The

thehydrogenstandard.com
Hydrogen

Issue 2 - January 2022

A Publication by
Standard
RESEARCH & NEWS

KUSTEC: THE WORLD OF

HYDROGEN COOLING SYSTEMS

IF WE CAN SHARE CONCEPTS WE

CAN SHARE OPPORTUNITIES

BIG OIL TO BIG HYDROGEN:

A N A LYS I S O F H Y D R O G E N
E C O N O M Y P L A N N I N G AT C H I N A' S
THREE BIG OIL MAJORS

GREEN HYDROGEN PRODUCTION:

COULD IT CAUSE A SHORT-TERM
RELIANCE ON FOSSIL FUELS?

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The

Hydrogen
Standard
Hydrogen Standard

Issue 2 Publisher & Editor-in-Chief: Johann Wiebe

January 2022 Co-Editor: Charlie Jarvis
[email protected]

Editorial Concept Design

Mette Tonnessen

Writers
Johann Wiebe, Charlie Jarvis, Dr. Quentin Meyer,
Christina Abou Char, Afriyie Ankamah.

A big thank you to all the contributors

and everyone else who supports The Hydrogen
Standard. We provide high quality content
marketing/advertorials to provide a platform for
all participants active in the hydrogen space to
showcase their technology solutions and share
their story.

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Welcome to The Hydrogen Standard

When looking around in the world of decarbonisation, there is no lack of company

announcements on new plans, mergers, or technological solutions that should get us
closer to the net-zero target by 2050.

The recent COP26 in Glasgow showed us the ambitions of many governments to move
towards a more sustainable future, particularly in regards to our energy needs. No
lack of head-line grabbing announcements, even by the big economies. Despite some
of them are a bit vague in regards to proper commitments, time-lines and plans for
implementation, the intentions - at least - are there to move into the right direction.

In all of this, hydrogen will play a key role. The second issue of The Hydrogen Standard
Magazine will further illustrate hydrogen's versatility in a more decarbonised world. It
also demonstrates the diversity of companies involved offering a wide range of solutions
to make the bold and ambitious targets set by our governments worldwide a reality.

This ranges from offering hydrogen cooling solution systems, to supporting clients with
infrastructure requirements to decarbonise as well as offering and educating the world
about alternative ways to generate green hydrogen through the thermal conversion
process of waste.

As a courtesy we included some articles of our premium subscription product on

China's Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Market too. After all, in all that is discussed regarding
decarbonisation, it is the big economies that can significantly move the needle, although
smaller nations can and already do lead by example too.

We hope you find our second issue insightful and informative. If you would like to
feature in future issues of The Hydrogen Standard, feel free to get in touch. We’d love to
hear from you.

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6 Research & News

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Contents
Welcome to The Hydrogen Standard Magazine 5

Kustec: The World of Hydrogen Cooling Systems 8

If we can Share Concepts we can Share Opportunities 12

Pennsaco: Turning Biomass into Carbon-Negative Hydrogen 14

Electric Power Research Institute: Driving Research into

Electric Power 17

Protium: Facilitating Green Hydrogen Infrastructure on

the Road to a Zero-Carbon World 20

Green Hydrogen Production: Could It Cause a

Short-Term Reliance on Fossil Fuels? 22

Big Oil to Big Hydrogen: Analysis of Hydrogen Economy

Planning at China's Three Big Oil Majors 25

State of the MEA Industry in China 28

Industry Focus: Near-Term Sources of Hydrogen for Direct

Reduction of Iron (DRI) Steelmaking in China 31

thehydrogenstandard.com 7
The World of Hydrogen
Cooling Systems
Author: Dr. Quentin Meyer
FEATURE

KUSTEC Launched by Martin Schreiblehner in 2006 in

Freundorf Austria, Kälte- und Systemtechnik
GmbH, or KUSTEC for short, has positioned itself
as the leader in customized cooling and refrigeration
systems. Since a first project in 2008 with one of the
Key Features: largest industrial gas manufacturers in the world,
Company Focus: Hydrogen Cooling KUSTEC has grown its activity towards hydrogen
cooling, which currently occupies between 50 and
Systems 60% of the company activities. We sat down with two
Interview with: Mohamed Koubassi sales and project managers at KUSTEC, Mohamed
and Florian Lechner, sales and project Koubassi and Florian Lechner—to discuss this
exciting technology, what makes KUSTEC unique
managers
in the field, and the future of this exciting hydrogen
Website: www.kustec.at revolution.
LinkedIn: KUSTEC
Cooling systems can be an obscure field for many
customers, who don’t always understand their
own needs. Led by Martin Schreiblehner’s vision,
KUSTEC has built its business model and core
values around a focus on the customer.

Before accepting any project, KUSTEC’s team

confirms how much heat really needs to be removed
from the customer’s system, and how the company’s
technology can do it in the most energy- and cost-
efficient way. In fact, KUSTEC’s motto is “We are
only satisfied when you are.” As a result, KUSTEC
quickly became one of the world leaders in custom
cooling systems, with its team of engineers and
technicians specialized in understanding the best
solutions for their customers.

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What exactly is hydrogen cooling? “Therefore, you need a hydrogen cooling system,
integrating with the hydrogen flowline through a
“To begin with, hydrogen gas is stored at a very heat exchanger to cool down the hydrogen flowing
high pressure in large tanks in hydrogen refueling from the storage tank to the vehicle. That’s what we
stations. Here, it’s used to fuel hydrogen fuel do at KUSTEC.”
cell vehicles, such as cars, trucks, boats, and
even trains or small planes,” Mohamed explains. What makes KUSTEC unique in this field?

“As the hydrogen is fueled from the high-pressure Hydrogen cooling began for KUSTEC when
storage tank to the vehicle, it experiences a pressure Martin Schreiblehner was approached by a world
drop, targeting an end pressure of 700 bars for leading industrial gas manufacturer in 2008 to
cars and 350 bars for buses. The gas enters the cool their hydrogen refueling station. Since then,
vehicle tank and experiences the Joule Thomson KUSTEC has deployed over 250 hydrogen cooling
effect for hydrogen. Thus, overall a high amount systems worldwide. That’s about half of the world’s
of heat is produced. For the safety of the vehicle hydrogen refueling stations.
tank, the hydrogen must reach the SAE (Society
of Automotive Engineers) Temperature Protocol KUSTEC’s team of experts has designed rapid and
within 30 seconds from the start of the fueling high efficiency cooling systems to cool the hydrogen
process and avoid the temperature in the tank flow to the required SAE Temperature Protocol and
exceeding 85 °C.” ensure its temperature does not exceed 85 °C in
the vehicle tank. These use a unique direct cooling

Image 1: Fast Filling Overview with KUSTEC Cooling System

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Hydrogen Standard

"We are cleaning from every perspective,

by consuming less electricity through our
unique cooling systems, and by supporting
hydrogen vehicles that capture air
pollutants."

system, with the refrigerant in direct contact As Mohamed puts it, “we are cleaning from every
with the hydrogen in the heat exchanger, which perspective, by consuming less electricity through
reduces the energy consumption and increases the our unique cooling systems, and by supporting
efficiency of the system significantly. hydrogen vehicles that capture air pollutants”.

KUSTEC hydrogen cooling system has deepened Yet, alongside the technologies themselves,
its knowledge with CO2 refrigerant and optimized KUSTEC’s strong focus on the customer is ideal for
it for hydrogen cooling technology. With the rise hydrogen cooling.
of global warming, international regulations have
been implemented to limit the global warming “As hydrogen refueling stations are an emerging
potential of refrigerants releasing harmful market, every customer can have different
emissions. A difficult trade-off must be reached requirements—a different refueling time, refueling
between using a refrigerant with a low global temperature, refueling pressure, etc.,” Mohamed
warming potential but requiring a lot of electricity continues. “More importantly, countries have
to cool the system, and a refrigerant with a higher different cooling system regulations. As such, a
global warming potential but requiring less energy hydrogen cooling system deployed in the German
to cool, as Florian explains. market may not be compliant with the regulations
in South Korea or vice versa.”
“As it turns out, when used a cooling gas, CO2 has
a very low global warming potential compared to While harmonization efforts have taken place
refrigerants such as R449A which have a global recently, thanks to the SAE International
warming potential a thousand times greater. standards, KUSTEC still needs to carry out slight
Therefore, using CO2 enables you to cut down the modifications for each installation of the hydrogen
operating costs of the system, as it consumes less cooling system. KUSTEC’s personalized approach
energy and achieves a higher efficiency.” and huge flexibility in delivering this system is ideal.

All these exciting innovations have introduced Each hydrogen cooling system built by KUSTEC is
KUSTEC as the world leader of this technology. first evaluated in their facility in Freundorf, Austria,
then installed on site either by KUSTEC’s team,

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Hydrogen Standard

or by their growing network of consultants and this hydrogen revolution, by supplying the much-
business partners in different countries (Australia, needed hydrogen cooling systems.
Belgium, England, France, Germany, South Korea,
Spain, Sweden and United States of America), “Right now, we have a constant baseline of projects
offering lifetime maintenance and support. for cars, which is excellent for business. We also
see the bus and trucks market growing very fast,
Where do you see the largest market growth as well as some projects with forklifts, and we have
for hydrogen refueling stations from your interesting projects for trains. Overall, I would say
perspective? that public transport in general seems to be moving
towards hydrogen, and we expect many interesting
“Interesting question,” Florian tells us. “While projects appearing in the next few years based
there is a lot of talk and excitement around on what we see now. Also, we see increasingly
hydrogen—and grand claims of covering countries interesting projects for heavy duty and high-power
with hydrogen refueling station—each hydrogen trucks, and high-power excavators.
refueling project faces its own unique challenges.
And that includes the best hydrogen supply chain, “It’s an exciting time for hydrogen, and we expect
the design of the refueling station, and the hydrogen to see even more projects happening in the future.”
storage capacity. KUSTEC is proud to contribute to

Image 2: KUSTEC Milestone Overview

SCC 2011
Certificate
New Building in
Austria
EN ISO 9001.2015
Certificate

2021
Acquire
2020 10th Eiskönig & establish
Anniversary Kälte- und Systemtechnik
2019 GmbH
Found KUSTEC First H2
Corp in Station Cooler
Denver, USA

2018
2016 Founded by
2009 Martin Schreiblehner
2008

2006

thehydrogenstandard.com 11
Key Features:
Company Focus: Community to promote
development of sustainable energy
FEATURE Interview with: Paul McCormack, innovation
manager at Belfast Metropolitan College
GenComm Website: GenComm
Twitter: Interreg NWE
LinkedIn: Company Page

“If we can share concepts, we can share opportunities”:

A Conversation with GenComm’s Paul McCormack
“It is the most universal element in the world, Germany, a solar-powered refuelling station will
but hydrogen won’t be universal in its use,” says provide hydrogen for passenger cars.
Paul McCormack, innovation manager at Belfast
Metropolitan College and program manager It's this diversity of hydrogen production and use
at GenComm, a project that aims to validate, that Paul refers to when he says that hydrogen
both financially and technically, the maturity of cannot provide a single, universal solution across
hydrogen technologies. all contexts.

“Rather, each country will have to develop its own “Fossil fuels are generally a single fit for everyone,”
hydrogen typography based on their own energy he says. “But a hydrogen system has to be different
needs and opportunities.” across countries. At root, using green hydrogen
means integrating more renewable energy into the
We sat down with Paul to discuss the green supply chain and thinking about how to optimise
hydrogen transition, the need for local hydrogen hydrogen in the energy mix. That solution can’t
solutions, and GenComm—or “GENerating energy be one-size-fits-all, but what we are showing
secure COMMunities through Smart Renewable with GenComm is that a variety of solutions are
Hydrogen”, to give it its full name. possible.”

GenComm is currently working to implement However, Paul tells us, changing the energy mix
three pilot plants in northwest Europe, that will and reaching those different hydrogen solutions
link three major renewable energy sources— won’t happen in a single step.
namely solar, wind, and bioenergy—with energy
storage and energetic demand—heat, power, and “That’s fine at first,” he says, “as long as we do use
transportation. One plant in Northern Ireland will less-polluting fuels and take small steps toward
use wind energy to generate hydrogen for fuel cell green hydrogen. Hydrogen puts us on the right
buses. In the Scottish islands, biomass will generate path. But the real question is, how can we pivot
fuel for transport and power for industry. And in business to green hydrogen solutions?”

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For Paul, things aren’t as simple as having businesses That’s why Paul insists on making nations ensure
and societies abruptly turn away from fossil fuels. that they are energy self-sufficient. Just because
That, he says, would spike energy prices in the it is cheaper to import fuel, it doesn’t mean that
way that we saw at the end of 2021. Instead, he the resulting energy dependence is a good thing.
suggests we need a slow transition, to minimise the Instead, energy should be produced locally, Paul
economic shock and lessen the potential negative affirms—to create new jobs, new opportunities,
impacts for everyone." and new positive impacts. At the same time, every
country should have the support to make this
To this end, Paul suggests a highly collaborative happen.
approach to driving hydrogen adoption.
Yet it doesn’t all need to be hydrogen. Instead, in
“We’ll need to work in tandem with industry— Paul’s words, the ideal scenario is “a broad menu” of
and we’ll need to work both with existing and energy opportunities based on local capabilities—
new industries to upscale green solutions and and one that doesn’t rob the planet of its natural
rescale existing polluting ones. But we also need to resources.
work across nations too—because if we can share
concepts, we can share opportunities.” But what can be done to make the transition a
reality?
That brings us round to the work on which
GenComm focuses: energy secure communities. Start with “regulating, repurposing, redirecting”,
Paul says. Rather than building from scratch, we can
“Communities are really the end users of the use some of the existing assets that would otherwise
energy grid,” Paul explains, “and energy security go to waste. Oil tankers can be used for ammonia,
is the foundation stone for secure communities. If oil pipelines for hydrogen transport. In fact,
the aim is to build a stable society into the future, everything we use today needs to be modernised
energy security is a priority.” for a greener economy. And GenComm are helping
to drive the technology to make that happen.

Image 1: GenComm Smart H2 Generation & Consumption Overview

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Hydrogen Standard

Key Features:
Company Focus: Converting waste to green hydrogen
Interview with: Robert Kelly, CEO and Amy McCrae
Kessler, VP of environmental affairs FEATURE
Website: pennsaco.com
LinkedIn: Pennsaco Technologies Pennsaco

Turning Biomass into Carbon-Negative Hydrogen

“Waste streams and biomass harbour untapped similar to renewable gasoline—something that
value. Effectively refining these materials can was already a well-developed technology at the
unlock vast resources—and turn them into valuable time. Beside issues of price and demand fluctuating
products.” with developments in the oil market, there was a
production problem that Robert faced. Biomass
We’re talking to Robert Kelly, CEO at Pennsaco does not carry a lot of hydrogen—but it does
Technologies, and Amy McCrae Kessler, the contain a lot of carbon. And you have to burn that
company’s vice president of environmental affairs. carbon to access the hydrogen.
The company’s work provides society access to the
valuable resource that we conventionally know as “Pennsaco really took off when we found a way to
waste—to produce green hydrogen, create carbon- make the hydrogen release more efficiently and
negative energy, remove carbon dioxide from the less expensively,” Robert explains. “We discovered
atmosphere, and replenish soil and water health. that we could make large volumes of high purity
hydrogen in a proprietary process separate from
That happens with a patented system which, syngas production. From that point, we decided to
with advanced thermal conversion and carbon pivot away from biofuels and turn the biomass into
capture technology, recycles biomass, plastics, and carbon negative hydrogen.”
municipal solid waste into renewable energy and
biochar. “Our approach to hydrogen production through
thermal conversion is entirely differentiated from
So, how have they made it happen? the rest of the industry. We are not producing our
hydrogen from syngas, which typically contains
The company started when CEO Robert Kelly low hydrogen yields and requires expensive clean
developed a process to create a drop-in fuel up. Pennsaco’s process is so efficient that it allows

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Hydrogen Standard

“Pennsaco’s process produces 3x more hydrogen

per ton of biomass than competitors, electricity
to power the system, and excess electricity that's
send to electrolysers for more h2 production.”
us to produce three times more hydrogen per ton purification systems or in catalytic converters. To
of biomass than competitors, enough electricity to optimize the carbon negativity of our hydrogen,
power our system, and excess electricity that we send we decided to maximize the amount of carbon
to electrolysers for additional hydrogen production from biomass we could permanently capture in
capability. There is nothing producing more high that highly activated carbon product and produce
purity, carbon negative, low-cost hydrogen on the biochar - for use in regenerative agriculture and
market today.” climate change mitigation.”

While Pennsaco’s ability to produce large volumes As Amy and Robert explain, for every tonne of
of fuel cell quality renewable hydrogen at low-cost biochar, three tonnes of CO2 are removed from the
addresses renewable hydrogen industry scaling biogenic carbon cycle and permanently sequestered
and cost concerns, the real breakthrough came in the earth through agriculture. Biochar increases
with a solution to the problem of the carbon. One the carbon content of the soil, helping to improve
of Pennsaco’s main assets now is its production of crop yields and increasing water retention, while
biochar— making it “a carbon negative hydrogen reducing the need for fertilisers and pest controls
technology”, Amy says. compared to conventional soils.

“If you run biomass through our thermal conversion Most importantly, biochar enables the permanent
process you inevitably end up with a carbon removal of CO2 from the atmosphere. And with
product,” Amy explains. “The original technology companies such as Microsoft and Stripe buying
was designed to create a high-end activated carbon biochar carbon removal credits for their carbon
product, which could be used for air and water

Imgae 1: The Pennsaco Process

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Hydrogen Standard

portfolios, Pennsaco’s system offers a potentially energy, and industrial decarbonisation sectors and
lucrative model for a carbon negative industry. tens of thousands of tonnes of biochar for carbon
removal and regenerative agriculture annually.”
But what makes Pennsaco’s technology stand out?
“Our job now is to show the world the benefits
“That’s simple. We do what we do with a 30% of this technology. Right now, there is an
greater efficiency than similar technologies, capture overwhelming preference for using electrolysis to
95% of feedstock BTU, produce three times more create hydrogen—and so much investment is going
hydrogen per ton of feedstock, and do it at a much into scaling the world’s electrolysis capacity. But
lower price. We also address scaling, cost, and speed using renewable energy such as wind and solar to
of deployment challenges faced by green hydrogen generate green hydrogen through electrolysis costs
from wind or solar to electrolysis: we produce six times as much as making hydrogen through
four times the hydrogen yield per megawatt at a Pennsaco’s thermal conversion technology, will
fraction of the price, we aren’t constrained by never have carbon removal capability, must
electrolyser capacity, cost, or availability to scale, compete for wind and solar resources allocated
we have a compact footprint, use a third of the to decarbonising the electric grid by governments
water, and don’t require hundreds of millions of around the world, will take decades to scale, and
dollars in infrastructure costs to produce industrial does nothing to address the tens of millions of tons
and utility scale volumes of renewable hydrogen,” of CO2 we need to be removing annually from the
Robert tells us. “Meanwhile, a single site can atmosphere between now and 2050 to meet global
convert hundreds of thousands of tonnes of waste goals of limiting climate change to 1.5C.”
and CO2 that would otherwise end up as landfill
or greenhouse gases into millions of kilograms of “Really, our established technology could do a lot
carbon negative hydrogen for the transportation, to change the world.”

Image 2: The Operation Model

16 Research & News

Key Features:
Company Focus: Community to support low-carbon
technologies Interview with: Erik Steeb, senior technical
leader of technology innovation FEATURE
Website: Www.LowCarbonLCRI.com
Twitter: @LowCarbonLCRI EPRI
LinkedIn: Low-Carbon Resources Initiative

Electric Power Research Institute:

Driving Research into Electric Power
Author: Christina Abou Char

The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) is So, let’s start from the top. How can we describe
a non-profit research and development (R&D) EPRI’s work?
organisation that is celebrating its 50th year in 2022.
EPRI's trusted experts collaborate with more than “EPRI produces research into the electricity value
450 companies in 45 countries, driving innovation chain, from production, through transmission
to ensure the public has clean, safe, reliable, and distribution, to end-use,” Steeb tells us. “In
affordable, and equitable access to electricity across other words, we focus on how energy is produced,
the globe. moved and used.” “Our work is by necessity highly
collaborative, working with stakeholders around
We sat down with Erik Steeb, senior technical leader the world to ensure our electric power system
of technology innovation at EPRI, to understand continues to meet the needs of society.”
more about the organization, its Low Carbon
Hydrogen Accelerator (LCHA) project, and its Decarbonisation in the electric power industry
deep decarbonisation goals for 2030 and beyond. is an important aspect of our R&D in looking at
opportunities to increase zero-carbon supply,
while ensuring the electricity grid remains reliable,

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Hydrogen Standard

efficient, affordable, and flexible enough to support the deployment of low-carbon technologies. While
large and intermittent loads. much of this innovation will come from existing
industry leaders, it’s important that we also engage
Yet, research into and changes in power production the startup community. That’s where the LCHA
and the electricity grid won’t be enough to meet comes in.”
the world’s decarbonisation goals all by itself, Steeb
says. “We’re also working to help decarbonise other So, what is the LCHA? It’s collaborative effort
sectors around the economy as well. Much of the between EPRI, Shell, and the City of Houston
work we do in the energy end use area is focused on (the hydrogen capital of the world)—alongside
the electrification of buildings, transportation, and Greentown Labs and the Urban Future Lab (UFL) at
commercial and industrial processes.” the NYU Tandon School of Engineering. The LCHA
is an initiative intended to facilitate innovation and
“The trouble is, Steeb adds, “that some sectors of support startups creating solutions that enable
the economy are really difficult to electrify and hydrogen as a low-carbon energy source.
will require low-carbon fuels like hydrogen and
ammonia.” “This group represents an unparalleled mix of talent
and resources. As incubators, Greentown Labs
“EPRI’s Low Carbon Resources Initiative (LCRI), and the UFL lead startup outreach and coordinate
launched in 2020, is a multi-year collaboration the program,” he explains. “EPRI brings our
across the electricity and gas sectors to enable research and development capabilities and utility
such solutions. With more than 50 sponsors so connections to support the test and demonstration
far, the initiative is bringing together investor- of promising solutions and Shell brings industry
owned utilities, municipal utilities, original leading R&D, partnership opportunities, and
equipment manufacturers and more to accelerate a global reach to help carry promising energy

Image 1: Timeline Overview

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Hydrogen Standard

solutions and products to scale to enable a leading Ultimately, for Steeb and his colleagues at EPRI, the
position in hydrogen.” emphasis regarding decarbonisation should remain
on collaboration:
“It’s an amazing blend of resources and together, we
offer startups support with technology validation “There’s a tremendous amount of work to be
and demonstration—with access to testing facilities, done to hit the net zero goals by 2050,” he says.
technical experts, and demonstration sites that help “And the reality is that no single organization will
create pathways to scale.” be able to achieve this by themselves. But that’s
exactly the value of projects like the LCHA and our
“For our first year, we plan to engage six to eight collaboration with Shell, Greentown Lab, UFL, and
startups with a focus on low-cost green hydrogen the City of Houston—and that’s part of why we’re
generation, storage and distribution, digital so proud to be part of it.”
solutions, and new business models that enable
hydrogen adoption,” he adds. “We’re working
closely with Shell to understand which companies
would benefit most from the pool of resources
available within the accelerator.”

thehydrogenstandard.com 19
Key Features:
Company Focus: Facilitating hydrogen infrastructure
Interview with: Chris Jackson, Co-Fouinder and CEO
FEATURE Website: Protium.green

PROTIUM Twitter: @Protium18

LinkedIn: Company Profile

Facilitating Green Hydrogen Infrastructure on the

Road to a Zero-Carbon World
Chris Jackson set up Protium to build green it’s our aim to decarbonise at least one million
hydrogen infrastructure for companies in heating, tonnes of CO2 per year in each of the markets we
transport, and other industries—for people and the work in too.”
planet.
For a company with 26 employees over two office
“Businesses across the world and up and down the spaces, this now feels achievable for Protium. Yet
value chain are aiming to be net zero by 2050—but the company has grown fast since 2015, when Chris
this will pose a big challenge for so many of them. was a student at SAIS John Hopkins University in
To make it a reality, businesses need a structure Bologna, Italy.
that is commercially viable and technically proven.
That’s where we at Protium can help.” There he was taught by Professor Marco dell’Aquila,
an adjunct professor in renewable energy project
Chris Jackson is the managing director at Protium, a finance. After university, Chris then wrote a
green hydrogen energy service company (HESCO) paper on decarbonising the mining sector with
that helps industries to reach net zero. Protium does hydrogen—and soon managed to persuade the
this by building green hydrogen infrastructure at World Bank, where he was working, to provide
all stages of the hydrogen production chain—from funding for green hydrogen research.
production to storage and use. In practice, that
means designing, developing, and operating green Throughout his research, what Chris came to
hydrogen solutions so companies can achieve net realise was that the challenges of decarbonisation
zero emissions. were not due to a lack of technology. Rather, the
problem was that the various components required
“If Protium is not having a material impact on to decarbonise businesses needed to be pulled
reducing CO2, then we are just wasting our time,” together. What was required was a company that
Chris says with a certain frankness. “We want our was willing to take the risk offering these holistic
clients to achieve their sustainability targets—but solutions.

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Hydrogen Standard

Chris got back in touch with Marco, pitched the standards and environment. It’s not just a fuel-
idea of Protium, and together they set to work. switching exercise.”
Now, the company still works in the two industries
in which Chris wrote his original paper: Instead, Chris suggests three crucial factors in any
decarbonisation strategy: consumer awareness,
“We work primarily on consumer facing industrials, a level regulatory playing field across all energy
whose usual peak demand is industrial grade heat companies, and realism about the world’s current
and commercial transport. There, hydrogen use capabilities.
has always been a little controversial, but we think
it can really make a big difference to the day-to- “Business need more help to educate their
day lives of end consumers. Then there’s transport, consumers of the value of using green hydrogen, but
where we’re contributing to net-zero by using green the whole industry is being held back by different
hydrogen in things like trucks.” regulations across countries,” Chris explains.
“Right now, we need to scale manageable projects
But while playing a big role in the HESCO space, in bitesize chunks to minimise risk and encourage
Chris is not interested in using hydrogen in these investment. Later on, we can all step up to much
industries just because. bigger projects.”

“In whichever industry you are working in, or For Chris, ultimately, the energy transition is about
whatever use case you are exploring,” he explains, more than just markets:
“you have to ask the question: does hydrogen
provide the best solution to this problem? In “It’s about people,” he says. “I want to encourage
some cases, batteries can offer better solutions to the young to avoid the temptation to go into high-
problems, but in others hydrogen simply does the paying finance roles. Instead, they should join us
job better. Ultimately, the energy transition is about in the efforts to decarbonise industries, in order to
how people can improve their quality of life, living generate a more sustainable future society.”

Image 1: Overview of HESCO: Transforming Energy Services with Hydrogen

thehydrogenstandard.com 21
SPECIAL FEATURE

Green Hydrogen Production:

Could It Cause a Short-Term Reliance on Fossil Fuels?
Athor: Afriyie Ankamah

As the world moves towards cleaner and more Figure 1 below provides a simple explanation on
renewable energy in the bid to decarbonise, how green hydrogen is produced from renewable
the current renewable electricity supply may energy sources.
not be enough (at least in the short term) for all
competing end uses. With transportation, industry, Before we delve more into the discussion, let’s
and domestic users all demanding clean energy, check out some numbers on primary energy
there might not be enough supply to keep up. This consumption (which is essentially the total energy
is argued by a group of researchers at the Potsdam demand). This information is for 2020 and provides
Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) in a perspective of the percentage shares in the energy
Germany, led by Dr. Falko Ueckerdt. mix per sources.

Figure 1. Green hydrogen production from renewable energy sources

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On the global stage: According to the IEA, achieving net zero by

• Renewables accounted for less than 6% share of 2050 requires over 300 million tonnes of green
the world’s primary energy consumption. hydrogen each year. This will require about
• Fossil fuels, on the other hand, occupied over 14,500TWh of electricity, or 20% of the global
80%, with oil as the largest contributor followed electricity supply.
by coal and natural gas.
• The Middle East was the region with the highest The Guardian newspaper quotes Dr. Falko
reliance on fossil fuels, which made up over Ueckerdt saying, “If we cling to combustion
95% of their energy mix. technologies and hope to feed them with
• Europe and South and Central America led the hydrogen-based fuels, and these turn out to be
share of renewables with both regions having too costly and scarce, then we will end up burning
slightly over 10% each. further oil and gas”.

In the UK: The introduction of new end uses such as green

• According to BPs Statistical Review of World hydrogen without a similar pattern of renewable
Energy, the UK’s share of renewables in the electricity generation is likely to put a strain on
primary energy consumption was 17% while current renewable electricity supplies. At the same
that of fossil fuels were over 76%. time, the pace required by the net-zero emissions
• The share of the energy sources in electricity scenario may be limited by inadequate renewable
consumption changes across the 24-hour daily electricity generation.
period based on the demand, with renewables
reaching peaks of 40%. If 20% of the global electricity supply is diverted to
hydrogen production, this will result in very much
The percentage of renewables and fossil fuels in the needed renewable electricity being diverted from
energy consumption mix varies based on demand. It the grid to power these electrolysers for hydrogen
also shows that currently, the amount of renewable production.
energy in the consumption mix is very small—just
6% globally. This is the same pool of electricity The push for green hydrogen production can
from which green hydrogen will be tapped. jeopardise the quantity of renewable electricity to
the grid, causing a reliance on fossil power in the
Could there be any issues with the overall short term.
decarbonisation when the push for green hydrogen
production speeds up? The Push for Green Hydrogen
But it is not all doom and gloom:
Issues with the massive push for green hydrogen
production: To decarbonise the grid and other sectors while
Right now, demand is heavily supported by fossil- supporting green hydrogen production, there
fuels, as renewable capacities are still not sufficient should be enough renewable electricity generation
to entirely decarbonise the grid as argued by the capacity installed.
International Energy Agency (IEA).

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Figure 2. Installed renewable capacity and capacity expected in 2030.

International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) This will create a scenario where fossil-based
recommends adequate renewable electricity should electricity will have to be relied on to meet the
be made available for both hydrogen production electricity demand.
and for other end uses.
Green hydrogen production targets should be
Similarly, IRENA has recommended targets to be set strategically set alongside renewable electricity
for electrolyser capacities as part of policy support generation targets to create a healthy balance in
for green hydrogen production. An example of supply and demand of renewable electricity.
such is the 80GW target to be achieved by 2030 set
by the European Union. Specific areas with over supply of renewable
electricity could be a focus when choosing a location
They argue this approach should be similar to the for electrolysers for green hydrogen production.
one used for incentivising investments like the
renewable energy targets. This will help to mitigate losses from the curtailment
of renewable electricity in these areas while at
Key Takeaways the same time the excess electricity generated is
If the rapid push for green hydrogen production diverted to produce green hydrogen.
is not strategically aligned with the supply of
adequate renewable electricity, the amount of The development of renewable electricity capacity
electricity available for other electrification sectors should be an important focus for policy makers and
will diminish. ambitious targets should be set for these projects.

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SPECIAL FEATURE: CHINA

Big Oil to Big Hydrogen: Analysis of Hydrogen Economy

Planning at China's Three Big Oil Majors

This is a free article from the China Hydrogen & clean energy subsidiary in February of this year
Fuel Cell Monitor. Available HERE to focus on hydrogen and e-fuel production.
Green hydrogen produced in this way has also
China has three big state-owned enterprises (SOE) been written into CNOOC’s corporate strategy, as
in the oil and gas sector, colloquially known as the announced in September of this year.
“Three Barrels of Oil.” The three are: China National
Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), PetroChina, The middle-ranking in terms of activity level in
and SinoPec. All three have plans for the hydrogen the hydrogen economy is PetroChina. Though
economy with an emphasis on hydrogen production the firm plans to build fifty HRS in the coming
and the operation of hydrogen refueling stations years PetroChina’s focus is on north China,
(HRS) for fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEV). notwithstanding individual HRS projects in
Wuhan, Shanghai, and Guangzhou. These
The Hydrogen Economy and the Three Barrels individual projects, all of which took place over
Of the “Three Barrels,” CNOOC has the lowest the past few years, were probably designed to trial
level of activity in the hydrogen energy sector, key technologies, such as: 700 bar HRS equipment,
with an apparent exclusive focus on generating joint petrol-hydrogen stations, and blue hydrogen
green hydrogen by electrolysis of water powered production using green hydrogen and CCS
by offshore wind. CNOOC focuses on offshore technology. PetroChina recently established
oil exploration and extraction so a focus on green a hydrogen technologies research center thus
hydrogen from offshore wind is in-line with the showing a focus on key technology breakthroughs
firm’s resources and mission. CNOOC created a as opposed to market share.

Figure 1. Brands of the Three Oil Majors in China

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CNOOC is limited by mission; PetroChina is limited (MEA) manufacturer in Guangzhou, and JZY
to north China and technology R&D; in contrast, propane dehydrogenation (PDH) in Dongguan,
SinoPec has made the transition from grey to green the firm’s focus is squarely on north China,
hydrogen a core part of the firm’s corporate strategy. especially two new markets: Xiong’an New District,
Indeed, while CNOOC’s hydrogen production is a new Beijing suburb, and the Zhangjiakou Winter
the smallest of the three and PetroChina produces Olympics, scheduled for 2022.
around 2.6 million tons a year, SinoPec produces
3.5 million tons a year, making the firm the largest SinoPec may be China’s largest hydrogen supplier
producer of hydrogen in China. Unlike PetroChina, - but most of that hydrogen is “grey” hydrogen, or
SinoPec is investing in hydrogen production - hydrogen reformed from coal and natural gas with
especially in Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang, in carbon pollution. At 3.5 million tons of hydrogen
the far northwest - not as simply another oil by- per year, SinoPec may be China’s largest single
product but as a potential oil replacement. Of the producer but still only produces 14% of the total in
Three Barrels of Oil SinoPec has the grandest plans the country, thus showing the decentralized nature
both for hydrogen production and for large-scale of hydrogen production in China.
HRS roll-out in China.
Earlier this year SinoPec announced two green
Upstream Hydrogen Production hydrogen projects - like PetroChina, also in Inner
PetroChina North China Corp., a division of the Mongolia and Xinjiang - to be online by 2022
larger company, is developing twenty hydrogen and powered by 510 MW of solar. Consider that
purification projects in north China as part of a worldwide electrolyzer capacity in 2020 was just
larger goal to create “blue” hydrogen and e-fuels 200 MW; SinoPec’s planned installation would
such as methanol and ammonia from “white” by- more than double world green hydrogen capacity.
product hydrogen and CO2 obtained from carbon And if this initial announcement was not stunning
capture and storage (CCS) technology. Though enough, SinoPec recently updated the timeline for
PetroChina signed a hydrogen supply agreement the Xinjiang facility - with the new expected date of
with SinoHyKey, a membrane electrode assembly completion in October of this year - and expanded

Figure 2: Estimated Million Tonnes of Hydrogen Production (LHS) and MArket Share (RHS) Among
the Three Oil Majors in China

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capacity from 510 MW to 1000 MW – or one GW In the future PetroChina plans to build only around
– of power to operate electrolyzers with capacity 50 HRS, mostly concentrated in northern China.
to produce 20,000 tons of hydrogen per year.
SinoPec’s “super-project” in Xinjiang may be the In contrast to PetroChina, SinoPec began work
world’s largest green hydrogen production venture on 27 HRS in 2020 alone, mostly concentrated
by a very large margin. in eastern and southern China. A representative
SinoPec HRS in Shanghai supplied more than 200
Further evidence of SinoPec’s commitment to tons of hydrogen over two years to FCEVs operating
green hydrogen was evident at a signing ceremony in Jiading District. As part of the firm’s long-term
in Beijing in July of this year where the firm strategy to replace oil with hydrogen, SinoPec
announced projects with firms as diverse as State estimated the 200 tons of hydrogen in Jiading
Power Investment Corporation (SPIC), China displaced about 660 tons of Diesel fuel. In addition
Mobile, Dongfang Electric Corporation (DEC), to the 27 HRS announced in 2020, SinoPec plans
and China Guangdong Nuclear (CGN), among to build 30 HRS in Shanghai and 20 in Guangzhou;
others. SinoPec’s stated strategic goal is to not one source claimed SinoPec could ultimately build
only implement China’s “Carbon Peak 2030, more than 1000 HRS or petrol-hydrogen joint
Carbon Neutral 2060” industrial policy goal but stations around China.
also to implement the firm’s own "One Base, Two
Arms, Three New Developments" program. In this Big Oil to Big Hydrogen
program, SinoPec is the “base,” energy resources China’s Three Barrels of Oil have each shown both
and clean and modern oil and chemical products different levels of commitment to the hydrogen
are the “arms,” and new energy, new materials, and economy and also different focus areas. CNOOC
new economy are "new developments.” has shown the lowest level of interest and appears
focused on ocean-based wind-to-green hydrogen;
Downstream Hydrogen Applications PetroChina has shown medium interest and
PetroChina built pilot hydrogen refueling stations appears jointly focused on the north China region
(HRS) in Wuhan in 2018 and in Beijing in 2019 and also on “blue” hydrogen; finally, SinoPec
and 2020 but didn’t operate the actual stations. has shown the greatest interest in the hydrogen
However, earlier this year, PetroChina both built economy and is focusing on the transition from
and announced the operation of the Zhangjiakou grey to green hydrogen. In terms of downstream
City Taizi City Service Area HRS, colloquially applications, while CNOOC has not announced
known as the Taizi HRS. This facility is located in any HRS, PetroChina has announced more than 50
the Chongli Winter Olympics Games District, a nationwide and SinoPec more than 30 in Shanghai
satellite site for the 2022 Winter Olympics. Unlike alone with future planning having, evidently, only
previous HRS this facility will be operated by the sky as the limit.
PetroChina to serve a local fleet of 50 FCEV buses.

thehydrogenstandard.com 27
SPECIAL FEATURE: CHINA

State of the MEA Industry in China

This is a free article from the China Hydrogen & Now owned by Shenzhen Vision, the MEA
Fuel Cell Monitor. Available HERE production facilities at the Wuhan University
of Technology (WUT) are notable for a very fast
Part I: Markets & Production production line, claiming a pace of 5 m/min. WUT
Recent calls for “self-sufficiency” in the fuel also claims to have built the first catalyst-coated
cell industry in China have become almost membrane (CCM) production line in China,
shrill regarding the perceived need to localize probably in 2012, though WUT has been producing
production of membrane electrode assemblies MEAs for export since 2006.
(MEAs). An outside observer might make the
observation that such calls for “home-made” Dongyue Membranes (DY) started exporting MEAs
MEAs indicate that China lacks the facilities or as early as 2008 and claims energy density of 1.2 W/
experience to make what is often considered a key cm2. (See part II: Technology Development).
component for fuel cells.
A notable new player is Shanghai Tangfeng, a spin-
In fact, firms in China have been manufacturing out from Shanghai Traffic University, specializing
MEAs for export since the early 2000s. Wuhan in low-Pt MEAs. Like all MEA manufacturers,
University of Technology (WUT), now owned by Tangfeng claims high energy density, around
Shenzhen Vision, made MEAs for small, US-based 1.5 W/cm2 and lifetime of 10,000 hrs. Tangfeng
fuel cell firms that were later acquired by PlugPower. recently received more than 100 million RMB in a
To cite another example, Dongyue Membranes built B-round of investment.
MEAs for the Automotive Fuel Cell Corporation
(AFCC). As with many industries in China, there Shanghai FTXT, a fuel cell manufacturer owned
is not a gulf between “national” and “foreign” by Great Wall Motors (GWM), recently installed a
capabilities but rather a disconnect between China’s roll-to-roll production line for MEAs and appears
world-class “built-for-export” industry and its to be preparing for volume production, probably
developing “domestic consumption” industry; the to supply FCEV sedans built by the GWM group.
fuel cell sector seems to be no exception. FTXT also owns 10% of a MEA production facility
in Dalian, which may be associated with the Dalian
This disconnect is evident in figures for MEA Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP), a traditional
use in FCEVs operating in China. According to leader in the fuel cell industry in China.
data updated in February of 2021, around 70% of
MEAs installed in China were imported. Multiple DICP claims to have developed a novel, low-Pt,
sources claim the MEA market in China will nanofiber MEA that enables current density of
reach a value of more than 80 billion RMB by 1.5 A/cm2 even at low pressures (0.2 MPa). MEA
2035. Understandably, China wants to encourage R&D at DICP is focused on water management and
domestic producers to increase market share to chemical stability.
benefit from this developing market.

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of Energy Conversion (GIEC) recently tested an

SHPT, also in Shanghai, claims to have the world’s MEA with current density of 3 A/cm2. Two firms
largest roll-to-roll MEA production line, which associated with Nanjing University - Sang-Lai-Te
includes materials mixing, coating, etc. and can in Kunshan and Dongyi in Nanjing - have a long
produce a complete 7-layer MEA. SHPT is focused history in MEA development. Also in that part of
on volume production (with a rate of 5 m/min) and Jiangsu Province is ThinkRe, based in Suzhou, with
production accuracy. the memorable website: bestpem.com.

The last major MEA producer in China is The image is an overview of current and future
Hydrogine (not to be confused with “hydrogen”), production in the MEA market in China as well as
based in Suzhou, and invested in by the Shenneng an introduction of major players, new entrants, and
Group, based in Shanghai. Hydrogine claims to leading researchers in the industry.
have lowered Pt use by 75% from market standard.
Hydrogine MEAs may be installed in fuel cell Part II: Technology Development
systems (FCS) in as many as 200 vehicles currently Membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs) would
on the road. seem to be limited by an apparent paradox of
design: the thinner the actual membrane, the lower
Other firms interested in the potentially lucrative the voltage loss, the higher the efficiency; however,
MEA industry include Na’er, based in Shanghai, at the same time, the thinner the membrane the
which specializes in digitally controlled spraying higher the gas diffusion from the anode (hydrogen)
for printing materials. Na’er has also invested in a side to the cathode (air) side. MEA designers
CCM production line. are thus faced with the challenge of making the
membranes very thin and efficient, but not likely
Dongfang Electric Corporation (DEC), a major, to last very long, or thick and durable, but relatively
national-level state-owned enterprise (SOE) based inefficient.
in Chengdu, recently announced a new MEA
production facility in Beijing. DEC also has fuel In China the MEA is often understood as the
cell stack and system production facilities. The actual proton exchange membrane (PEM) coated
investment in Beijing shows how some fuel cell on either side by a catalyst which is then coated
firms in China are responding to calls to localize by a gas diffusion layer (GDL), usually in the form
MEA production - and thus keep more of the of carbon paper. The total structure of the MEA
value-chain in China - by moving to replace foreign therefore is 1 + 2 + 2 = 5, also known as a 5-layer
suppliers with in-house components. MEA. Adding a final layer of framing to strengthen
the MEA creates a 5 + 2 = 7, or 7-layer MEA.
Yet another example of a fuel cell manufacturer
developing MEA capabilities is Pearl Hydrogen, Key design requirements for MEA manufacturers
based in Shanghai. Pearl built a new facility in looking to enter the fuel cell market in China
Fuyang City with MEA production capacity of include: extended reversal tolerance, high ion
more than 350,000 m2. Pearl expects to specialize conductivity, chemical stability (especially against
in extra-wide, precision-coating MEA production. caustic base chemicals and oxidation), high thermal
stability, high technical strength, low gas diffusion
In addition to the above dedicated MEA producers from anode to cathode sides, and of course low
and fuel cell firms investing in MEA production price.
several smaller firms have focused on research and
technical breakthroughs. The Guangdong Institute

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movement polarization at high currents, cause

Many firms in China believe the key component of membrane deterioration at high electric potentials,
the MEA is the CCM and that the key component and limit reaction of hydrogen protons with
in the CCM is the catalyst, most often platinum oxygen during fluctuating load profiles. The FCEV
(Pt). A few R&D laboratories in China are trying to application, in particular, is known for fluctuating
lower cathode-side Pt concentrations to load profiles.
≤ 0.12 g/kW, in-line with figures reported from the
Toyota Mirai. However, even Toyota only recently A rule of thumb in China is that the MEA forms
lowered Pt content from 0.18 g/kW to 0.13 g/kW, half of the stack cost and the stack forms half of the
showing that the 0.12 figure is a reach even for the system cost. The average price of MEAs in China
world’s leading FCEV manufacturer; it is unlikely is around 400 RMB/piece, though scale production
domestic firms will meet such a figure in the near- has recently lowered this price to as low as 300.
term. Despite efforts to lower Pt loading while Power density of MEAs in China averages between
maintaining high efficiency, most firms in the fuel 0.75 ~ 1.00 W/cm2 at 0.6 V.
cell industry in China believe that the Pt loading
cut-off point is ≈ 0.50 g/kW, above which point are Major foreign MEA suppliers to the China fuel
domestic suppliers and below which are foreign cell industry include Johnson Matthey (JM), 3M,
suppliers. Toray - the new owner of Greenerity - and Gore.
The latter especially has drawn attention in China
Platinum is the most commonly used catalyst for with claims of high durability at MEA thicknesses
MEAs for the fuel cell industry; it is also a precious reduced from 18 to ≈ 8 µm.
metal and expensive. Therefore the ideal fuel cell
uses less platinum for a higher power. Lowering The fuel cell market in China will continue to
platinum loading, however, can increase proton demand MEA products with long lifetime, high
durability, low membrane degradation rate, and of
course low prices.
Figure 1: Planned Fuel Cell Car Sales and Hydrogen
Refuelling Stations in China
This is a free article from the China Hydrogen &
Fuel Cell Monitor. Available HERE

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SPECIAL FEATURE: CHINA

Industry Focus: Near-Term Sources of Hydrogen

for Direct Reduction of Iron (DRI) Steelmaking in
China
This is a free article from the China Hydrogen & the richness of the syngas, or into carbon dioxide
Fuel Cell Monitor. Available HERE (CO2), a less dangerous emission gas.

The direct reduction of iron (DRI) process for In addition to the water-gas shift reaction - also
steelmaking requires a hydrogen-rich syngas. In common in methanol reforming hydrogen
countries with cheap natural gas methane can be generators - the coal gasification process also
used directly in the DRI process; in countries with includes a step to extract hydrogen sulfide (H2S)
expensive, integrated renewables green hydrogen using a pressure-swing adsorption (PSA) purifier
from electrolysis can be used as the DRI fuel. as well as equipment to recapture purge gas. The
resulting hydrogen-rich syngas can be used directly
China however, though possessed of a large in vertical blast furnaces for DRI. Coal gasification
renewable base, nevertheless has very few large- is already the most common source of hydrogen in
scale, grid-connected electrolyzers and also has China today.
very expensive natural gas, though unconventional
natural gas is available in small quantities in the Baking coal removes gases and other impurities
country. As a result, a recent study by the China and results in “coke,” a dense, carbon-rich fuel
International Steel Research Institute (CISRI) that burns hotter and with less smoke than the
recommends that DRI projects make use of syngas original coal. Of the off gases released during this
extracted from a resource China has in abundance: “carbonization” of coal 60% is hydrogen with 25%
coal. of the remainder methane (CH4). This methane can
be further reformed to produce more hydrogen.
The study from CISRI recommended three
coal-based routes to producing syngas for use Producing hydrogen from coke oven gas (COG)
as a reducing agent in the DRI process: direct is a well-understood and mature process in
gasification of coal, coke oven gas (COG), and China, according to CISRI. Like direct gasification
enriching of low-grade coal (LGC). described above, COG also has impurities that
must be removed. In addition to H2S the COG
Direct coal gasification, while not as clean as often has ammonia (NH3) which can be captured
producing coke, is still relatively cleaner than simply and used in other industrial processes. While co-
burning the coal for heat. Gasifying the coal results locating steel plants using DRI technology with
in a hydrogen-rich syngas. Many of the impurities coking plants with COG represents a near-term
in the syngas, such as carbon monoxide (CO), opportunity to use the off-gas as a reducing agent in
can be converted into either more hydrogen by the steel plant, CISRI warns that, in the long-term,
injecting steam (H2O) into the process, increasing coke production - and thus COG production - will

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decrease in China as a result of de-carbonization Why use LGC? China has a greater amount of LGC
of many energy-intensive industries, such as than of any other type of coal. Furthermore, using
steelmaking. extracted syngas from LGC makes high-grade coal
available for other purposes. Improving LGC with
Direct gasification of coal and COG may seem COG is a near-term way to efficiently use China’s
like similar processes. Indeed, both remove H2S coal resources to produce the hydrogen needed for
and result in hydrogen-rich syngas. However, the DRI steel-making process.
where direct gasification is a continuous process,
COG removes methane before separately creating The report from CISRI recommends pursuing
more hydrogen in a reforming reaction. Direct COG, LGC enrichment, and direct gasification
gasification also removes the H2S after the water- - in that order. The report also mentioned
gas shift reaction yet COG removes the H2S before unconventional natural gas - such as from shales -
the reaction. According to CISRI, the volume as well as biomass pyrolysis as other ways to extract
of COG required to supply the reducing heat to the hydrogen needed to heat the DRI steelmaking
create one ton of steel is about 620 cubic meters; process.
in contrast, the amount of coal gas required is only
320 cubic meters. Coal gas may be more efficient, Despite China’s large investments in renewables,
but is also more polluting. lack of grid-connectivity, transmission lines,
and grid-connected electrolyzers means more
A third and final opportunity for utilizing coal to investment in infrastructure is needed before China
create hydrogen-rich syngas is the enriching of low- can turn its green power into green hydrogen.
grade coal (LGC) with COG. Using LGC to provide For the steelmaking industry, under pressure to
heat in thermal power plants is inefficient and decarbonize, hydrogen from coal - by a variety of
releases relatively more pollutants. CISRI suggests processes - may be the best, near-term solution to
high-temperature, pyrogenic decomposition of implementing large-scale DRI.
LGC and COG to produce a more hydrogen-rich
syngas. This is a free article from the China Hydrogen &
Fuel Cell Monitor. Available HERE
Figure 1: Steel Making in China

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The

Hydrogen
Standard

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