Humanity has great hopes for hydrogen energy. Most experts claim the energy sector of the future will stand upon it. How justified are these hopes? What is preventing us from switching to hydrogen energy now? What are Azerbaijan’s chances in the field?

Elchin Targuliyev, executive director at EcoEnergy Consulting tried to answer these questions in his interview to AzVision.az.

- When does the history of hydrogen begin? Some experts say the streets of London were lit by gas lamps back in late 18th century, which would imply using hydrogen in a sense…

‘Hydrogen was discovered as an element in around 1776. But we started using it as an energy source only in mid-19th century. Scientists proved that it was possible to obtain energy from it theoretically in 1936, practically in 1945. Different technologies were slowly developed afterwards. The primary question is to whether use hydrogen for heating or electricity. It is a slightly risky element while employed to generate heat. Although the process produces a substantial amount of energy, it burns and exhausts quickly. While obtaining electricity, on the other hand, it does not compound with oxygen and burn quickly, which can be generated into a longer-term electricity.’

- What sources do we currently use to generate hydrogen energy: gas, water, or other natural energy sources?

‘Hydrogen is perhaps one of the most complicated elements to obtain, but it has various methods. It is rarely found in its pure form. There are three primary types: grey, blue and green hydrogen.

Grey hydrogen is extracted from natural gas, while releasing carbon dioxide into the air and capturing the remaining hydrogen. The blue type employs the same technology, with the only difference being the captured carbon. It is injected underground instead. The green hydrogen is the one generated through electrolysis using renewable energy sources.

There are other methods beyond these three and each of them is marked with a different colour. For example, the brown and black is generated from coal, pink from atomic energy, and yellow from the solar thermal energy. The white hydrogen, whereas is the pure hydrogen found in the deep layers of the Earth, which does not have a practical method of extraction yet.’

- One of the main goals of switching to hydrogen energy is to prevent the release of toxic gases into the air. But you are saying that these emissions are the consequence of several of these methods. What is the point of using hydrogen then?

‘If we use hydrogen in its pure form, it will compound with oxygen to produce water. The grey hydrogen generated from coal is simply the most common method we’ve been using. We are using it in heavy industry out of necessity. Producing steel requires hydrogen and the most convenient way to produce hydrogen is the grey type extracted from natural gas. It is both cheaper and easier to produce. Moreover, it covers a certain demand. But if we are going to generate hydrogen as a means to store energy, we must switch to cleaner alternatives, which are the blue and green types. While others are possible theoretically, they are still overcomplicated and pricy to apply in practice.’  

-Can the hydrogen we are producing currently compete with traditional energy carriers in terms of profitability?

‘It cannot. But IRENA (International Renewable Energy Agency) reports that if the field develops at current rate, even the green hydrogen will become competitive by 2030. Its production will cost as much as the renewable energy sources.’

- How much does hydrogen account for in the overall energy consumed internationally and how much can it grow in the future?

‘It is less than 1%. Traditional energy accounts for around 80%, maybe even more, of energy consumed overall. If we consider three largest consumption areas such as heating, transportation and electricity, the number approaches closer to 90%, because almost all vehicles run on petroleum products, or electricity in rare cases. 60% of electricity comes from traditional sources and most of the globe uses natural gas and coal for heating. Nuclear and hydroelectric power plants follow closely behind.’

‘Say we manage to produce large volumes of hydrogen energy tomorrow. How would we transport it and what challenges would we face?

‘Hydrogen energy can be shipped in two forms: gas or liquid. It can be transported through existing conventional pipes as gas. Shipping liquid hydrogen proves a bit harder, because it is obtained at temperatures below minus 200 degrees and requires special cryogenic tankers to be shipped by sea, and sometimes on railroads. This means that liquid hydrogen needs special tankers to be stored at minus 200 degrees or below.’

- So, producing such energy is primarily available for countries with developed high technologies. Which countries can boast of their progress in the field?

‘This field has two branches: potential importers and potential exporters of hydrogen. Potential importers, countries anticipating future need for hydrogen, are developed ones, such as Germany or Japan. These countries have even included hydrogen energy consumption in their legislations and have made their perspective plans a part of the procedure. Then there are the potential exporters who are currently producers of traditional energy. We are one of them.

The Arabian Peninsula countries are investing heavily in hydrogen production. The technology is still quite young, because the concept of green hydrogen appeared some 5-10 years ago and became accentuated as the share of renewable energy started increasing. We hadn’t had a need to store energy before. Small batteries sufficed. Hydroelectric power plants were an excellent alternative to store energy on a large scale. Meanwhile, we must now stabilize the growth of renewable energy, and hydrogen seems the most promising alternative in this direction.’

- What has Azerbaijan achieved in the field and where does our potential stand?

‘Azerbaijan has two options to produce hydrogen energy, to use either renewable energy or natural gas. SOCAR is already researching into producing hydrogen energy from natural gas and delivering it to Europe via the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC).

At the same time, the Ministry of Energy has developed a roadmap to use offshore wind energy, where it reaches large quantities, amounting to gigawatts. Our country has a potential to produce 157 GW. If we are talking about wind farms with gigawatt capacity, they will require a certain method to stabilize the wind energy. We are considering different alternatives and green hydrogen is one of them. The roadmap explores this matter as well. We are also talking to potential investors in terms of both increasing our share in the renewable energy network and transitioning to a cleaner ecology.’

- Are developed countries more inclined to cooperate or compete in the field?

‘We are currently cooperating with many countries and organizations around the world in renewable energy and green hydrogen. These countries are interested in promoting the field, because the climate in Europe is getting harsher. And we, one of the exporters of energy carriers to Europe, albeit not among the largest countries, must meet those conditions. As we are committed to meet the criteria, the corporations there are also interested in such collaboration. If they are not met, they will also have to join the penalty payments, therefore both sides are deeply interested in the issue.’

- Can hydrogen energy replace traditional carriers in terms of global consumption in the long run?

‘I don’t think any one type of energy can be replaced with another in 100% of the cases, neither in the short nor in the long run. Our main goal must be to diversify our energy sources so that if a problem arises with one of them, we can compensate for it at the expense of the others. The overall goal on a global scale is to reduce the share of traditional carriers. But the demand for all of them will remain in certain fields, even for coal. There are locations where we simply cannot physically transport hydrogen gas. We can only use coal or wood energy there. Laying a pipeline or transporting gas or hydrogen to such places will be 5 or 6 times more costly. Therefore, it is impossible to replace any type of energy fully. The world is currently striving to make renewable sources competitive against traditional carriers and have them account for a larger share. Hydrogen energy will play a large role. As renewable energy reaches conventional energy levels, it will require grid stability, which we cannot meet with current battery technology. We need a method to store energy. And hydrogen is just that at the moment.’

Sahil Isgandarov

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