Reaching CO2 emissions neutrality by the middle of the century will require a rethink of entire sectors of society. And hydrogen is the vector that could make one of the greatest contributions.
When people think of hydrogen, the most natural association is with mobility. For years, research has been working on the development of fuel cell technology to power cars. Vehicles that emit nothing but water vapour from the exhaust, achieving a drastic reduction in pollutants such as NOx and SO2, as well as greenhouse gases such as CO2. But while the uptake of hydrogen-powered vehicles has gone through a period of stagnation, few people know that there are already entire industrial sectors that use this energy vector to power engines, store energy and supply gas to homes.
This is what is also defined as the "hydrogen society" — one in which this energy vector, when produced from renewable sources or from processes with low carbon emissions (low carbon hydrogen), is used to begin decarbonising society and thereby achieve net-zero emissions, at least by the middle of this century. It is one of the commitments made by the United Kingdom, which, in June of this year and among the first countries in the world to do so, enacted a law requiring the nation to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, becoming one of the largest global economies not to contribute to climate change.
To achieve this, investment is needed in three key sectors: energy, industry and transport. It is precisely in this last sector that hydrogen has the greatest potential for development. This is demonstrated by London itself, with the recent commitment by Mayor Sadiq Khan to bring the city to net-zero CO2 emissions, also by 2050.
As far back as the early 2000s, the United Kingdom placed its bets on hydrogen, and today it can pride itself on being, alongside Germany, Japan and California, among the leading countries in the use of this vector. This is thanks in part to companies such as Johnson Matthey, known in the market for the production of catalysts and components for use in fuel cells. Its plant in Swindon, roughly two hours from London, was in fact the world's first facility to produce membrane electrodes, the key components at the heart of fuel cell technology. Beyond the United Kingdom, their main markets are the United States and China.
It is the industrial world, however, that is watching hydrogen most closely. With the HyNet project, which is set to be developed in the area around Liverpool, a true hydrogen hub will be created. From here, hydrogen will be fed into the existing network to supply refuelling stations, trains and homes. Production will take place from natural gas, and to reduce the CO2 emissions arising from its conversion into hydrogen, what will become the United Kingdom's first Ccus (Carbon capture utilisation and storage) infrastructure will be developed. In practice, the surplus emissions produced by the use of gas are captured and stored, without being released into the atmosphere. This is a technology still in its infancy, with many unanswered questions, but one that, according to the International Energy Agency itself, could help reduce emissions by 7 per cent in order to meet the 2040 targets.
But it is the transport sector that is already ready for the hydrogen revolution. Toyota has placed a strong bet on this technology, and while globally it already has more than 9,000 Mirai on the market today, according to Taiyo Kawai, project general manager at Toyota Motor Company, forecasts show that from next year mass production of the first fuel cell car with a range of 500 kilometres and a refuelling time of just three minutes will be under way.
Indeed, this is one of hydrogen's advantages. Refuelling works exactly like LPG pumps, where the user fills up the vehicle themselves. Waiting times are minimal and a full tank costs around 40 euros (approximately 35 pounds). The UK's refuelling network currently has 65 stations, spread mainly across the London metropolitan area, but it "will grow to over a thousand units and will be spread across the entire country" by 2020, says Dennis Hayter, vice president of Intelligent Energy, a British consultancy.
The sector that has received the greatest impetus is public transport and heavy goods transport. Within the UkH2Mobility project, all the major players in this industry — from hydrogen producers and suppliers to car manufacturers and government departments — have developed a roadmap to bring a fleet of 1.6 million vehicles onto UK roads. These include buses, trains and heavy goods vehicles that will be powered by hydrogen. Forecasts already see hydrogen as competitive with fossil fuels by 2030, but with CO2 emission levels 60–75 per cent lower. This demonstrates that hydrogen remains one of the tools that could be deployed to achieve CO2 emissions neutrality and to decarbonise the economy, contributing in part to meeting the climate challenge.