David
03-21-2024, 05:02 PM
There was an article in the business section of my newspaper yesterday about why selling hydrogen to the world will not work for Canada. There is some thought that with abundant hydro electric power, Canada could make hydrogen and sell it to the energy hungry Europeans.
"Green hydrogen, the only near-zero-emission form of hydrogen and the one that is sought by countries such as Germany, takes vast amounts of renewable electricity in the form of wind or solar power to produce. As a result, it costs four to six times the price of natural gas. Europe isn’t interested in the majority of Canada’s current higher-emission hydrogen production, made from fossil fuels with partial carbon capture..."
"In fact, no hydrogen export industry exists anywhere in the world in 2024, despite a long list of trade deals, and large-scale transport of hydrogen has yet to become a reality. Moving hydrogen across long distances involves huge energy losses, as simply liquefying it for transport consumes as much as 30 per cent of its energy, while transport involves further daily losses. Even if industry turns to shipping hydrogen as ammonia, the crux of the issue remains. If Canadian ammonia were to be used to make electricity at a final destination in Europe, just 23 per cent of the original energy input would remain at the end of the process. This is a highly unalluring deal European partners are unlikely to entertain long term."
Reading it reminding me of an Engineering Explained video about a dual fuel BMW that ran on gasoline and hydrogen. The hydrogen was stored as a liquid to try to overcome the lack of density of compressed gas hydrogen. EE is also not bullish on hydrogen. Some of the highlights about the dual fuel vehicle:
• A lot slower on hydrogen
• In this vehicle, the hydrogen port injected as gas. This displaced 30% of volume in cylinder, leaving less room for air, therefore less power
• Liquid hydrogen at -253C warms quickly and start to evaporate
• Starts to vent after 17 hours
• Storing ˝ tank will be down to 12 miles range in 9 days
• Full tank will empty in 10-12 days
The vehicle could only be stored outdoors as hydrogen venting into your garage is not the safest thing.
"Green hydrogen, the only near-zero-emission form of hydrogen and the one that is sought by countries such as Germany, takes vast amounts of renewable electricity in the form of wind or solar power to produce. As a result, it costs four to six times the price of natural gas. Europe isn’t interested in the majority of Canada’s current higher-emission hydrogen production, made from fossil fuels with partial carbon capture..."
"In fact, no hydrogen export industry exists anywhere in the world in 2024, despite a long list of trade deals, and large-scale transport of hydrogen has yet to become a reality. Moving hydrogen across long distances involves huge energy losses, as simply liquefying it for transport consumes as much as 30 per cent of its energy, while transport involves further daily losses. Even if industry turns to shipping hydrogen as ammonia, the crux of the issue remains. If Canadian ammonia were to be used to make electricity at a final destination in Europe, just 23 per cent of the original energy input would remain at the end of the process. This is a highly unalluring deal European partners are unlikely to entertain long term."
Reading it reminding me of an Engineering Explained video about a dual fuel BMW that ran on gasoline and hydrogen. The hydrogen was stored as a liquid to try to overcome the lack of density of compressed gas hydrogen. EE is also not bullish on hydrogen. Some of the highlights about the dual fuel vehicle:
• A lot slower on hydrogen
• In this vehicle, the hydrogen port injected as gas. This displaced 30% of volume in cylinder, leaving less room for air, therefore less power
• Liquid hydrogen at -253C warms quickly and start to evaporate
• Starts to vent after 17 hours
• Storing ˝ tank will be down to 12 miles range in 9 days
• Full tank will empty in 10-12 days
The vehicle could only be stored outdoors as hydrogen venting into your garage is not the safest thing.