Hydrogen and wind energy

Link: https://www.naturalgasworld.com/the-hydrogen-illusion-interview-withsamuel-furfari-on-his-explosive-new-book-gastransitions85316?utm_source=Energy+geopolitics&utm_campaign=11b1bfaa91EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_11_29_10_17_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term =0_1fc3386348-11b1bfaa91-423139345 Please see link above for source text, embedded hotlinks, and comments.

February 18, 2021 Samuel Furfari In a remarkably short time, hydrogen has become the climate hope of a remarkably broad range of “stakeholders”. Politicians across the world have presented great hydrogen plans. The gas industry hopes hydrogen offers gas and gas infrastructure a second lease on life. Renewable energy and environmental groups believe green hydrogen will make a 100% renewable energy future possible. The IEA endorses it. Shell and Greenpeace love it.

Germany and France want it. The US and China are behind it.

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With this kind of support, can anyone doubt the hydrogen economy will carry the day? Well, yes, there are some dissidents. Samuel Furfari, a chemical engineer who worked for the European Commission for 36 years in a variety of energy management jobs, and who is also President of the European Society of Engineers and Industrialists and professor in the Geopolitics of Energy at the Free University of Brussels, is one of them. Furfari has recently self-published a fiery tract, “The Hydrogen Illusion”, in which he severely criticizes what he calls the new hydrogen hype.

The fact that so many have placed their hopes in hydrogen does not deter Furfari a bit. He has seen at least two, by some counts three, similar waves of hydrogen crazes wash over the world, as he recounts in his book. Each time hopes were dashed as the engineering and economic realities of hydrogen production became clear.

In an in-depth interview with Gas Transitions, he explains why he doesn’t believe that this time will be different.

Karek Bekman

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