Russia can become a major global producer and exporter of hydrogen – one of the most environmentally friendly sources of energy. Nobel laureate Rae Kwon Chung is sure of this. What is his forecast based on, what is happening in the hydrogen fuel market today, and under what conditions is Russia's hydrogen breakthrough really possible?
In terms of avoiding carbon emissions in the world, Russia has the potential to become an important exporter of hydrogen. This was announced on Thursday by the Nobel Peace Prize winner, Chairman of the International Committee for the Global Energy Prize Rae Kwon Chung. "It is assumed that hydrogen will become the energy of the future –" Rae said during a speech at the Gaidar Forum. - Russia can become a major exporter of hydrogen. Russia can be very competitive in this market. It can produce and export it in the same way that it is currently exporting natural gas."
However, according to the laureate, from a technical point of view, Russia will not be able to solve this problem alone. This will require the help of the European Union, South Korea and other countries that "can commit to buying hydrogen produced in Russia." According to the expert, reducing carbon emissions to zero can become a new incentive for the world, motivating countries to create a new industry for the development of a carbon-neutral economy.
The combustion of this gas does not generate CO2 emissions, so it can become a direct alternative to hydrocarbon fuels. Igor Yushkov, a leading expert of the National Energy Security Foundation, is convinced that Russia has a clear advantage over its competitors in the supply of hydrogen fuel to the European Union. According to him, hydrogen can be obtained from methane. This type of hydrogen is called "blue", it is inferior in its qualities to "green" hydrogen, which is obtained through the electrolysis of water using renewable energy sources. The production of" blue "hydrogen is now much cheaper than"green".
"Competition in the hydrogen market can be quite tough. Now it is minimal, because the consumption of hydrogen itself is very small – there is much more talk about it than real use, " Yushkov explained.
In favor of the Russian "blue" hydrogen says the presence of its own infrastructure for the transportation of fuel. For this purpose, existing gas pipelines are suitable. And if there is a demand, it is possible to "upgrade other gas pipelines for this purpose". Another competitive advantage of Russia is the presence in the country of a large number of nuclear power plants, from which energy can be obtained another type of hydrogen - "yellow".
"Such hydrogen is also quite desirable for Europe, because nuclear power plants almost do not produce greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere. This way we can supply more diverse hydrogen compared to other suppliers, " the source said.
Among other potential participants in the hydrogen export market, Yushkov mentioned the Middle East, in particular, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, coastal countries, the most stable countries in Africa, "where solar panels will not be beaten with hammers." "However, these countries may not have their own resources and technologies. First of all, they will need to attract investment, most likely European, establish production and only then sell hydrogen. For the European Union itself, it is much more profitable to leave money and production inside its borders, because this whole story is made to create a kind of European Juche – full import substitution and self-sufficiency, " the expert concluded.
In the future, Russia may use Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 to supply blue and turquoise hydrogen to Europe, as well as build Nord Stream 3 for these purposes. This opinion was expressed by Vladislav Belov, Deputy Director of the Institute of Europe of the Russian Academy of Sciences. "Turquoise" is hydrogen, also obtained from methane, but thanks to a special technology, it is possible to make CO2 emissions minimal.
By 2050, Europe plans to completely switch to "green" hydrogen. At the same time, the EU is going to sell hydrogen annually for 630 billion euros and provide about 1 million jobs.
For Gazprom, which on average sells about 200 billion cubic meters of natural gas, this is an extremely unpleasant plan. In addition to the reorientation of gas sales to China, which Gazprom is actively engaged in, there are also studies on hydrogen.
The bulk of hydrogen-about 76% - is now produced from natural gas. For these purposes, 205 billion cubic meters are used. The total output of hydrogen in Russia does not exceed 5 million tons with a global consumption of 72 million tons. But after 30 years, this number can increase five times. According to the energy strategy until 2035, Russia plans to export 0.2 million tons of hydrogen by 2024, and 2 million tons by 2035.
In Saudi Arabia, there is an implemented project of "blue" hydrogen, in which hydrogen is mixed with nitrogen and transported to Asia in the form of ammonia, in a number of countries there is a goal to add about 10% of hydrogen to natural gas. The Americans are going to become the leaders of hydrogen energy by 2050. But Russia does not intend to give up this market without a fight.
As explained by a leading expert of the National Energy Security Fund (NEB) and the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation Stanislav Mitrakhovich, hydrogen can be used not only for heat and power plants, but also as an automobile fuel. "However, if only green hydrogen is used, the market will be very small and expensive. The Russian idea is to remove this color "discrimination" and offer Europe a hydrogen "alliance" based on Russian gas.
If there is a lot of cheap hydrogen, turbines, cars, gas stations, pipelines, and the necessary infrastructure will be made for it",
the expert explained.
According to him, Russia has plans to use hydrogen in some areas of industry. Novatek has already announced the transition of one of its turbines to hydrogen. Russian Railways and Rosatom are developing a joint project on Sakhalin to create a hydrogen engine for trains. However, Russia needs the technology to produce "green" hydrogen, " so we will have to pay Europe for it."
"You need to think about hydrogen fuel in the future, it's a good idea. But I would not like it to turn into a kind of mania: we need to approach this technical and economic initiative seriously, calculating the real terms of its implementation and costs, " Mitrakhovich is convinced.
Nikolai Vasiliev, Natalia Makarova