Promise of a cleaner planet for some, illusion for others, the transformation of industry and mobility towards green hydrogen divides while investments in this sector explode: 7.2 billion euros in public money will be invested in this energy by 2030 in France. The State’s involvement is explicit, as demonstrated on May 25 by the lighting of the Eiffel Tower using a generator powered by carbon-free hydrogen. At the same time, since 2020, companies in the sector have been setting the stock market on fire. Several European countries have already focused on hydrogen as part of the investments in their recovery plan, in the wake of the clean hydrogen plan, unveiled by the European Union in the summer of 2020. Let’s return to the arguments that are stirring the debates around this energy.
Store and decarbonize
Among the defenders of green hydrogen, there are two main arguments. Hydrogen would solve the problem of long-term storage of renewable energies, which are by definition intermittent; it’s about being able to use them better when you need them. It would also constitute an ideal vector for decarbonizing industry and mobility in all its forms: trains, planes, boats, trucks, vans, cars. Producing fuel “close to home” from water, sun and wind, releasing only water, represents an ideal which seems to have won over politicians, public opinion and financial markets. The central place occupied by hydrogen in the French and European recovery plans bears witness to this. You just need to consult the France Hydrogène website to see that, everywhere in France, very concrete local projects for the production of green hydrogen are emerging, coupled with local mobility initiatives (buses and professional fleets in particular).
Expensive energy, low yields
Whistleblowers, for their part, warn of the low yields of green hydrogen and the exorbitant cost of an energy which will wither away when it is no longer supported by public subsidies. More serious, according to them it would constitute a utopia, even an imposture. Because, they say, converting industry and mobility to green hydrogen would require such a quantity of solar panels and wind turbines that it would not be realistic.
Some countries have already planned import policies. Japan, the first country in the world to bet on this energy, has already made the decision to produce its green hydrogen in the Australian deserts. South Korea is considering the same use of imports. Closer to us, Germany is preparing to devote 2 billion euros to the implementation of green hydrogen import policies from Southern Europe, the Maghreb, West Africa and from Chile, even Brazil.
A long-term change
Between supporters and opponents, how can we have clear ideas, knowing that the problem is, as is often the case, poorly posed? It is clear that conversion to hydrogen cannot be done urgently, by simple substitution of our current energy systems. In such a context, hydrogen will not be able to keep its promises. Let’s not forget that the European Commission’s objective is, depending on the scenarios, between 13% and 24% green hydrogen in our energy mix in 2050. So we have time. Hydrogen is not a substitute. It will support the energy transition alongside other solutions. It thus represents an opportunity to shift towards a new logic, a new economic and environmental paradigm based on the circular economy, local production and consumption and greater energy independence. This is what Jeremy Rifkin, the famous economist, has been saying for almost 20 years now.
The absurdity of import
Considering that green hydrogen must be imported is to reconnect with the absurdities from which our societies already suffer. Example of the most recent aberrations: in order to produce biofuels in volume, we began to import palm oil at the risk of worsening ecological damage in exporting countries. Remember that to make green hydrogen, you need water. Is it really relevant to produce green hydrogen in countries that are certainly sunnier than ours, but also drier? And what about replacing dependence on oil with a simple dependence on countries producing green hydrogen? Unlike many other countries, France has therefore decided on a slow, systemic, local conversion, 100% “made in France”, certainly accelerated by nuclear power (carbon-free hydrogen), but which will gradually enable a transition to this new paradigm.
Circular economy and recovery energy
The debate on the conversion to green hydrogen must therefore be placed in this context. The question posed by detractors centers on the additional cost and surplus of renewable energy necessary for this transformation. Hydrogen skeptics often prefer to reserve this energy for the decarbonization of industry. However, despite a yield that is not optimal, locally produced green hydrogen is currently no more expensive than diesel in the mobility sector. The challenge is therefore to boost additional local production of green electricity for local use. We think of solar, wind and hydroelectric dams. But there are many other local vectors for producing green and carbon-free energy.
The avenues of the circular economy and recovery energy or fatal energy are promising here. Waste incineration is, for example, one avenue, with two projects well advanced in France and concrete actions across Europe. There is also the path of electrolysis of wastewater in parallel with the emergence of the methanization sector, complementary to hydrogen. We are also seeing some projects emerging using local biomass such as hemp. Depending on the characteristics of the territory, the energy sources can be very different and complement each other. On the coasts, hydrogen could even be produced from seawater.
The data center trail
The digital economy is not left out. We now know that data centers consume too much energy and that their environmental footprint is very negative. However, as our objects become more connected, interactive and “smart”, local data centers will develop. This revolution is called “edge computing”, that is to say the processing of data at the edge of the network. Some start-ups have already launched digital boilers which produce heat for professional buildings, hospitals and private homes, using digital calculations, or even the energy released by certain cryptocurrencies. Microsoft is today the first group in the world to embark on the hydrogen adventure for its European data centers. The company recently joined the Hydrogen Council, an alliance that seeks to coordinate the efforts of manufacturers in Europe.
60,000 to 110,000 jobs by 2030
Local green hydrogen represents a bet on the future, firmly anchored in local projects combining private companies and communities. The French hydrogen plan, with its 7.2 billion euros, will be devoted in particular to the structuring of a French electrolyser industry. These electrolysers will gradually appear in our daily landscape within the regions to create local ecosystems, tailor-made, based on the local energies available. No big sudden transition therefore, but a gradual evolution, taking place over time. The objective is to gradually support the transition of fleets of heavy local vehicles (trucks, buses, trains, boats, etc.) or frequent use (vans, VTC, taxis, etc.) for which batteries do not constitute not an optimum. According to ADEME, 60,000 to 110,000 non-relocatable jobs for engineers and technicians should emerge by 2030.
* Article originally published on The Conversation website: https://theconversation.com
