Green Hydrogen: A Bet or a Challenge for Energy Consumption?

Ecological transition

The use of alternate sustainable fuels has been a subject for debate for decades in the energy sector; without a doubt, the most exciting prospect is hydrogen. However, there are a lot of challenges to be handled, with high production costs but huge prospects in terms of sustainability.

The symbol of green hydrogen [Image] - L'Economiste

The concept of using hydrogen as an energy source is not new, but the production process is difficult to implement . Technical issues, such as safety and high production costs, as well as environmental impact, have frequently stymied development. In fact, despite its abundance in the cosmos, hydrogen is not always easy to locate in pure form, and hence must be extracted and stored using processes that define prices and sustainability. It's also worth noting that hydrogen takes on varied colours depending on where it comes from:

1. Grey hydrogen is extracted from coal or natural gas, and while its extraction costs are lower, the pollutant charge is unquestionably larger, so even if it is the most economically viable form, it is undeniably not environmentally sustainable.

2. Blue hydrogen, as a result of this extraction method, has the unique property of retaining carbon rather than dispersing it into the atmosphere, making it more environmentally friendly but slightly more expensive to extract.

3. Green hydrogen is the most environmentally friendly. It is distinguished by a completely distinct extraction process based on water electrolysis. It a very complex approach that splits water into oxygen and hydrogen with a lot of energy. However, if it is derived from renewable resources, the carbon footprint is nearly negligible.

Green hydrogen is currently a niche product due to two specific factors limiting its development. The first is the requirement for huge amounts of energy to be derived from renewable sources. Although the energy revolution is already underway, current renewable energy sources are unable to provide the required amount of electricity. The second impediment is that green hydrogen production costs are twice as high as blue hydrogen production prices.