Discussion developing hydrogen market
The Eco-Runner team presented its hydrogen passenger car Eco XIII on Tuesday evening, May 2nd. The team’s goal is to make the world’s most efficient hydrogen car, and the students aim this year to drive at least 2,056 kilometres on a kilo of hydrogen.
After the presentation an expert panel discussed what still needs to happen in the hydrogen market before hydrogen cars can drive around on a large scale.
There are more and less sustainable ways to make hydrogen. Grey hydrogen is produced from natural gas and the process emits a lot of CO2. Electrolysis using renewable energy makes the climate-friendly green hydrogen. “Currently, there is almost zero green hydrogen relative to all hydrogen on the market. Grey hydrogen is simply the cheapest. Therefore, it is best to scale up where green hydrogen is already being used,” Stephanie Kool-Claessens, an expert on large-scale hydrogen production, explains.
But scaling up is difficult and the market is very small, says Kaatje Bout of the Eco-Runner team. “All the players are waiting for each other. Everyone is waiting for production, and for bigger demand, and for infrastructure for a bigger market. So what are the next steps to scale up?” Thijs ten Brinck, sustainability expert: “It is indeed a chicken and egg story. We need to focus on a few applications and invest there.”
“The hype about hydrogen is over, now we want to get started with serious investments,” says Diederik Samson, chief of cabinet to Eurocommissioner Frans Timmermans. “The high price of hydrogen is a serious problem when scaling up. As one of several measures for the hydrogen market, the ‘European Hydrogen Bank’ has been set up. Money from this pot will be used to alleviate the risk companies take when they want to invest in hydrogen.” Coby van der Linde, director of Clingendael International Energy Programme, criticises the European Commission’s approach. “They have done a lot, but if you look at how they want to realise their ambitions, surely there are more pragmatic ways to do that.” (TB)
Thirza Bolhuis / Stagiair
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