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Charley Rattan's picture
World Hydrogen Leader , Charley Rattan Associates

UK based offshore wind & hydrogen corporate advisor and trainer; Faculty member World Hydrogen Leaders. Delivering global hydrogen and offshore wind corporate investment advice, business...

  • Member since 2019
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  • Oct 29, 2020
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Bob Meinetz's picture
Bob Meinetz on Oct 29, 2020

A "dark green hydrogen cloud"? Doesn't look like green hydrogen is hindering the brown variety a bit in England, Charley - in recent years it appears to be functioning as a marketing ruse for selling the dark brown variety (they're both colorless):

Natural gas consumption in the United Kingdom (UK) from 2003 to 2019 (in exajoules) 

After it's turned around the slide of natgas in the UK, why wouldn't US natgas marketers follow suit?

Matt Chester's picture
Matt Chester on Oct 29, 2020

Coincidentally or not, last week the US Department of Energy also launched a new 5-year, $100 million R&D initiative aimed at pushing down costs for fuel cells and green hydrogen.

That follows a newly announced hydrogen partnership between the US and The Netherlands, where policy makers are looking at green hydrogen as a means of developing the country’s considerable offshore wind resources.

This part is pretty telling-- that's a big investment and a vote of confidence from DOE that we still have much to learn and great value to get out of these technologies. And I'm glad to see that it's coming on the heels of international collaboration on it, as well. More can be accomplished in the industry when we're talking it in concert rather than purely in competition. 

Bob Meinetz's picture
Bob Meinetz on Oct 29, 2020

Look to the source, Matt, for where the money is going:

"One consortium will conduct R&D to achieve large-scale, affordable electrolyzers, which use electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen, and can be powered by various energy sources, including natural gas, nuclear, and renewables. This R&D will complement and help support large industry deployment by enabling more durable, efficient, and low-cost electrolyzers.

The other consortium will conduct R&D to accelerate development of fuel cells for heavy-duty vehicle applications, including long-haul trucks. This initiative will set a five-year goal to prove the ability to have a fully competitive heavy-duty fuel cell truck that can meet all of the durability, cost, and performance requirements of the trucking industry."

Consortium #1: Burning natural gas, to split water, to make hydrogen has to be the least-efficient, most-climate-damaging way to make hydrogen of all, even worse than steam-reforming methane. And it's no mistake natural gas is #1 on the list.

Consortium #2:  Not a word about whether heavy-vehicle applications will be powered by green or brown hydrogen. If by hydrogen, again, it would be far more efficient and cleaner to power trucks with natural gas fuel cells.

That oil majors are able to get funding for exploring even less-efficient, dirtier ways to use fossil fuel borders on criminal.

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