The global push for net zero carbon emissions is one of humanity's greatest challenges. In this film, the FT's Simon Mundy explores how hydrogen - the lightest, most abundant element in the universe - could play a crucial role. From southern Spain to Swedish Lapland, we meet those at the forefront of this fast-growing space - all seeking a share of the billions to be made in the emerging hydrogen economy
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Our molecule of water is hydrogen and oxygen. With the energy, the green energy, we break the molecule. So we get oxygen in one side and hydrogen in the other side. And we take the energy from the photovoltaic plant, which is actually four or five kilometres away from here in Puertollano. We take it. And we bring it to this building where we have the electrolysis.
Hydrogen is already in widespread use, largely in the fertiliser and petrochemical industries. Currently, nearly all of it is made by breaking apart hydrocarbon fossil fuels, giving hydrogen and carbon dioxide. That gives off about a billion tonnes of carbon dioxide each year, 2 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions. For the moment, the green hydrogen process is more expensive.
But green is just one colour in the hydrogen rainbow. Pink hydrogen also involves electrolysis, with the electricity generated by nuclear plants instead of renewables. Grey hydrogen is produced by splitting apart methane gas to produce hydrogen and carbon dioxide. Black and brown hydrogen are produced in a similar way, using black or brown coal. The blue hydrogen process also breaks up fossil fuels.
HiiROC says its process can offer a useful alternative to green hydrogen. It can be deployed on a small scale and uses less energy per kilogramme of hydrogen produced. And it offers a potential means of using the world's reserves of fossil gas without dangerous emissions of carbon dioxide. As a fund we are involved from the upstream to the downstream. So we are involved into the whole value chain of hydrogen. Upstream, you're dealing with very classic industries which are already using hydrogen and just need to shift from grey to green. So if you find the right schemes with the right policy support you can deliver green hydrogen at a price which is similar to grey. And then you will get a solid return steady.
Europe is a little bit too regulated in the way it processes its knowledge. But the skills are there. The issue is to have a real friendly business market system. And this is where Europe still has a little bit of a way to go. It's a fundamental moment that we're living now. But Europe needs to tackle it very seriously because if not we will lose many energy-intensive industries. And that's going to be a drama.
Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine has highlighted the risks of Europe's reliance on Russian natural gas, giving new impetus to the hydrogen agenda. This transformation that we do here at SSAB, when transforming both Lulea site and... we are actually reducing the Swedish carbon dioxide footprint with 10 per cent.
SSAB's chief technical officer, Martin Pei, says that this process is now at the centre of the company's long-term strategy. It has already made its first shipments of green steel, using iron treated in the Lulea pilot plant to customers, including the automotive company, Volvo. And it plans to start full-scale industrial production in 2026.
Of all the challenges in the push for a greener world economy, cleaning up aviation has long been seen as one of the most fearsomely difficult. But here in the English Cotswolds one start-up is trying to prove that hydrogen can offer a solution. ZeroAvia has developed a system to power planes using hydrogen fuel cells. Fuel cells effectively perform electrolysis in reverse, turning hydrogen and oxygen into water together with electricity that powers a motor.
Hydrogen flight is hardly new. Nearly a century ago hydrogen-powered airships were crossing the Atlantic on a regular basis. But that era came to a fiery end with the Hindenburg disaster of 1937. ZeroAvia says there's no danger of a similar tragedy involving its engines.
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