The Green Hydrogen Solution

‘Greener-than-green hydrogen to be produced at same cost as grey H2 at world’s largest facility’; US start-up's plasma-enhanced gasification plant, due to be completed in 2022, could be a major breakthrough for the much-needed zero-carbon fuel

Leigh Collins 21 May 2020 (ReCharge)

“Greener-than-green hydrogen” costing the same as grey H2 from unabated fossil fuels is set to be produced at a record-breaking facility in California by the end of 2022, in what could be a game changer for the rapidly developing sector…Washington DC-based start-up SGH2 — emerging from stealth mode today ¬— says its method of extracting hydrogen from waste, using plasma torches, will produce H2 at $2 per kilogram — five to six times cheaper than standard green hydrogen from renewables and at the same cost as the cheapest grey hydrogen available today…SGH2 describes its hydrogen as “greener than green” as it uses biomass-based waste that would otherwise rot in landfills and emit methane, a greenhouse gas 84 times more potent than CO2 over a 20-year period…This claim is slightly contentious as several larger green hydrogen projects have been announced…

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Because clean hydrogen is not being produced anywhere at scale, and the price of electricity and natural gas is so variable, it is hard to put a figure on how much it costs to produce — either via renewables (by splitting water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen using an electric current), known as green hydrogen, or via natural gas with its emissions captured and stored (or used), which is referred to as blue hydrogen…[Calculations from engineer Fluor put] the cost of electrolytic green hydrogen at $10-13 per kg, grey hydrogen (from unabated fossil fuels) at $2-6/kg, and blue hydrogen at $6-10/kg…Trade body Hydrogen Europe says green hydrogen from wind or solar power costs about $11-16 per kg today, although it adds that this cost could halve by 2023-25…[The International Energy Agency puts] the cost of grey hydrogen at “generally around” $1.50-3 per kg, and as low as $1/kg in the Middle East, with blue hydrogen at $1.40-1.50 “in the most promising regions” and green hydrogen from PV or onshore wind “generally around” $2.50-6.00 per kg…” click here for more

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