How hydrogen will change our lives. Next stop: South Korea, 2050

#TouchingHydrogenFuture 2023 – tour across the globe in 'Jules Verne style'

Short series of stories on global Hydrogen future, written by a group of Hydrogen passionados, making concepts accessible to wider audience, allowing both entertainment and education including readers from all continents for whom affordable and clean energy is key.

In 2022, we as a group of Hydrogen passionado’s launched the “Touching Hydrogen Future” book?– it is now downloaded in over 120 countries, over 8000 times and counting; presented in global Hydrogen audience via EnergyPost webinars, and World Hydrogen Leaders congress in Rotterdam 2022 – available at www.europeangasmarket.eu and enabling accessible global hydrogen education at universities and debate at businesses, governments.

This year we continue to build-out stories – here is the story on South Korea from Kwang Tae Lee – welcome to “Touching Hydrogen Future” writers’ community.

Imagining the future is delivering it.

Author:?Kwang Tae Lee.?Editors:?Erik Rakhou and Rosa Puentes Fernández

2050 - celebrating carbon neutrality journey

I woke up at 6 am on April 6, 2050, in my apartment in Seoul, South Korea. First thought - I need to go to work today, although yesterday was a special national holiday for celebrating South Korea’s fulfillment of its carbon neutrality target. The national goal was set in 2020 when the global climate crisis was intensifying (1). It was a tough and long journey for South Korea, whose economy was weakened by the shrinking population. My thoughts were certain - the goal could not have been reached without the country’s dramatic yet positive rally for hydrogen.

Peddling memories of a trip through memorable Hydrogen projects

I was reflecting on last days. I felt bit tired because I spent the last three days on an intense business trip visiting several hydrogen facilities, which are representative of South Korea’s “hydrogen economy.” On the first day, I flew to the Jeju province . The province itself is an island with an area of about 1,800 square kilometers, located 50 miles off the southernmost part of the Korean Peninsula. Blessed with the magnificent Halla mountain and beautiful beaches, Jeju Island is one of the most visited tourist destinations loved not just by Koreans but also by a good number of foreign travelers. Jeju Island enjoys exceptionally favorable conditions for wind and solar power in South Korea. In fact, unlike the mainland of South Korea, Jeju Island was suffering from the problem of overproduction of renewable energy. In order to tackle the oversupply, the Jeju province decided to utilize excessive renewable energy to produce green hydrogen in 2022, starting with the construction of its first 12.5 MW facilities. That plan of transforming the island into a hydrogen production center greatly helped South Korea cope with the supply of green hydrogen (2).

On the second day of my business trip, I headed to the regions on the eastern coast of South Korea, particularly Uljin and Pohang . With 10 nuclear power plants in operation, Uljin County in the North Gyeongsang Province, or Gyeonsangbuk-do, houses the National Nuclear Hydrogen Industrial Complex, which was built with advanced electrolysis facilities that began to produce over 200 thousand tons of hydrogen a year from 2030 (3). Located 130 km to the south of Uljin, the city of Pohang is home to the world-leading steel producer POSCO’s steel mills. The world's sixth-largest steelmaker successfully transitioned to green steel production by implementing its hydrogen reduction technology called HyREX. This move led to a drop in South Korea’s total carbon emissions because the amount of carbon emissions from South Korea’s steel industry comprised almost 16% of the total national carbon emissions (4).

On the last day of my trip, I stopped by two hydrogen facilities in the western part of South Korea, namely the National Hydrogen High Tech Industrial Complex in Wanju County in North Jeolla Province and the city of Pyeongtaek in Gyeonggi Province . Wanju County, which had been well known for having the largest hydrogen fueling station in the country since 2020, was selected as the location for the National Hydrogen High Tech Industrial Complex in March 2023. The facilities in Wanju County began to operate in 2027, inviting more than 72 corporations and research institutions (5). The city of Pyeongtaek, which aimed at a hydrogen-based city life, sought to build various kinds of hydrogen facilities. One of the earliest projects of the city was the - relatively low cost - 17-million-dollar project for the optimization and realization of a hybrid CO2 capturing and liquefaction process for the production of blue hydrogen, showing capabilities of involved companies. Launched in June 2022, the project was won by a consortium composed of 11 companies and research institutions, including Hyundai Engineering and Construction (6).

What a trip - I looked at the map of distance I covered (see picture below) - I clearly deserved a hug to myself for this - the trip both exhausted and energized me.

Hydrogen in housing - why not

After getting up with some trouble, I took a short shower and had breakfast with a cup of coffee. I watered the plants and fed my pet goldfish in the fish tank. Being pure but alkaline, the water produced by hydrogen fuel cells is useful for showers and even for raising fish in fish tanks. The fish provide organic materials to the water, and then the water in the fish tank is used for watering plants. Of course, after being processed and filtered, hydrogen-generated water can be used for cooking and drinking (7). It proves to be a convenient way to produce heat and water by using hydrogen fuel cells, which are built in houses and buildings in urban areas. In particular, some advanced fuel cells, such as High-Temperature PEMFC, developed by Korean companies, contributed to the broader use of hydrogen in housing (8).

Hydrogen and mobility - yes, in personal cars

Holding a cup of coffee and a book, I hurried to the parking lot and got into my NEXO 2050. The hydrogen car produced by Hyundai Motors has been loved by people around the world since its first launch in 2013. With the company’s commercial hydrogen-powered vehicles, Hyundai Motors has sought to play a leading role in producing hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. The SUV model NEXO gained worldwide popularity, particularly in 2022, with total sales of over 11,000 units, marking a 54.0% global market share. Since then, many other motor companies have produced hydrogen vehicles. Above all, NEXO was the one that inspired South Korea to pursue its path toward building its program of the hydrogen economy (9).

Scarcely had I left the parking lot when the low fuel lamp turned on. I stopped by the fuel station first. There are a number of hydrogen fuel stations near my apartment. Thanks to liquid hydrogen technology, such as zero boil-off technology, the use and storage of liquid hydrogen have become safe (10). Consequently, hydrogen stations were also readily built in the middle of the city near houses and apartments on relatively small areas of land.

Driving mentally through Hydrogen policy steps of South Korea

Policy played a big supporting role in South Korea's hydrogen journey. On the autopiloted drive to work, I looked out of the window. I saw a lot of banners and posters celebrating the carbon-free holiday on the streets. In fact, South Korea had already established the national strategy for building a “hydrogen economy” even a year before announcing its 2050 carbon neutrality goal in 2020. The South Korean government’s drive towards a hydrogen economy began with the announcement of the Hydrogen Economy Roadmap in January 2019, which declared the national vision of becoming “the world-leading country in the hydrogen economy.” (11). The National Hydrogen Economy Commission was created at that time, presided over by the Prime Minister and comprising several ministers of related ministries and other key civilian experts (12). After that, the National Assembly supported the national roadmap with legislation, passing The Act for Nurturing Hydrogen Economy and Safety Management in February 2020 to be implemented a year later. The act provided a legal foundation for several administrative measures so that the government could continue its drive for a hydrogen economy, including the legalization of the establishment of the Hydrogen Economy Commission and the enforcement of safety regulations for hydrogen products and facilities (13).

In addition, the South Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy announced the National Plan for the Fulfillment of the Hydrogen Economy in November 2021. Under the ultimate goal of South Korea taking the leading role in building a hydrogen world economy, the plan clarified detailed strategy (14). This hydrogen-focused energy transition plan continued with the New Energy Policy Outline in July 2022, which reconfirmed the 2019 Hydrogen Economy Roadmap and the 2021 Plan for the Fulfillment of the Hydrogen Economy. The South Korean government’s policies offered a clear direction that the players in the private sector could follow with confidence, and they did.

Final thoughts - what good did hydrogen do for South Korea?

During the one-hour drive to my work, I felt that I couldn't be more thankful for the precious opportunity to see flowers bloom on time. Climate change killed many species, including flowers and trees, in the Korean Peninsula. Global warming would disrupt the blooming of buds, posing a great threat to the environment. Yet, with the final contribution to the climate change battle thanks to the power of hydrogen, Mother Nature thankfully started bringing back flowers, including cherry blossoms, to the lives of South Koreans.

Disclaimer:

The opinions expressed are purely those of the authors and in no case can they be considered as an official position of the organizations.

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The information presented here is based on available public information from announced projects. In any case it can not be considered a guarantee of what may or may not happen in the future. The author(s) reserve(s) the right to include additional fictional projects or features for the solely purpose of this story.

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E.g. for case of South Korea, one case see full scale of fantastic (2022/2023) orientation for Hydrogen technology progress from a 2022 list of firms who were advertised at Global Hydrogen summit in spring 2023:

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·??????Doosan Fuel Cell Co., Ltd.

·??????WONIL T&I CO., LTD.

·??????S-Fuelcell Co., Ltd.

·??????Bumhan Fuel Cell Co.,Ltd.

·??????EM SOLUTION Co.,Ltd.

·??????Daeha Co., Ltd.

·??????JNTG Co., Ltd.

·??????GUARDNEC Co., Ltd.

·??????HI AIR KOREA Co., Ltd.

·??????Yuhan Precision

·??????G-philos Co., Ltd.

·??????M&S Korea Co., Ltd.

·??????SDG Co., Ltd.

·??????K-Tech Co., Ltd.

·??????Sam Jung ENC Co. Ltd.

·??????Valmax Technology Corporation

·??????SGT Co., Ltd.

·??????NEXPLUS Co., Ltd.

·??????ANN Partners Co., Ltd.

·??????Esquare ENC Co., Ltd.

·??????LK Energy Co., Ltd.

·??????Saemchan Energy Co., Ltd.

·??????Youngdo Ind. Co., Ltd.

·??????CNL Energy Co., Ltd.

·??????SPG Industry Co., Ltd.

·??????SPG Hydrogen Co., Ltd.

·??????Changshin Chemical Co., Ltd.

·??????Seyang ENG Co., Ltd.

·??????KNP Corporation

·??????JIS Co., Ltd.

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This is to say, the chapter above, is not meant to be exhaustive but rather inviting to explore opportunities further.

This is just a chapter of the complete book that we will be released as a free update to “Touching Hydrogen Future” (2nd edition), to be downloaded in late 2023 from?www.europeangasmarket.eu ?.

Notes:

1) https://unfccc.int/sites/default/files/resource/LTS1_RKorea.pdf.

2) For the Jeju province’s drive for green hydrogen production, see https://www.motie.go.kr/motie/ne/presse/press2/bbs/bbsView.do?bbs_cd_n=81&cate_n=1&bbs_seq_n=166109

3) https://www.newsworld.co.kr/detail.htm?no=9573.

4) POSCO announced its plan of complete transition to hydrogen reduction by 2050 with its advanced HyRex technology. https://newsroom.posco.com/en/special-project-for-great-conversion-to-low-carbon-eco-friendly-steelmaking-process-%e2%91%a0-hyrex/

5) POSCO announced its plan of complete transition to hydrogen reduction by 2050 with its advanced HyRex technology. https://newsroom.posco.com/en/special-project-for-great-conversion-to-low-carbon-eco-friendly-steelmaking-process-%e2%91%a0-hyrex/

6) https://www.h2news.kr/news/article.html?no=10520.

7) For the concept of so-called “aquaponics” using hydrogen generated water, https://www.hyundai.com/worldwide/en/company/newsroom/hyundai-uses-ix35-fuel-cell-to-grow-food-0000002047.

8) For the technology or HT PEMC by a Korean company named Dong-A Fuel Cell Co., Ltd., see the company’s website. https://www.dongafuelcell.com/products.html.

9) https://tech.hyundaimotorgroup.com/fuel-cell/fcev.

10) Liquid hydrogen will become more available with the development of zero boil-off system by Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute in 2021. https://www.keri.re.kr/_prog/_board/?mode=V&no=12307&code=sub0601&site_dvs_cd=kr&menu_dvs_cd=0601&skey=&sval=&s_date_y=&s_date_m=&GotoPage =

?Other Korean corporation like Hyundai Rotem, SK and Hyosung seek to produce liquid hydrogen for hydrogen buses and trucks, while building liquid hydrogen fueling stations.

11) For the Hydrogen Economy Roadmap 2019 (in Korean), see https://www.motie.go.kr/common/download.do?fid=bbs&bbs_cd_n=81&bbs_seq_n=161262&file_seq_n=2.

12) For The Hydrogen Economy Roadmap 2019 (in Korean), see https://www.motie.go.kr/common/download.do?fid=bbs&bbs_cd_n=81&bbs_seq_n=161262&file_seq_n=2 .

13) For the provisions of The Act for Nurturing Hydrogen Economy and Safety Management (in Korean), https://www.law.go.kr/%EB%B2%95%EB%A0%B9/%EC%88%98%EC%86%8C%EA%B2%BD%EC%A0%9C%EC%9C%A1%EC%84%B1%EB%B0%8F%EC%88%98%EC%86%8C%EC%95%88%EC%A0%84%EA%B4%80%EB%A6%AC%EC%97%90%EA%B4%80%ED%95%9C%EB%B2%95%EB%A5%A0

14) For the full plan (in Korean), https://www.motie.go.kr/motie/ms/nt/announce2/bbs/bbsView.do?bbs_seq_n=67130&bbs_cd_n=6 .?