It would seem that the hydrogen energy market has caught the attention of the new premier of Alberta, Danielle Smith.
In a recent interview with the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce, Smith praised the fuel source and Alberta’s potential future role in delivering it to the world.
“Something quite dramatic has happened in this province in the last five years,” she told the audience.
“I’ve watched the innovation, the innovators, and the new ideas that arise. And I don’t think I’ve ever seen our business community so aligned on this issue that not only can we do it, but we can do it better. than anyone…
“And that’s the message the rest of the world needs to hear.”
Hydrogen is touted around the world as a key role in decarbonization because it produces zero emissions when used as a fuel source.
The International Energy Agency says hydrogen demand reached 94 million tonnes in 2021. It estimates it could reach 115 million tonnes by 2030 under current conditions, noting that it is well below the 200 million tonnes needed by 2030 to be on track for net zero emissions by 2050.
A Bloomberg outlook estimates that in the most optimistic scenario, hydrogen could supply up to 24% of global energy demand, or nearly 700 million tonnes per year, by 2050.
Alberta has been using hydrogen for years as a feedstock for industrial processes. It now aims to be a hydrogen giant with ambitions set in its 2021 Hydrogen Roadmap.
By 2030, the province aims to have integrated the energy source into its national system and “establish itself as the global supplier of choice for clean hydrogen exports.”
Alberta currently produces about 2.4 million tonnes of hydrogen per year. It aims to export three million tonnes by the end of the decade.
So what’s the deal with hydrogen?
Hydrogen is an abundant chemical element and an energy carrier that is almost always found in a compound. It must be separated into pure hydrogen to be used as fuel.
This is achieved through a number of processes, including the reforming of natural gas or electricity by separating water into its elements.
Production methods are often color coded according to their emissions. These include:
- Grey, usually made from natural gas without capturing emissions
- Blue, usually made from natural gas but emissions are captured
- Green, typically made from renewable energy with zero emissions
Currently, steam methane reforming – using high temperature steam to produce hydrogen from a methane source such as natural gas – is the most common and most common production source. profitable.
This process alone still produces greenhouse gas emissions. Carbon capture, use and storage – where emissions are deposited in geological formations – can reduce these emissions by up to 85%.
“Alberta is really technology agnostic when it comes to hydrogen,” Heather Campbell, executive director of cleantech at provincially-funded agency Alberta Innovates, said in an interview earlier this month. -this.
“It’s not about specific production technology and being beholden to a production technology. It’s about producing low-carbon or no-carbon hydrogen with that low carbon intensity.”
Autothermal reforming, another process allowing better carbon capture, is also under development.
Today, hydrogen as a fuel is typically used in petroleum refining and fertilizer production. However, there are still technological and infrastructural gaps that need to be filled to increase production.
“I would say it’s the integration plus the resolution of some of the downstream technologies and [carbon capture, usage and storage]”Campbell said.
Alberta Innovates aims to push the dial on some of these technologies by funding competitions, reviews and providing lab and testing space for demonstrations and pilots, she said.
What is the role of carbon capture in hydrogen?
There is certainly an expensive issue with hydrogen: the cost of maintaining existing infrastructure and building for the future.
David Layzell, Transition Accelerator’s energy systems architect and professor at the University of Calgary, said adding carbon capture to existing facilities is expensive.
The Transition Accelerator is a non-profit organization and one of the partners in the Edmonton Region Hydrogen Hub, a hydrogen development center created last year in partnership with multiple levels of government.
“Certainly it requires building new infrastructure,” Layzell said. It points to the Shell Quest project as a carbon capture facility now online with more expected in the next two to three years.
Although the simple production of hydrogen is not the end of the road.
“We need to build an entirely new value chain around hydrogen to ensure that it can really be a credible energy carrier for the future,” Layzell said.
One issue under consideration is the most economical method of transportation. Pipelines face the hurdle of embrittlement – the cracking caused by the interaction of hydrogen atoms and metals.
Another is to ensure that there is end-use technology like a furnace or a car that will use the fuel.
“They don’t exist yet, or they just went live right now.”
Layzell said what’s economically viable over the next four to five years are heavy trucks, trains and some hydrogen-powered off-road vehicles that currently use large amounts of diesel.
So what markets are available for Alberta?
Dale Nally, associate minister for natural gas until a cabinet reshuffle last week, attended a hydrogen ministerial meeting in Japan at the end of September.
In an interview earlier this month, he said his message at the conference was to look beyond the color of hydrogen and focus on the intensity of carbon. Nally said businesses in Japan and around the world are looking to Alberta.
“They see us as a key supplier of their clean and affordable hydrogen.”
Nally said the province already ships hydrogen derivatives by rail and could leverage that network in the future.
Japan is a particularly attractive target.
In 2017, it became the first country to create a national hydrogen framework. It aims to grow its hydrogen market from two million tonnes per year to three million tonnes by 2030 and eventually to 20 million tonnes by 2050.
Japan is trying to decarbonize while using existing expertise in trading liquefied natural gas, according to Jane Nakano, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, DC.
Companies like Toyota are also looking to stay competitive in a market increasingly focused on reducing emissions, she said.
“They’re not just about renewable hydrogen,” Nakano said. “They are looking to import hydrogen based on methane or natural gas, as long as the carbon is captured.”
Japan is looking for sources around the world, but Canada, along with the United States, is at a disadvantage compared to neighboring countries like Australia.
“There is … an emerging rivalry between potential hydrogen exporters to be able to conquer the Japanese market.”
And what about the federal government?
The provincial and federal governments are aligned on the desire to build a market for hydrogen. Canada has published its hydrogen strategy in 2020postulating that it could generate almost $50 billion in revenue in the sector by 2050.
“We see this as a huge economic opportunity for Canada and a huge opportunity to help the world decarbonise,” Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said in an interview earlier this month.
Wilkinson said the government is developing regulations for hydrogen development alongside international partners and investing in technology.
In the spring, the environment commissioner said Canada may not be able to meet its 2030 emissions reduction targets because the strategy was based on “overly optimistic” assumptions.
Many of the report’s recommendations were accepted, and Wilkinson said there was work to clarify the differential numbers between his office and Environment Canada.
“We continue to focus on those goals, and the goals, while lofty, really motivate action.”
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