Hydrogen energy in Europe | EnVisioneering Exchange podcast ep. 19

Guest bios

Markus Lempp, Director Public and Industry Affairs, Central Europe, for Danfoss, focuses the bulk of his attention towards building, industrial energy and energy economics. For years, Lempp has dealt with energy economics and future outlooks in energy markets. After studying law at the University of Heidelberg in Germany and practicing Business and International law, Lempp began working with EU institutions in Brussels, eventually becoming the Chairman of the Energy and Industry Committee of European Parliament where he dealt with the green transition and the liberalization of EU energy markets.

Episode summary

Host John Sheff is joined by Markus Lempp, Danfoss Director of Public and Industry Affairs of Central Europe, for a conversation on hydrogen power. Since hydrogen is much more established in Europe than it is in the US, Lempp is able to provide real-world examples of how hydrogen is already being used. Lempp also describes hydrogen fuel cells and what some of the different hydrogen colors mean.

Main points

• Hydrogen fuel cells are better established in the EU than in the US, due in part to EU leadership pushing for renewable energy.
• In 2020, leaders in Brussels created a hydrogen-based strategy to fund projects focused on:
  • 6 GW until 2024
  • 40 GW until 2030
• This strategy is expected to boost annual funding from $2B to $100B by 2030.
  • France has already invested $7B
  • Germany has invested $9B
• While hydrogen is often touted as a green energy, not all hydrogen sources are created equal.
  • In the US, it is not uncommon to use natural gas to create “gray” hydrogen.
    • In these instances, hydrogen is separated from carbon dioxide, which is then released in to the environment.
    • It is important to note that even hydrogen sourced from natural gas will have a much lower GWP than, for example, a traditional internal combustion engine.
  • “Blue” hydrogen is created in the same way as the gray variety, except the CO2 is captured and stored for later use.
  • Alternatively, “green” hydrogen is produced with water, electrolytes, and electricity, with zero greenhouse emissions.
    • As long as the electricity comes from green sources, the hydrogen fuel cell connected to it will be 100% green.
• One challenge that hydrogen has faced for many years is that creating green hydrogen has traditionally been an energy intensive process.
• However, over the last several years, the technology has come a long way in that regard.
• While hydrogen is often thought of as a renewable fuel for transportation, it is also a great form of energy storage.
  • For this reason, hydrogen can be thought of as a transition on the path towards electrification.
• The EU has used hydrogen to decarbonize steel manufacturing and is in the process of decarbonizing aviation.
• The introduction of hydrogen on the market increased the interest in renewables, setting off new investment capacities.
• For example, Denmark produces 60% of its electricity through wind power. Hydrogen cells play an important role by providing electricity storage.
• Because hydrogen can store electricity, it provides an opportunity to more easily transport power. Where power plants are typically confined by how far power lines can stretch, hydrogen can allow for power to move much more unencumbered.
• One challenge that needs to be overcome before hydrogen can be truly viable, an infrastructure needs to be established.
  • The hydrogen cells need to be geographically located near their associated power plant and should have a means to transport them.
• Denmark is building an artificial island about 50 miles to the north, where the world’s largest wind farm will be built.
  • The proposed farm would produce 10 GW of electricity, enough to power 10 million homes.
• Part of the generated electricity will be used to power hydrogen cells, both to be used as storage and to fuel ships on their way to Asia.
• This is one of the largest infrastructure initiatives in Europe, requiring $34B to complete.
• While this is quite a substantial investment, hydrogen infrastructure investments need to be on the larger side for the economics to make sense.
• Based on current EU plans, 6% of electricity produced in 2030 will be for hydrogen, with 25% by 2050.
  • This shows that the future energy will be from a combination of sources.

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