In the context of the EU’s transition towards clean energy, hydrogen is being considered a key resource towards achieving the target for the transport sector. But developing it at the right speed can be difficult.
In the port of Antwerp, Belgium, this hydrogen station is one of less than 1,000 stations in the world. Electric vehicles come here and are filled with hydrogen, which then helps propel them.
The European Commission wants to expand this, increasing supply infrastructure across the continent. But with the current infrastructure, is hydrogen a solution to meeting emissions targets?
“It is part of the solution. We need to invest massively in equipment like solar panels. But the problem is that when you have solar energy, or wind energy, you usually don’t have the same energy consumption. Hydrogen is a perfect way to store energy. When you don’t use it, store it and you can use it when you need it. Hydrogen will undoubtedly be part of new fuels. “Maybe we won’t get everything, but most heavy vehicles will be equipped with hydrogen in the future,” says Roy Campe, technology expert.
Renewable hydrogen, like this station in the port of Antwerp, is produced by electrolysis that uses green electricity to separate water from hydrogen and oxygen. It is then deposited.
Brussels also wants to use hydrogen to reduce emissions in other sectors, such as the production of chemicals, fertilizers and plastics.
But for experts, the production of hydrogen through electrolysis is not feasible on such a large scale.
“The production of hydrogen by electrolysis is complicated and consumes a lot of energy. This is the big difference. We have seen our professors produce it in the classroom and we believe it is a solution. But no, it isn’t. Doing electrolysis with water industrially is complicated, that’s why it didn’t exist. No one is doing it”, says Samuel Furfari, chemical engineer, University of Brussels.
Most hydrogen is produced with polluting means, such as natural gas, which means they emit CO2. This is the reason why the European Commission wants to switch to hydrogen produced through green energy.