Green hydrogen already demonstrates commercial viability in the mobility area

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Mobility and Green Hydrogen – In the early 1900s, the macroeconomic scenario pointed to the direction that the automotive industry would follow without major changes for the next 100 years. The internal combustion engine seemed to guarantee a promising future of mobility, it had the availability of petroleum and it reached a large portion of the population with Henry Ford’s project. 

Over the course of the new millennium, with increasingly clear scientific evidence about the impact of greenhouse gas emissions from these engines on the climate of the planet, the industry had to adjust its course. The path outlined since then relies on green hydrogen to eliminate this source of pollution.

“The new macroeconomic trend focused on climate change has realized that the path is now through hydrogen. It is associated with water, it exists without having to take resources from nature, such as petroleum, it is non-polluting and has been a known technology for at least 30 years”, Camilo Adas, president of SAE Brazil, states in a interview for the Hidrogênio Verde (Green Hydrogen) portal; SAE Brazil is affiliated with an association founded in the United States focused on the creation of regulations and standards in the automotive and aerospace sectors and that, in Brazil, promotes and disseminates technology and the progress of mobility.

Green hydrogen is seen in this area as one of the noblest solutions exactly because it offers several and decentralized solutions. Electrolysis, for example, can be a option where water is plentiful, combined with wind or solar energy. In Brazil, Adas comments, there is also a very promising route: the ethanol one. “Mobility will use this energy in different ways due to the applications. A hydrogen car can have a different generation source than the one for a truck”, he adds.

In Brazil, the advancement of the sector also depends on changes in the Field. Much of what is treated as residue nowadays, such as sugarcane bagasse, has the potential to become an energy source. This biomass could be converted into hydrogen in small, well-distributed plants through reformers that fit inside a container. The technology, by the way, is dominated in the country by Hytron, a startup that was born at Unicamp, State University of Campinas.

In the automobile industry, automakers have increased investments in hydrogen-powered electric versions ( Shutterstock)

In the automotive industry, automakers such as Nissan and Volkswagen have increased investment in the development of hydrogen-powered electric versions. In 2019, the Japanese automaker presented in Tokyo the project for a car that uses ethanol extracted from sugarcane to generate hydrogen for the fuel cell. The project is the result of researches carried out in partnership between Brazilian universities and the company’s engineers in Brazil, United States, China and Japan.

Last April, truck manufacturer Iveco, vehicle manufacturer Nikola and German gas network operator OGE signed an agreement to support the distribution of hydrogen for refueling fuel-cell electric vehicles. Nikola and Iveco are working to build a prototype heavy truck with an electric hydrogen battery, with production planned to start in late 2023. In order for it to be viable, on the other hand, a network of hydrogen fueling stations needs to be structured.

As a big ethanol producer, Brazil would save the costs for creating a similar network. With a wide distribution chain already installed for this biofuel, experts point out that the more than 42 thousand fuel stations wouldn’t need any adaptation.

Around the world, hydrogen production is still accomplished with fossil sources, as the data from the International Energy Agency show. Of the 70 million tons generated per year, 76% come from natural gas and 23% from coal, the so-called gray hydrogen. This source is also the origin of the so-called blue hydrogen – the difference is that the carbon generated in the process is captured to neutralize emissions.

With global warming, caused by the increase of the concentration of greenhouse gases emitted by burning fossil fuels, the quick change to a cleaner energy matrix is urgent, and green hydrogen, obtained by means of renewable sources, has a crucial role.

Did you like to learn more about mobility with green hydrogen? Learn what are the main projects about green hydrogen carried out and in progress in Brazil and worldwide, visit: https://www.h2verdebrasil.com.br/en/projects/