Hydrogen+ : Your Hynoca process produces hydrogen by thermolysis of biomass. Does this technology have the potential to meet the challenges of mass production of renewable hydrogen?
Philippe Haffner. The European target of producing 10 million tonnes of renewable hydrogen by 2030 is very ambitious and requires a pragmatic and technologically neutral approach to hope to be achieved. We will therefore need all the hydrogen production solutions for a massive deployment that requires heavy infrastructure that does not yet exist for certain technologies. With Hynoca, we can quickly and locally produce large quantities of hydrogen without infrastructure. Our process consists of thermolysis at 500 degrees (absence of oxygen) which breaks down the biomass molecules, followed by steam reforming which produces hypergas (hydrogen-rich synthesis gas).
From a technical point of view, this process, after an initial heating phase, works on the same principle as the SMR (Steam Methane Reforming) process which produces the vast majority of hydrogen in the world. The big difference is that we use renewable biomass and not fossil gas as an energy source.
The advantage of the thermolysis process is that it allows us to use a very wide variety of biomasses (flax shives, straw, wood residues, miscanthus, vine shoots, manure, etc.) that are currently unexploited or under-exploited. Several studies allow us to list the biomass available in France, which represents an energy potential of 1150 TWh.2.
Not everything is collectable in the short term, but we have determined that a little over 10% of this biomass, without conflict of interest with other uses, would represent around 120 TWh.2 of energy potential to produce 1.3 million tonnes of hydrogen per year, much more than the 680,000 tonnes of hydrogen that constitutes the French objective by 2030. To reach the 6.5 GW of installed power in electrolysers (2030 objective), we would only need 10 million tonnes of dry biomass. The only cereal residues planted on the 9.4 million ha in France generate on average 60 million tonnes per year of dry biomass, this without counting intermediate crops and without the potential for valorizing “marginal” land (wasteland, polluted land, roadsides, etc.) that could accommodate plants such as miscanthus or sorghum. We therefore do not have a problem with deposits, because the thermolysis of biomass can exploit any type of biomass.
We can even use wet biomasses by drying them using the waste heat of our process. It is designed to be self-powered with its own energy. Our technology therefore represents a significant potential contribution to French renewable hydrogen production objectives, alongside other technologies such as water electrolysis from renewable or low-carbon electricity.
QWhat is the use of biochar which is a co-product of your hydrogen production process?
Biochar is a kind of activated carbon, that is, a form of vegetable charcoal consisting essentially of carbonaceous material with a porous structure, with a specific surface area greater than 250 m² per gram. It is because biochar is a perennial carbon sink that it allows thermolysis to be a carbon negative process.
Biochar captures all the organic and mineral elements from biomass during thermolysis. These characteristics give it a high agronomic value. It allows organic carbon to be returned to the soil over the long term, while improving soil structure as a natural amendment. It can absorb several times its weight in water, which allows the soil to have particularly useful water reserves with the expected increase in drought episodes. It can improve soil fertilization by 50% with a good carbon to nitrogen mass ratio, promoting root development and soil microbiota thanks to its large surface area which serves as a refuge for microorganisms. It is particularly interesting on acidic and draining soils (it raises the pH). Another agronomic interest, biochar restores the PK minerals necessary for crops, reducing fertilizer inputs. For agriculture, which produces 19% of CO emissions2 In France, biochar is one of the most immediate and economical ways to achieve a significant reduction in GHG emissions..
We are currently working with chambers of agriculture that seek to address the multiple challenges of the agricultural world: enabling food sovereignty, adapting to climate change while preserving biodiversity, producing energy, increasing carbon sinks, improving crop rotation, etc. The agricultural world is undergoing a revolution with new practices such as permanent plant cover. Our process allows for a return to the soil, but also the recovery of crop residues and CIVEs as well as the use of abandoned land, which allows for a viable and circular economic model in the territories. Plant biomass has an energy potential of 5.1 MWh/anhydrous ton.
What is your carbon footprint and what deployment are you planning in the territory?
Our CO balance sheet2 is — 12 kg of CO2/kg (net)1 of hydrogen produced. This full life cycle analysis includes the process, the manufacture of the production units, their dismantling, up to the transport of the biomass by truck within a radius of 100 km. Unlike methanizers which can be small projects on the farm, our process generally requires a larger size, with a biomass supply within a radius of 50 to 100 km around the project. This perimeter makes it possible to envisage thermolysis capacities of 50,000 t/year of biomass. It is easier to transport biomass than to transport hydrogen. The objective is therefore to capture the biomass, but also to be as close as possible to the uses, because the hydrogen logistics chain is very expensive. The uses are therefore dimensioning for our installations.
Our process makes it possible to obtain a very pure gas, in just a few minutes, with a virtually zero and undetectable residual sulfur level, which can be used directly for fuel cells, for example. In terms of mobility, a car will consume 1 kg per 100 km (i.e. approximately 150 kg/year) and a heavy vehicle (bus, BOM, truck, etc.) approximately 8 kg/hour. This gives an order of magnitude of the mobility needs. If, for example, we have a unit that produces 1,000 tons per day, we will need large fleets of heavy vehicles, for industrial use, for the manufacture of fuel or synthetic fertilizers, etc. A real territorial project involving many stakeholders to set up a local circular economy.
Furthermore, the pressure and temperature (30 bars and 250 °C) used allow us to easily manufacture e-kerosene, by catalytically recombining hydrogen and CO. We produce a syngas (hypergas) ideal for Fischer-Tropsch reactors with a mature process to make synthetic kerosene. A real biorefinery… without oil residues! The aviation sector has just suffered a real trauma with Covid, the cost of kerosene, but also the upcoming carbon quota regulations, and is urgently looking for alternative solutions. Airlines no longer have many choices for their carbon footprint.
While waiting for a hypothetical hydrogen-powered aircraft by 2035, we are proposing this immediately operational synthetic kerosene at an economically viable cost.
Can you use organic waste from communities?
Yes, we have projects in this direction, in particular with the cement manufacturer Vicat. It seems clear to us that the process that produces hydrogen, hypergas or e-fuel without pollutant emissions is economically and ecologically more interesting than landfill or incineration, including for organic waste. We are part of a circular economy approach. For this waste, our biochar cannot currently be used to return it to the soil, but there are multiple applications, ranging from road surfaces to replacing coke in refineries with biochar. With community waste, we normally fall within the framework of the European directive on renewable energies because we do not use primary materials but non-recycled residues.
How does your technology fit into the European hydrogen strategy?
Some MEPs, somewhat ideologists want to exclude primary renewables such as forest waste from the scope of the revision of the European directive on renewable energies. However, foresters need, in order to produce in fine timber, to sustainably manage their forests and therefore to carry out plant pruning, for which we can offer them a relevant economic outlet while sequestering more than 50% of carbon.
Furthermore, it seems essential to us not to consider the production of renewable hydrogen solely through the prism of water electrolysis technology. The production of 10 million tonnes implies the use of 555 TWh of green electricity, which corresponds roughly to the entire French electricity production, or to the entire European wind and photovoltaic park installed to date. On the scale of France alone, we are talking about 50 TWh of electricity, or 1/10 of our electricity production to achieve our production objectives. And all this without considering all the other needs necessary for the electrification of uses as part of the energy transition. It is therefore important to be able to consider all technologies in order to be able to diversify our energy supply.
In Europe, the directives focus on technologies. This makes the rules complex and blocks innovations, in contradiction with the legal principle of technological neutrality. In the United States, the rules are more pragmatic. No matter what techniques are used, we look at the CO thresholds.2 achieved. For example, under the Inflation Reduction Act, below 4 kilograms of CO2 per kilogram of hydrogen, this is green. I think that the turnaround and the pragmatic approach of the Americans will make the EU react.
Where are your projects deployed?
Nos projects for 2023 are all underway, but some have been delayed due to the shift in support policy, particularly in France. However, with the RepowerUE plan on the one hand and the rapid turnaround in the USA, we have new projects in the pipeline on both continents. Finally, the deployment of demand for synthetic fuel, particularly SAF (biokerosene), perfectly suited to our process, is also opening up new partnerships for us, with cement manufacturers for example. A new plant will be launched in two years, but we should very soon have transitional resources to ensure our industrialization, on which we will communicate shortly. Haffner Energy is recruiting heavily for all these sectors, for rewarding positions and a booming technology of the future.
Notes
(1) Life cycle analysis carried out by EVEA and ADEME
(2) Author’s estimate based on data extracted from the studies France Stratégie 2021, France Agrimer 2020, IGN 2018 & 2020 and Solagro 2018Agrimer 2020, IGN 2018 & 2020 and Solagro 2018
