Home » Clean energy: green hydrogen is the real turning point but a precise strategy is needed

Clean energy: green hydrogen is the real turning point but a precise strategy is needed

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The “climate week“, Five days dedicated to the fight against global warming with two international events Youth4Climate e Pre-Cop26, both at the Mico congress center and which also saw the participation of the Swedish activist Greta Thunberg.
E In the climate change an important role can be played by hydrogen, the most widespread chemical element in the Universe and on Earth, but when we talk about it in the energy context we actually mean the molecule of hydrogen H2, very rare in the atmosphere and capable of producing energy (thermal by combustion or electrical by electrolysis ) in a clean way without emission of carbon dioxide. However, being rare, this molecule must be produced and this in turn consumes energy: the balance between CO2 emissions during production and the overall costs of generation, transport and storage underlies the entire role of hydrogen in the energy transition.

Today, in fact, almost all of the hydrogen produced (brown or gray) has a strong and negative impact on the environment but is cheap: only 0.7% is blue or, better still, green hydrogen, derived from much more expensive but little or no polluting processes. In July 2020, the European strategy for hydrogen, released by the European Community, was indicated as the way to start the complete decarbonisation of the economy and the achievement of the climate neutrality objectives by 2050: by 2030 it is planned to invest between 320 and 458 billion euros, of which 220-340 billion to increase the production of photovoltaic and wind energy necessary for green hydrogen, and to install 40 GW of electrolysers capacity (currently we are less than 1) plus another 40 GW in the Near Middle East, so as to reach 500 GW of installed capacity by 2050.

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The European Strategy was followed by those of the main member countries, including Germany, France and Spain. Looking at Italy, however, at the moment only the Guidelines of the Italian strategy for hydrogen issued by the Ministry of Economic Development last November are available, which set the goal of 5 GW of electrolyzers capacity in 2030 and indicate investments for about 10 billion, of which 5-7 for the production of H2 (but not for the development of renewable plants at the base of the process for green hydrogen), 2-3 for the construction of infrastructures and 1 for research. Figures not dissimilar to those of Germany, France and Spain.

In Italy, the green hydrogen market is struggling to take off
From here it reveals how it is urgent that Italy define its national strategy for hydrogen, indicating precisely the objectives it intends to achieve and the paths to achieve them, in the wake of the European Strategy and as already done by the main member countries. This is the conclusion reached by theHydrogen Innovation Report 2021, drawn up byEnergy & Strategy Group of the School of Management of the Politecnico di Milano, dedicated to the production of hydrogen from the point of view of technologies, CO2 emissions, business models and their economic sustainability, a highly topical issue that is part of the broad debate on the need to accelerate the process of carbon neutrality.

The report emphasizes that, to optimize market development, which at the moment can be defined as “primordial”, it is necessary to create new incentive systems, both for producers and for end users, and launch pilot projects to concretely evaluate the different options both from the point of view of production and transport, as well as the use of hydrogen. Without forgetting to decisively resume investments in renewable energies at the basis of the production of green hydrogen, the only one that fully respects the level of emissions allowed by European legislation. within the National Recovery and Resilience Plan: 3.7 billion euros, of which 2 for the use of hydrogen in sectors that are difficult to decarbonise ”.

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