John Hartley, Levidian, CEO, UK, discusses bringing the hydrogen transition within reach.
any countries are banking on hydrogen to be an alternative clean energy source to fossil fuels as we transition to net-zero. Last year, the UK published its net-zero strategy, a 400-page document detailing the future of carbon emissions in the country. The strategy sets out ambitious goals, such as the UK being completely powered by clean electricity by 2035. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and Ofgem aim to introduce 40 GW of offshore wind power, and boost investment in wind, but there are fears this will not happen fast enough to meet the country’s goals. This is where hydrogen comes in; when published, the strategy aimed to deliver 5 GW of hydrogen production by 2030, whilst halving emissions from oil and gas. It emphasised the need to “manage the transition in a way that protects jobs and investment, uses existing infrastructure, maintains security of supply, and minimises environmental impacts”. In July of this year, the strategy was updated and the UK has set the new goal of achieving 10 GW of low carbon hydrogen production capacity by 2030, double the previous target unveiled under its national Hydrogen Strategy in August 2021. But there are challenges with making hydrogen a viable energy source – such as corrosion, flammability, transportation, and cost – which all need to be addressed to ensure we can meet this target. In 2019, the University of Southern California interviewed Paul Ronney, a USC Viterbi School of Engineering Professor of aerospace and mechanical engineering who studies combustion and propulsion, who said hydrogen faces barriers in becoming a reliable renewable energy. Ronney explained that one of the issues with hydrogen is that there’s virtually no pure hydrogen on Earth because it’s so reactive. Most hydrogen is made from methane in a process that produces carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, which ultimately causes further harm to the environment.
The pressure problem The storage of hydrogen also poses a challenge, as it requires highpressure tanks or in more complex settings – like fuelling vehicles, hydrogen requires fuel cells which end up being very costly as they use expensive materials such as platinum. In pipelines, which are integral to transporting hydrogen, ‘embrittlement’ can weaken metal or polyethylene pipes and increase leakage risks, particularly in high-pressure pipes, according to a 2013 study from the US Energy Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).
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