BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan.10. Without effective and cost-efficient systems for storing and transporting hydrogen between where it is produced and where it is consumed, large-scale hydrogen deployment will not be possible, Trend reports with reference to the International Energy Agency (IEA).
“Standardized infrastructure for hydrogen trade is essential for a market that can optimize the location and timing of supply and demand at lowest cost. Innovation in this technology category aims to help tackle the challenges of storing, moving and delivering the energy in hydrogen, or transforming it into a commodity that does not face the same challenges. It is essential that rapid progress is made in these areas because uncertainty about which means of storage and transport will become dominant is a major risk facing investors and governments,” reads the latest IEA report.
The report reveals that if low-emission hydrogen becomes more competitive as an energy carrier, regions with potentially low production costs (such as Latin America, the Middle East or Africa) are expected to be able to profitably supply distant users (such as those in Japan, R. Korea or Europe) with other forms of hydrogen.
“Liquefaction is an established technology for hydrogen trucks that could also facilitate the long-distance transportation of hydrogen in ships, followed by regasification upon arrival, if the high costs related to the liquefaction of energy inputs and losses across the supply chain are reduced. To cut costs further, the climate imperative has spurred on efforts in emerging areas such as hydrogen-based fuels, solid hydrogen storage and other molecules that can reversibly incorporate hydrogen. These may require more energy to transform the hydrogen but present significant lower transport costs and, in some cases, can be used without being transformed back to hydrogen at the point of use, minimizing total energy losses,” IEA analysts believe.
By converting hydrogen (which has very low energy density) into fuels that have similar properties to oil and gas, not only can the costs of storage and transport be reduced but it also becomes easier to use low-emission hydrogen in long-distance road, air and maritime transport, which rely heavily on liquid fossil fuels without a clear alternative in a net zero emissions future, reads the report.
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