Addressing the need to scale hydrogen solutions

As governments world-wide, including the United States, invest billions of dollars in clean hydrogen production and applications to reduce emissions, it’s crucial to consider the broader context and the specific decarbonisation challenges that hydrogen projects are designed to address.

Hydrogen is poised to play an important role in reducing emissions in hard-to-abate sectors like aviation and shipping, and clean hydrogen can substitute fuel gas in many industrial processes. In a recent Gastech hydrogen leadership roundtable, industry leaders and subject matter experts discussed global opportunities and lessons learned from the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act. We reviewed our progress to date and identified key steps to scale and successfully commercialise solutions.

Profitability cannot rely on policy

Technically, clean hydrogen projects are feasible; the real challenge lies in achieving a schedule and price point that the market can support. Several solutions hold significant promise for meeting hydrogen demand in a commercially feasible way.

Sustainable aviation fuels (SAF), of which hydrogen is a key component, are made from renewable biomass and waste resources and have the potential to deliver the performance of petroleum-based jet fuel at a fraction of the carbon footprint. Since electrification does not have a practical application in aviation, there are not many other options for decarbonising the airline industry outside of fuel switching.

E-methanol, which is produced by combining clean hydrogen and captured carbon dioxide, is a synthetic fuel that could help the shipping industry reduce its carbon footprint. Similar to aviation, large cargo ships, given their size and mobility, are difficult to decarbonise with electrification or carbon capture, so fuel switching is pursued to reduce their emissions. E-methanol is considered an easier drop-in fuel than LNG or ammonia.

The challenge with e-methanol is the cost, however many shipping companies looking to transport goods into Europe are now facing the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), which imposes a fee on carbon-intensive imports. This additional cost is further incentivising the shift toward alternative, lower-carbon fuel options.

Methane pyrolysis, another thermal conversion process used to make clean hydrogen, essentially cracks methane (CH₄) to produce carbon and clean hydrogen. While the process requires significant energy to separate the carbon and hydrogen, the process itself does not emit carbon oxides, making it an attractive option for clean hydrogen production. The carbon produced through methane pyrolysis can be used in various applications, such as battery manufacturing. However, the main challenge for methane pyrolysis is that it is an emerging technology, yet to be scaled and commercialised for widespread use.

Finally, methanation is a lower-carbon option that allows for repurposing existing natural gas networks. Existing infrastructure that has traditionally transported natural gas from production sites can be leveraged to transport synthetic natural gas instead, reducing the required spend on establishing infrastructure to support this energy solution.

Wood’s VESTA catalytic methanation technology for methane production exemplifies how we are leveraging alternative fuels to reduce the carbon footprint within the natural gas value chain. VESTA can provide a pathway for CO₂ utilisation and clean hydrogen to produce lower-carbon fuel that can be transported using existing natural gas infrastructure.  This approach aims to decrease the initial cost and complexity associated with developing new infrastructure, making it more cost-effective and scalable for decarbonising the energy sector.

If there was one key message that came from this discussion at Gastech, it is that you can’t scale talk. While it’s important to debate how to decarbonise and integrate hydrogen solutions into our energy mix all day, the real challenge lies in action. To meet our climate targets, we must move beyond discussion and begin deploying new facilities that drive real change.