Green and Sustainable Hydrogen in Emerging European Smart Energy Framework

Abstract

Green and sustainable hydrogen has a major role in moving towards decarbonization of energy, providing viable solutions in all most challenging sectors of the national economies. It would penetrate practically all sectors of economic activity, such as long-haul transport, steel and chemical industries, power generation and energy storage. Green and sustainable hydrogen cost competitiveness is also closely linked to developments of large-scale renewable energy sources (in case of green hydrogen; hereinafter – RES) and further commercialization of carbon dioxide (in case of sustainable hydrogen produced from natural gas; hereinafter – CO2) capture and storage (hereinafter – CCS) technologies. In the European Union (hereinafter – EU), sustainable and especially green hydrogen is gaining strong political and business momentum, emerging as one of major components in governments’ net zero plans within the European Green Deal and beyond. Being extremely versatile both in production and consumption sides, it is light, storable, has high energy content per unit mass and can be readily produced at an industrial scale. The key challenge comes from the fact that hydrogen is the lightest known chemical element and so has a low energy density per unit of volume, making some forms of long-distance transportation and storage complex and costly. In this paper, green and sustainable hydrogen is reviewed as a vital part of emerging European smart energy framework, which could contribute significantly to economy decarbonization agenda of the EU and Latvia in both in short- and mid-term perspective.

An Overview of the Arguments in Literature, For and Against the Use of Green Hydrogen for the Production of Direct Reduced Iron

“…However, the use of green hydrogen as a clean and sustainable alternative could transform the DRI production landscape. If green hydrogen costs can reach a level where they are competitive with fossil fuels, it would incentivise DRI producers to transition towards greener production methods, thereby reducing their carbon footprint and contributing to global efforts to combat climate change [20].…”

Efficient Heat Recovery from Hydrogen and Natural Gas Blend Combustion Products

“…The methane-hydrogen blend combustion can be represented by following chemical equation with an aim to establish mass and heat balance for reaction on base of kilomole (1) Partial water pressure and respectively dew point temperature can be evaluated as (2) For a hydrogen and natural gas blend combustion product (dry) kmol number,…”

“…Use of hydrogen in the energy sector has a long history, which begun with the first internal combustion engines over two centuries ago. Currently, it forms an integral part of the modern chemical and refining industry [1].…”

Blending Hydrogen With Natural Gas/Biomethane and Transportation in Existing Gas Networks

“…Preliminary studies carried out by the European Network of transmission system operators for gas (ENTSOG) and other organisations have shown that the transport of a natural gas and hydrogen blend is possible without modification of the pipeline, provided that the mass of hydrogen in the gas remains sufficiently low. According to one of the reports, it is possible to introduce up to 2 % of hydrogen "by default" into the gas supply system without making complete technical improvements [16]. Higher hydrogen concentrations, regardless of the network pressure regime, may require some infrastructure adjustments.…”