Hydrogen

Australia’s Smart Energy Council says that its new verification scheme for green hydrogen is gaining international traction.

Aurora Energy Research reports that the size of electrolyzers is increasing. Furthermore, Chile moves forward with its first green hydrogen project and German car manufacturer BMW said it would unveil a hydrogen fuel cell SUV in 2022.

Australian farmer Thomas Blair is expanding the horizons of his industry to cultivate green hydrogen.

With South Africa holding 63,000 of the world’s estimated 69,000 metric tons of platinum reserves – according to the Statista.com website – and Russia and Zimbabwe a further 5,100 between them, the European Commission has cited the metal as an example of a potential supply chain bottleneck that could handicap its grand plans for renewables-powered hydrogen production.

The new electrolyser with anion exchange membrane technology is expected to produce 450 kilograms per day and will be available on the market in 2022.

Furthermore, Canadian integrated energy company Suncor and Canadian holding company ATCO are looking into a potential “world scale clean hydrogen project” in Alberta, and Japanese energy company Eneos and Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer Toyota Motor, are exploring hydrogen applications at Woven City, a prototype city in Japan.

Hydrogen and hydrogen-based fuels will not be able to move forward fast enough to replace fossil fuels and tackle climate change, according to a German-Swiss research team that claims direct electrification alternatives are cheaper and easier to implement. The scientists cite too-high prices, short-term scarcity and long-term uncertainty, as the main reasons for their skepticism.

Australia and Chile are both granting funds to green hydrogen projects and Denmark is exempting pilot power-to-gas projects from complying with its energy legislation. Furthermore, the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Polymer Research IAP is working to find solutions for private customers to produce hydrogen.

Moreover, the Germany-based Fraunhofer Institute for Chemical Technology has announced it is progressing with its research to reduce the cost of PEM water electrolysis and the Spanish government has established the criteria for its first pre-selection of renewable hydrogen projects.

First Solar and Nel Hydrogen Electrolyser AS will initially develop an integrated power plant control and SCADA system, as part of a broader plan to build integrated photovoltaic/hydrogen power plants.