks operate in Switzerland today.
In Switzerland, private sector initiative should be the starting signal for the substance, which can be used in a variety of ways. In the Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences report on the Energy System 2050, the hydrogen produced has a multi-faceted role: it is intended to store excess electricity from power plants or private homes and be used as raw material for artificially produced methane. or longer storage methanol. «Power to X» is the name of the strategy. This aims to close future power gaps without nuclear power or fossil liquid gas. Moreover The gas will be used for climate-friendly transport on land, air and water. “In addition to batteries and renewable electricity generation, hydrogen will take over a significant part of the energy system,” says Friedl.
“We need pioneers who take the system into their own hands”
Before the hydrogen produced can support the power grid or drive a vehicle, the energy has to be converted several times. About three-quarters of the energy content of the original source is lost in the process. Also, due to the ever-increasing demand for electricity, “excess electricity” is becoming a rare commodity. For a strategy to rely on around 20 million tonnes of green hydrogen per year by 2030, the EU requires a doubling of renewable electricity generation. The heating value of hydrogen, which is three times that of natural gas, is explained by the fact that it occupies approximately seven times the space under normal pressure. For transport, it must either be liquefied at very low temperatures, put under high pressure, or converted into denser materials. ammonia or methanol is converted. “This also requires energy,” says Friedl. Hydrogen is therefore expensive.
The real question is what should be promoted first. If more hydrogen is produced, infrastructure will also be needed to use it. “At the moment Europe is after technology,” says Friedl. “Hydrogen-powered vehicles, for example, are almost never available.” The truck fleet in Switzerland is Japanese made. “We now need pioneers to take the system into their own hands.” Until this happens, H.2-Technology is one thing above all: the fabric of the future.
Source : Blick
I am Dawid Malan, a news reporter for 24 Instant News. I specialize in celebrity and entertainment news, writing stories that capture the attention of readers from all walks of life. My work has been featured in some of the world’s leading publications and I am passionate about delivering quality content to my readers.
