More Bad News For Fossil Fuels: Green Hydrogen Is Making Green Steel Happen - CleanTechnica

[Caribbeans]

More Bad News For Fossil Fuels: Green Hydrogen Is Making Green Steel Happen - CleanTechnica

Tina Casey | CleanTechnica | Jan 22, 2024

Steelmaking was once thought to be difficult if not impossible to decarbonize, with a key step in the process fully dependent on coal or natural gas. Well, that was then. The world’s first and biggest full scale green steel plant is taking shape in Sweden, with an assist from green hydrogen. That leaves about 1,000 steel plants around the world yet to decarbonize, but at least it’s a start.

Green Hydrogen To Calm Steel’s Carbon Demon

It’s no secret that steel is a carbon demon. Going by one commonly cited estimate, steel production accounts for 11% of all greenhouse gas emissions globally, in part because gas or coal need to be involved.

Removing fossil energy from that equation is not easy, for sure. But, it is also not impossible. The factor that makes it possible is green hydrogen, which refers to hydrogen pushed from water in an electrolysis system.

The sticky wicket is the source of the electricity to run the electrolyzers. From a save-the-planet standpoint, water electrolysis makes no sense if fossil power plants are the source. However, renewable resources are now available. With the cost of wind and solar continuing to plummet, the economic and the climate cases for green hydrogen are both beginning to build...more
https://cleantechnica.com/2024/01/22/green-hydrogen-green-steel-renewable-energy/

[albacore]

1. Where are our DU hydrogen experts?

I need school on this. I've read a bunch, and it seems like H could be a solution.
But..
Like all the other solutions, it would take infrastructure changes, and this country doesn't DO infrastructure.
Any out there know their shit about this?

[Caribbeans]

2. Europe and China are building infrastructure

China: Guangzhou Sets Out Plan for USD $1.4 Billion Fuel Cell Vehicle Industry by 2025.
The city aims to establish itself as a leading domestic development and manufacturing hub for FCVs, covering the whole industry chain from core parts to vehicle assembly

Guangzhou has unveiled a three-year plan to make the southern Chinese city a leading domestic hub for the production and use of hydrogen-powered vehicles.

The capital of Guangdong province aims to have a fuel cell vehicle industry worth CNY10 billion (USD1.4 billion) by 2025, according to the plan the local government released yesterday. Guangzhou should also have no fewer than 2,500 FCVs in use by 2025, per the plan...more
https://www.yicaiglobal.com/news/guangzhou-sets-out-plan-for-usd14-billion-fuel-cell-vehicle-industry-by-2025

Europe has the beginnings of a hydrogen infrastructure (something some Americans keep saying is IMPOSSIBLE)

See it here

https://h2.live/en/

When someone says new stations need to be built they don't know what they are talking about



The ~60 stations in California are an embarrassment so far. 1/2 to 1/3rd are down all the time and "technical issues" are apparently too hard to fix so far, however Germany can do it as the map above shows.

https://h2fcp.org/stationmap

Wouldn't go so far as to call myself an "expert" - but I've followed the nascent H2 industry since around 2014 - and it is growing every day (in China and Europe, not so much here YET).

Here's a great intro video by the person that raised my awareness

https://hydrogenhouseproject.org/

[Think. Again.]

4. The major pieces of...

...infrastructure needed for the coming Green Hydrogen industry are the H2 production "electrolysis" plants and their non-CO2 energy supply plants.

Luckily, non-CO2 energy is already less expensive than fossil energy so that actually makes building GREEN H2 production plants with their own dedicated solar or wind plants cheaper than building CO2 emitting H2 plants. Building these new H2 plants with their own dedicated solar, wind, or SMR plants would also keep these plants from using any of the energy intended for the grid.

There is also a lot of talk about needing entirely brand new pipelines to transport H2 but those talking points ignore the fact that H2 is transportable in tanks or, if neccesary, certain existing gas pipes can be adapted to use for H2.

Infrastructure IS going to have to be built for the entire transition away from fossil fuels (plenty of non-CO2 energy plants, EV industry charging stations, etc), but since the new energy industry will be a lucrative for-profit industry just like the fossil energy industry, those start up expenses are all part of the initial investment.

[Think. Again.]

3. Finally...

...a first, but BIG step forward!

[orthoclad]

5. Expect continuing opposition

Unlike fossil fuel, lithium, cobalt, and uranium, hydrogen can't be controlled and monopolized. We could see backyard H electrolyzers, much like the home methane fuel digesters I saw advertised years ago.

We need research money to go into improving the efficiencies of the electrolysis step, to make green H cheaper than fossil H.