Hydrogen to make industry more sustainable

The world’s emissions of the greenhouse gas CO₂ must be reduced substantially in the coming years. International agreements, such as those made at the Paris climate conference in 2015, have led to binding agreements at the European and national levels. The European policy Fit For 55 aims to achieve a 55% reduction in CO₂ emissions by 2030. The ultimate goal is a carbon-neutral society by 2050.

In 1990, Dutch industry emitted 86.7 megatonnes of CO₂. By 2015, that had been reduced to 55.1 megatonnes. To comply with Fit For 55, the electricity and industrial sectors in particular need to further reduce their emissions by 19.4 megatonnes between now and 2030. This is a combination of European and national policies.

For many industrial companies, there are gains to be made in better insulation, energy savings and process optimisation. Electrification can also be an option, as can the use of renewable fuels and feedstocks. Hydrogen is one such alternative. No CO₂ is released when using renewable hydrogen. Since hydrogen does not occur in nature like natural gas, it must be made. Methods exist to produce hydrogen without emitting CO₂ (such as green electricity and electrolysis). It is possible to reduce CO₂ emissions by using green hydrogen. But if hydrogen is produced using natural gas, CO₂ is released during production (grey or blue hydrogen).

Currently, green hydrogen is too expensive for many parties and therefore not (yet) feasible. However, upscaling and innovation are expected to bring prices down. Demand for green hydrogen will then increase, especially if natural gas and CO₂ prices continue to rise.

Industry can use hydrogen as a fuel and feedstock where natural gas is now used. For example, it is suitable for processes that require high temperatures (melting, baking, drying), such as in furnaces. Hydrogen is already used as a feedstock, for example, for refinery products or chemical products like ammonia or methanol. These substances are often used in the production of products like fertilisers. For now, however, this mainly involves hydrogen made from methane.

Hydrogen is also expected to be used in the mobility sector, particularly in heavy goods transport (road freight, maritime transport, aviation). Hydrogen-powered vehicles are already in use in the Netherlands.