Hydrogen

Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin has unveiled new technology to improve thin metal oxide films for solar water splitting, and the European Energy Exchange has announced plans for a new hydrogen index. Indian Oil, Larsen & Toubro, and ReNew have agreed to set up a joint venture to develop India’s green hydrogen sector. And Iberdrola has revealed a plan to produce industrial green hydrogen, in cooperation with the European Investment Bank.

Photovoltaics can wipe out 4.25 billion tons of carbon emissions every year this decade, according to the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Even so, the actions announced so far remain way short of what is needed, with capital flows to fossil fuels still greater than the cash directed toward combating climate change.

Germany’s Ostermeier H2ydrogen Solutions has developed an electrolyzer that works with tap water, with bottles to store hydrogen and a fuel cell or a Wankel engine to produce electricity. The system has a capacity ranging from 1kW to 100 kW, which corresponds to hydrogen production of 0.2-20 Nm3/h.  

Research activities on hydrogen are in full swing at Penn State University, University of Aberdeen, Brunel University London, Loughborough University and Cardiff University. This week marks a systemic shift towards hydrogen in research, production, sale and consumption.

The Berlin Energy Transition Dialogue 2022 event has shown the centrality of renewables and green hydrogen in the world’s future energy landscape. pv magazine spoke with the General Director of the International Renewable Energy Agency, Francesco La Camera, about the difficulties of creating a hydrogen economy in the absence of demand. According to him, public support and policies will be crucial to overcoming this challenge.

Only by working together can African nations overcome the obstacles to exploiting their abundant renewables resources and producing affordable green hydrogen – for use at home and in a European economy keen to wean itself off Russian gas, an online event has been told.

A new deal between Fortescue Future Industries and E.ON will see the Australian company deliver 5 million tons of green hydrogen to Germany, the Netherlands, and multiple cities in Europe by 2030.

UK climate tech business Levidian has presented a new device. Loop hydrogen has a typical levelized cost of hydrogen (LCOH) of around £2.27/kg, the company told pv magazine. Meanwhile, companies are considering investment in the Celtic Sea, Hamburg, and Galicia and Toyota has announced that hydrogen-powered engine performance has been improved to levels comparable to gasoline engines in just six months.

The International Renewable Energy Agency’s latest global outlook has spelled out just how ‘woefully’ far the world is from capping temperature rises at 1.5C, and lamented: ‘The stimulus and recovery efforts associated with the pandemic have also proved a missed opportunity.’

The developer last year sold off 2.9GW of solar generation capacity to state-owned entities to reduce its debt pile by $1.76 billion and has another 298MW up for sale as it repeated its intent to switch to blue, and later, green hydrogen.