Green hydrogen is being praised as a sustainable energy source that will be a viable option in the future. However, the gas itself is not visible and therefore why are there numerous vibrant descriptions made in describing it?
It all boils down to how it is created. Hydrogen is a water-based gas that emits when it is burnt. However, its creation can be carbon-intensive.
Therefore, various methods to reduce the impact of this have been devised and scientists assign different colours to different kinds of substances to help distinguish them.
According to the methods of production depending on the method of production, hydrogen may be blue, grey or green. Sometimes even yellow, pink or turquoise. However, names can differ between countries and in the course of.
However, green hydrogen is the sole type made in a manner that is climate neutral which means it can play an crucial part in the global effort towards lower emissions until net zero by 2050..
Hydrogen is the element with the highest concentration
Hydrogen is one of the the simplest and most abundant element found in our universe. On Earth however it’s not often found in the form of a gas, so it has to be separate apart from the other elements.
The white hydrogen is the naturally-occurring variant that can be located underground, but there aren’t many viable methods to extract this, so experts prefer to create it in a controlled manner.
Hydrogen is the element with the highest concentration
Hydrogen is one of the the simplest and most abundant element found in all of the Universe. On Earth However it is not a common element in the form of a gas, so it must be separate by other elements.
White hydrogen can be described as a natural variant that can be discovered underground, however there aren’t any viable ways to extract this, so experts prefer to create it in a controlled manner.
Hydrogen is produced by various sources, like fossil fuels and biomass, nuclear energy, as well as renewable sources of energy. It is produced by several methods.
The gas produced is able to be used to burn or as a vehicle to supply energy. In the case of renewable energy sources, it could be an environmentally friendly alternative to fossil fuels.
Grey, brown, and black hydrogen
Grey hydrogen is by far the most popular type and is made by natural gas, or methane, by the process known as “steam reforming”.
This process produces less emissions than the black or brown hydrogen, which utilizes the black (bituminous) as well as brown (lignite) coal for making hydrogen.
Brown or black hydrogen is the most harmful to the environment because both carbon monoxide and CO2 that are produced by the process can’t be recovered.
Blue hydrogen
Hydrogen is colored blue when the steam-generated carbon reforming is stored underground by industry-wide carbon capture and storage (CSS).
Blue hydrogen is, as such often called carbon-neutral since the emissions aren’t dispersed into the atmosphere.
However, there are those who claim it is “low carbon” is an accurate term, because 10% to 20% of carbon that is generated cannot be taken into account.
Green hydrogen
Green hydrogen, often known as “clean hydrogen” is created by utilizing clean energy generated from renewable sources of energy like wind or solar power. This allows water to be split in two hydrogen atoms and an oxygen atom by an electrolysis process.
Renewable energy is not always able to generate energy throughout the day, and green hydrogen production may help in utilizing the excess energy produced in peak periods.
It’s currently around 0.1 percent of total hydrogen production However, it is predicted to increase since the cost in renewable sources continues to decrease.
A lot of sectors are now seeing “green hydrogen” as being the most efficient method to balance the intermittent nature of renewable energy and storing energy surplus in periods of low demand to be fed back into grid when demand grows and decreasing the carbon footprint of industrial, chemical and transportation sectors.
Other colors of hydrogen
Turquoise hydrogen is the process of making the element using methane pyrolysis. This process produces solid carbon.
Therefore, there is no need for CCS , and carbon could be utilized for other purposes, like the production of tyres or as a soil improvement.
The production process is in the testing stage.
Pink hydrogen is another option. Similar to green hydrogen, it’s produced by electrolysis of water. However, pink hydrogen is powered by nuclear energy , not renewable sources.
The extremely high temperatures generated by nuclear reactors can be utilized in different methods of hydrogen production, such as creating steam to facilitate electrolysis, like.
Yellow hydrogen is the name that refers to hydrogen created by electrolysis of water with solar energy, though certain people use it to refer to hydrogen created by electrolysis of water with mixed sources based on what’s available.
Hydrogen could also be made by biomass, and, based on the kind of biomass used and the CCS technology employed will have lower carbon emissions net than gray or black hydrogen.
The future’s fuel
The International Energy Agency (IEA) affirms that hydrogen can play a significant role in our future clean energy.
It also notes that in order for it to be a significant contributor to the energy transition hydrogen must be utilized in areas that are largely devoid of it such as transportation, building construction or power generation.
At present, clean hydrogen isn’t scaling up fast enough to fulfill its potential, partly because of challenges such as COVID-19, as well as the low fossil fuel prices as well as CO2 prices.
The World Economic Forum has launched the Accelerating Clean Hydrogen Initiative, as part of its Climate Action Platform, Shaping the Future of Energy, Materials and Infrastructure in order to discover ways to accelerate the adoption of this technology.
