Why Hydrogen?
The urgency of climate change makes finding and using effective low-carbon energy solutions crucial. And while renewables are important, their intermittency presents a challenge. Low-carbon hydrogen really is the fuel of the future; it’s a versatile, safe and clean energy carrier that’s capable of revolutionising how we power our world.
Key benefits of low-carbon hydrogen
Longer journeys
Hydrogen can be stored in a tank on vehicles for use in a fuel cell or hydrogen combustion engine, allowing much longer range than electrical vehicles. This makes hydrogen fuel cells well suited to use in buses and HGVs where battery solutions are unable to achieve the mileage that the routes demand.
Versatile
Low-carbon hydrogen can decarbonise sectors that are challenging to electrify, including:
- Shipping and aviation.
- Industrial Processes: High-temperature industrial heat, chemicals, steel, and ammonia production.
- Power Generation: Providing flexible and resilient power to the grid.
- Heating: Blending into existing gas networks or 100% hydrogen heating solutions in the future.
Hygen’s role in the hydrogen economy
Hygen is dedicated to unlocking the full potential of low-carbon hydrogen. By developing and deploying large-scale production facilities, we are building the foundational infrastructure necessary to make this transformative energy source accessible and affordable, driving a cleaner, more sustainable future for generations to come.
Frequently asked questions
Hydrogen allows you to maximise the use of electricity, renewables are intermittent and do not tend to line up with the time where demand is highest. Hydrogen allows renewables to be used and then the power used later – it’s a way of storing electricity.
There are some use cases where batteries are not ideal – these tend to be long distance journeys and where there is not time for long recharging. Examples of these are buses and machines on construction sites or quarries so hydrogen is a good use case here.
Hydrogen can also be transported around to be used in areas where there is not a large capacity for new electricity connection which would make batteries hard to recharge.
Government analysis suggests that 20-35% of the UK’s energy consumption by 2050 could be hydrogen-based, supporting the country to meet its targets of net zero emissions by 2050 and cutting emissions by 78% by 2035 – a view endorsed by the UK’s independent Climate Change Committee *. Hydrogen will significantly assist by:
Decarbonising transport sector such as buses and possibly HGVs.
Decarbonising the heating system with blending on the network.
Maximising the use of renewables so there is no curtailed output, and all renewables are converted into energy that can be used to decarbonise the UK. *www.gov.uk
The hydrogen revolution brings with it significant supply chain and employment benefits throughout the whole planning, development, construction and operational cycle of a project’s life. In 2021 the UK Government announced plans to kick start world-leading hydrogen economy, supporting over 9,000 UK jobs and unlocking £4 billion investment by 2030.
We make low-carbon hydrogen using electrolysis, where electricity splits water into hydrogen and oxygen inside an electrolyser. The system uses positively and negatively charged electrodes separated by a membrane, allowing hydrogen to be collected at the cathode while oxygen is safely released to the atmosphere. The hydrogen can then be stored as a compressed gas, liquefied, or converted into ammonia, depending on end-use requirements.
Hydrogen is a class 2.1 gas and does have an explosion risk. However, it has been handled and produced for many years and there are numerous safety measures put in place to ensure that any risk is low and if any failures do occur that all locals and personnel are kept safe.
Hydrogen plants have some equipment that emits sound such as transformers and compressors, however they will not exceed noise level restrictions. Any equipment that could affect residents will be protected with acoustic barriers to limit noise levels in the surrounding area.
Hydrogen is a non-toxic fuel and does not pose a health risk. The by-product in the production of hydrogen is oxygen which is released to atmosphere and wastewater that is not used in the process which can be returned to the local wastewater system. When used as a fuel the cell releases water which is a reduction in harmful emissions compared to a diesel bus.
