Climate change has been a long-standing issue. The universe's most abundant element, hydrogen(氢), has drawn the scientists' attention and is now on its way to becoming the future of green fuel.
More than $150 billion worth of green hydrogen projects were announced globally in 2020. A
European multinational aerospace corporation has taken the lead in the new sustainable fuel industry. It has designed self-contained hydrogen fuel cell pods(电池舱) that can be attached to the underside of airplane wings, promoting the use of hydrogen fuel for long-distance flights, which aim to achieve zero emissions.
Compared to fossil fuels, hydrogen is a much more eco-friendly fuel. When hydrogen burns, the only by-product is water. However, the traditional way to get hydrogen from natural gas or coal generates considerable carbon emissions. The greenest way is to obtain hydrogen from water using electrolysis(电解) powered by renewable energy, although this process requires so much electricity. The key to making hydrogen competitive with fossil fuels is to lower the production cost.
Also, shipping liquid hydrogen is challenging, given that needs to be chilled to -253℃ to do so.
Japan's Kawasaki Heavy Industries is set to complete the construction of the world's first liquefied hydrogen carrier by early 2021. Most of the world's big hydrogen export projects are looking to ship hydrogen in the form of liquid ammonia(氨), which can be changed to hydrogen and needs to be chilled to only -33 C.
With more and more countries aiming to cut down carbon emissions to solve the issue of global warming, green hydrogen will help decarbonizing(碳减排) industries that can't be electrified hit the targets.
"We could use these circumstances, where loads of public money are going to be needed into the energy system, to jump forward towards a hydrogen economy," said Diederik Samsom, who heads the
European Commission's climate cabinet.
