1 year ago
122 Have you ever heard of the hydrogen rainbow?
While hydrogen state is colorless, the manufacture sometimes uses colors arsenic shorthand to picture which of the galore imaginable processes was utilized to marque a peculiar batch. There’s gray, green, and bluish hydrogen, on with much vibrant tones similar pink—a full rainbow (kind of).
Hydrogen is often heralded arsenic a clime leader due to the fact that erstwhile it’s utilized arsenic a substance successful things similar buses oregon alloy production, determination are nary nonstop c emissions (or related warming) to interest about. As the satellite tries to chopped down connected our usage of fossil fuels, determination could beryllium plentifulness of caller request for this carbon-free vigor source.
But however hydrogen is made could find conscionable however adjuvant it is for the climate. That’s wherever the rainbow comes in. (I’ve added an at-a-glance array beneath truthful you tin untangle each these colors.)
Last week, the European Commission released rules that specify what “renewable” hydrogen is: successful different words, what it means for hydrogen to beryllium green. There was besides a fascinating communicative successful Science past week astir people occurring, oregon gold, hydrogen.
So let’s dive into the hydrogen rainbow and research wherever this substance of the aboriginal mightiness travel from.
What bash we request hydrogen for?
We already usage a batch of hydrogen today: planetary request was 94 cardinal metric tons (Mt) successful 2021. Most of that was utilized for lipid refining, arsenic good arsenic accumulation of ammonia (for fertilizer) and methanol (for chemic manufacturing).
That is apt to alteration successful the future, due to the fact that it’s besides a bully replacement for fossil fuels successful transportation, heavy industry, and different sectors. If countries support their clime pledges, hydrogen request could scope 130 Mt by 2030, and astir a 4th of that would beryllium for caller uses.
The occupation is, making hydrogen contiguous overwhelmingly requires fossil fuels, usually earthy gas. In alleged “gray” hydrogen production, earthy state reacts with water, generating hydrogen state and giving disconnected c emissions.
It doesn’t person to beryllium that way, though. For 1 thing, we could effort to seizure the c emissions from fossil-powered hydrogen accumulation (this method yields alleged bluish hydrogen). This is simply a beauteous arguable approach, due to the fact that c seizure is costly and doesn’t ever enactment efficiently.
Alternatively, we could rethink the process altogether and commencement utilizing energy to marque hydrogen instead. This process uses an electrolyzer: h2o and energy spell in; hydrogen and oxygen travel out. If the energy powering that absorption comes from renewable sources, hydrogen officially earns the favoritism of being “green.”
What does it mean to beryllium green?
That’s the question the European Commission is trying to reply with its caller rules released past week. The extremity is to laic retired which hydrogen projects volition number for clime goals and beryllium eligible for peculiar funding. (That backing is important due to the fact that greenish hydrogen is significantly much expensive than fossil-derived grey hydrogen today.)
There are 2 large pieces to these caller rules. First, greenish hydrogen volition request to beryllium produced utilizing renewable electricity. Producers volition person to either hook up straight to star and upwind farms oregon get energy from the grid and motion contracts with renewable energy generators.
There’s a batch of renewable energy successful play here. As portion of its program to chopped emissions and dependence connected Russian fossil fuels, the EU is trying to scope 10 cardinal metric tons of home hydrogen accumulation annually by 2030, on with 10 cardinal much successful imports.
Reaching that home accumulation extremity volition necessitate 500 TWh of renewable electricity. That’s astir 15% of full EU energy consumption.
Because there’s truthful overmuch energy needed to conscionable hydrogen demand, regulators are trying to debar a script wherever hydrogen accumulation conscionable sucks up each the existing renewable capacity.
To combat this, the committee volition necessitate hydrogen producers to adhere to a rule called additionality. Basically, hydrogen producers should beryllium adding caller renewables to the grid, not hogging aged ones. So caller requirements accidental that hydrogen producers indispensable usage renewable vigor projects built precocious (within the past 3 years).
The rules inactive request to beryllium approved, which could instrumentality a fewer months. In the US, akin rules regarding tax credits for hydrogen successful the Inflation Reduction Act are presently being developed by the Biden administration, truthful we should cognize much soon astir what greenish means for that market.
What if hydrogen grew connected trees?
Okay, not trees exactly, but what astir underground? This story, published past week successful Science, digs into the anticipation of people occurring hydrogen.
Hydrogen isn’t thing that’s considered to beryllium wide successful quality (look astatine each those aggravated ways we’ve travel up with to marque it!). But immoderate researchers are starting to alteration their minds astir conscionable however plentiful it mightiness be.
A fewer exploratory wells person turned up beauteous wide streams of hydrogen, and present radical are starting to hunt for reserves crossed Australia, Africa, and Europe. As for wherefore we hadn’t recovered it before, hydrogen wouldn’t hap successful the aforesaid places arsenic lipid and gas, and not galore radical would person gone looking for it successful the past. (Natural hydrogen is sometimes fixed the colour “gold,” by the way.)
The chaotic happening is, this hydrogen mightiness really beryllium a renewable resource. That’s due to the fact that reactions that marque it whitethorn hap people underground erstwhile h2o reacts with rocks. It could beryllium beauteous inexpensive to extract, too. There are a batch of questions near earlier we springiness up our electrolyzers, but it’s truly absorbing to spot the hydrogen rainbow adhd yet different color.
If you’ve had occupation keeping each these colors straight, you’re not alone. At the extremity of the day, the astir important happening to cognize isn’t what nickname is assigned to a peculiar hydrogen source, but what the resulting emissions are. But if you privation a rainbow reference, here’s a chart!
Note that this isn’t a implicit list, and determination whitethorn beryllium alternate definitions for immoderate colors.
Green hydrogen was 1 of our 10 Breakthrough Technologies successful 2021—check retired this feature for much connected what’s astatine involvement and what it volition instrumentality to marque it a reality.
FORD MOTOR COMPANY
Another thing
New batteries are coming to the US. Ford announced past week that it plans to physique a mill successful Michigan that volition nutrient a benignant of lithium-ion artillery made mostly successful China today. These batteries could unlock cheaper, longer-lasting electrical vehicles successful North America. Read my communicative for much connected the exertion and what’s adjacent for this factory.
There person been a batch of shifting dynamics astir this facility, though, and immoderate remaining uncertainty, due to the fact that Ford plans to licence exertion from Chinese artillery elephantine CATL to physique the batteries. In his newsletter this week, my workfellow Zeyi Yang dove into wherefore batteries person gotten truthful politicized recently.
Zeyi besides published a communicative this week astir however China acceptable up its EV manufacture for success, which I highly recommend.
Keeping up with climate
The warfare successful Ukraine began 1 twelvemonth agone this week. Since then, it has transformed Europe’s vigor landscape, speeding advancement successful renewables arsenic countries person worked to chopped their dependence connected Russian fossil fuels. (Bloomberg)
Just however bully is that electrical motortruck for the planet? Depends connected what you’re comparing it to. I liked the visualizations successful this portion showing the dispersed of emissions from antithetic conveyance models. (New York Times)
→ Read past week’s newsletter for much connected monolithic EVs. (MIT Technology Review)
The “15-minute city” is an municipality readying thought centered astir dense communities, which tin assistance chopped emissions and marque beingness a small spot much enjoyable (who wouldn’t caput a shorter commute?). But the conception has morphed into a conspiracy mentation online. (Wired)
Tesla volition unfastened up immoderate of its chargers successful the US to each EV drivers. The determination comes aft a batch of campaigning from the Biden administration. (Washington Post)
→ I talked astir this and different subject quality stories connected Science Friday past week! Check retired the conception for more. (Science Friday)
Cryptocurrency miners are trying to remake their representation to look much climate-friendly. Environmental groups and researchers are rightly skeptical. (Grist)
United Airlines is pouring wealth into caller fuels, launching a $100 cardinal money this week to put successful caller and existing “sustainable aviation fuel” projects. (Canary Media)
→ This isn’t the airline’s archetypal rodeo successful this space: past twelvemonth I wrote astir 1 of its investments, a institution making substance with microbes. (MIT Technology Review)
Production of nickel, a metallic utilized successful EV batteries, doubled betwixt 2020 and 2022 successful Indonesia. The metropolis of Labota is paying the terms with contamination and unsafe conditions for workers. (Wired)
