In focus: Bridging the gaps in hydrogen technologies

In addition to the fossil fuels sector and its efforts to switch to sustainable ways of doing business, a collection of energy transition-related updates across several industry sectors was focused heavily this week on hydrogen, its production and relationship with shipping and offshore wind sectors, and its role in achieving net-zero goals.

The fossil fuels industry has a major role to play in the energy transition, but it still remains to be seen whether the industry will take the bull by its horns and lead the way in new projects and technologies that will enable the path to net-zero.

So far, we have witnessed many global oil and gas players pledging to become net-zero companies by 2050 and Australia’s Carnarvon Petroleum has now also joined the club as it is working to develop its roadmap to a lower-carbon economy.

While it is aware of challenges related to reducing and offsetting emissions from the oil and gas operations and the opportunities that the transition presents, Carnarvon expressed its support towards the commitments of the Paris Agreement and the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

What that means in practice is that the Australian company will be working with its partners on projects like Dorado and Buffalo to reduce emissions as the projects mature and will also seek to diversify its portfolio over time into lower carbon-intensive assets.

The fossil fuels sector has long been the target of environmental attacks but, driven by recent global market changes and energy transition, the sector is now shifting its focus and pushing for the abandonment of old business practices.

A call to abandon the reliance on fossil energies and accelerate the expansion of renewables has recently been made by an environmental alliance, rising against Canada’s and Germany’s LNG projects.

A Trans-Atlantic alliance formed of 22 German and 18 Canadian organizations demands the immediate shutdown of the GNL Québec project in Canada and the Stade LNG in Germany. The coalition of environmental organizations sees this partnership between the two potential projects as a “major hindrance to the energy transition”, a “climate bomb” and a “national and international disgrace” for the governments.

The Canadian groups said: “Exporting this LNG would slow the energetic transition in Europe and, as we know, the climate crisis is an international problem and knows no frontier: we would collectively have to face the consequences of these potentially devastating projects”.

On the other hand, a biomethane liquified natural gas (BioLNG), a low-carbon alternative fuel for shipping, is getting a push in France as French liner CMA CGM teamed up with EveRé, Elengy, and TotalEnergies to study the feasibility of creating France’s first production unit for BioLNG.

BioLNG would be produced by converting the biodegradable part of household waste from the Marseille Provence region and used to decarbonize shipping services departing from the Grand Port Maritime in Marseille. It would be used primarily for CMA CGM’s LNG-powered vessels.

Efforts to reduce the environmental impact of transportation and logistics come into play with these types of projects as BioLNG, combined with the dual-fuel gas engine technology developed by CMA CGM, is claimed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 67 per cent relative to well-to-wake VLSFO.

A demonstration of strong ties between the clean fuel and shipping sectors comes from the U.S. as its Department of Energy (DOE) will grant $52.5 million to projects of next-generation clean hydrogen technologies.

The funding will be provided for 31 projects, which will focus on bridging technical gaps in hydrogen production, storage, distribution, and utilisation technologies, including fuel cells.

Next-generation hydrogen technologies, including fuel cells, are considered critical to addressing the climate crisis and developing new industries in the U.S.

“Clean hydrogen is a flexible low-emissions fuel with countless applications across every sector of our economy. It will be vital to achieving clean energy targets, especially in some of the hardest-to-clean sectors of the American economy”, said U.S. representative, Paul D. Tonko.

The marine energy sector will also benefit from new funding in the U.S. following the government’s decision to make available up to $27 million for research and development projects to convert energy from ocean waves into carbon-free electricity.

The funding opportunity aims to advance wave energy technologies toward commercial viability and supports the Biden-Harris Administration’s efforts to build a clean energy economy that will create jobs and reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Jennifer M. Granholm, secretary of energy at U.S. DOE, said: “With wave energy, we have the opportunity to add more renewable power to the grid and deploy more sustainable energy to hard to reach communities. DOE’s investments in America’s businesses and universities developing these new technologies will propel our clean energy future”.

Back to hydrogen, whose benefits did not escape the eyes of South Korea either as its Hyundai Motor has launched a project for hydrogen fuel cell-propelled ships. Together with Hyundai Global Service and Korean Register as partners, Hyundai Motor will commercialize a small-sized model vessel in the second half of 2022 and larger systems in the future, hoping to usher in a new era of greener and cleaner shipping.

Meanwhile, over in Ireland, a new project aiming to advance the development of green hydrogen production powered by offshore wind has been launched. The project will look to position green hydrogen as the means of providing energy more efficiently by bringing the electricity network and gas network together to make optimal use of Ireland’s offshore wind resources.

The project goals are cost-reduction measures for large-scale hydrogen production from offshore wind farms, concepts for scalable offshore wind – hydrogen hubs, procedures for hydrogen safety, the customer value chain, and policy recommendations.

The subsea services sector is now diving deep into the offshore wind-related business as a major subsea services player, Subsea 7, has made a move to combine its Renewables business unit with Norway’s OHT ASA. The deal will create Seaway 7, a listed, pure-play renewables company headquartered in Oslo with a focus on offshore fixed wind.

Another highlight from the subsea sector includes the arrival of Saildrone’s new renewables-powered uncrewed surface vehicle (USV), Saildrone Surveyor, to Hawaii after completing its maiden voyage from San Francisco to Honolulu.

The 22-meter long USV uses wind and solar energy as its primary power source and carries sonar equipment capable of seafloor mapping down to 7,000 metres. Saildrone will now focus on building a fleet of Surveyors at U.S. shipyards to map Earth’s oceans in the next 10 years.