Study blue hydrogen + + + TUM coordinates future laboratory for green hydrogen + + + Graichen becomes State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Economics + + + DFG initiative for the production of green hydrogen + + + Events
A selection of PtX topics summarized at the end of the week
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An international group of researchers led by Paul Scherrer Institute PSI and that Heriot-Watt University have analyzed the climate impacts of blue hydrogen. This is obtained from natural gas. The Study shows that blue hydrogen can play a positive role in the energy transition “under certain conditions”.
Like gray hydrogen, blue hydrogen is made from natural gas by heating it and then splitting it into hydrogen and carbon dioxide using steam reforming. However, the carbon dioxide is not allowed to escape into the atmosphere, but rather a part of it is captured and permanently stored underground (Carbon Capture and Storage, CCS).
The researchers have ETH Zurich can simulate CO2 capture. Accordingly, the ecological balance depends very much on how much methane is lost on the way from the extraction of natural gas to the production of hydrogen and how effective the CO2 capture is in natural gas reforming. The background to the analysis is a study by US researchers which came to the conclusion that, despite CCS, blue hydrogen for heat generation is not better for the climate, but is actually a good 20 percent worse than natural gas, which is used directly as an energy source.
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The Technical University of Munich (TUM) coordinates an international Future laboratory with researchers from 13 countries. Together they want to lay “the foundation for a future hydrogen-based circular economy”. High-temperature electrolysis, innovative gasification processes and the synthesis of basic chemicals and energy sources are being investigated. The Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) is funding the project called “Redefine H2E” with five million euros over three years. The acronym stands for “Renewable Electricity Dispatch and Expendable Feedstock-Integrated Net-Zero-Emission Hydrogen Economy.”
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Patrick Graichen, Executive Director of the Berlin think tank Agora energy transition, becomes State Secretary in Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection and is responsible for the implementation of climate and energy policy. Graichen co-founded Agora Energiewende in 2012 and has served as executive director and managing director since 2014. Before Graichen came to Agora Energiewende, he worked at the Federal Environment Ministry from 2001 to 2012.
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The German Research Foundation (DFG) is funding with its French partner organization “Agence Nationale de la recherche” (ANR) at the University of Paderborn a Project for the production of green hydrogen. With funding of almost one million euros, new compounds are to be developed that combine the use of sunlight with the production of hydrogen. The scientists rely on materials that do not contain expensive and difficult-to-obtain precious metals. Instead, only iron and cobalt, which are available in large quantities on Earth, are used. In addition to the established electrolysis processes, the direct conversion of sunlight into hydrogen is another route that needs to be further expanded.
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Photos
iStock / © aryos
