Hydrogen: Russia's Energy Future?

Not by the end of this financial year, I can assure you of that. However, it is estimated by "experts" that in 10 years Europe should have at least 30 million zero-emission cars, and by 2050 almost all cars, including trucks and buses, should be environmentally friendly. We must not forget to add aviation and sea transport. After all, this has been set out in the "strategy for sustainable and smart mobility" of the European Union. We all know if Brussels inks it, it will happen... we think. So, what about Russia?

This move to hydrogen is not just about electric vehicles. It is assumed that machinery will also run on hydrogen. More precisely, on hydrogen fuel cells, where electricity is generated, which drives the motor. In February, the first hydrogen-fueled buses hit the roads of Madrid, and in the UK, London authorities have already announced that urban transport will completely switch to hydrogen by 2037. Some automakers are already producing hydrogen cars: Toyota (Mirai), Honda (Clarity), Hyundai (Nexo), Mercedes-Benz (GLC F-Cell, recharges from an AC outlet if necessary), BMW (X5 i Hydrogen Next). OK, so what about Russia?

Finally, in Russia "AvtoVAZ " in 2019 presented a prototype hydrogen car based on the Lada Kalina. Within a year, the developers were tasked to create a series production model, but they've been mysteriously silent since then. Commercial cargo movers have not been idle as at the end of 2020 Hyundai began supplying customers with their first hydrogen trucks. In Russia, a company called "Evokargo" unveiled a truck drone that uses hydrogen.

Hydrogen is also finding its renewed use in aviation. ZeroAvia, a California startup with Russian roots, has been developing hydrogen-electric aircraft since 2017. They managed to attract $37.7 million in investment in three years, including funds from Bill Gates and Amazon.

To date, this only concerns small planes, and distances of up to 800 km. The ZeroAvia prototype was approved by the US Federal Aviation Administration in 2019, and its maiden flight took place in the fall of 2020. It is said that ten airlines have shown sparky interest, including British Airways.

The Institute of Problems of Chemical Physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences in the town of Chernogolovka near Moscow is probably the most environmentally friendly, hydrogen-positive technology area in Russia. Small airplanes, drones, in sum everything here runs or is being designed to run on hydrogen. It is called the fuel of the future, with no harmful emissions into the atmosphere. Wherever there is water and electricity, hydrogen can be produced as high-quality fuel. And these are the first serial installations for the production of hydrogen in Russia. Such mini-installations are completely produced by Poly-com, Ltd., in Chernogolovka and are already being sent to hydrogen aficionados, researchers, customer power plants, even including nuclear.

It is worth noting that a kilogram of hydrogen provides about three times more energy than a kilogram of diesel or gasoline. That is good news for energy efficiency, but the devil is in the details as usual. For example, if you need to top up in the USA, there are ten hydrogen filling stations, in Germany fifty hydrogen filling stations, in Russia - one filling station for hydrogen (you guessed it - in Chernogolovka). To be fair, the rest of the world can't brag as in most countries they don't have any... yet. Another hurdle is the cost of retail available hydrogen. It is still several times more than diesel or gasoline as there is no economics of scale to lower costs. Infrastructure is still not at an inflection point.

There are several ways to get hydrogen. The first is to process hydrocarbon feedstock (natural gas or coal). It is an energy-intensive process that produces significant amounts of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas that causes climate change. Hydrogen obtained by this method is not considered environmentally friendly, therefore it is called "gray" hydrogen.

There is "green" hydrogen - it is obtained by the electrolysis of water (decomposition of a substance into its constituent parts under the influence of current). If electricity for this process is generated from renewable sources it is considered harmless to nature. When people talk about hydrogen as the fuel of the future, they're talking green hydrogen. An intermediate option is "blue" hydrogen when carbon dioxide is captured and stored during the production of "gray" hydrogen.

The production of "green" and "blue" of hydrogen is expensive. The cost of producing "green" hydrogen is $3-4 per kilogram. This is about three times more expensive than "gray" ($ 1-2), but half as much as 10 years ago and continues to improve with technological innovation. In addition, installations for the production of green or blue hydrogen are few. Therefore, the world's "gray" hydrogen today accounts for about 99% hydrogen available.

Of the 70 million tons of hydrogen produced in the world about half is consumed by the chemical industry. The rest is distributed between oil refining (43%) and the production of steel, semiconductors, and thermoplastic glass.

Where is Russia's place in the hydrogen future world? If all goes swimmingly, and today's experts are correct, almost a quarter of the world's energy needs will be covered by hydrogen by 2050, and its price will equal the cost of natural gas, according to Bloomberg. By that time according to the Hydrogen Council, the global hydrogen market will reach $ 2.5 trillion (today it is approximated at $ 150 billion).

Many countries now have national hydrogen strategies, namely Germany, the Netherlands, France, Norway, Portugal, Spain. In the fall of 2020, such a strategy was confirmed in Russia as well.

Hydrogen exports from Russia should reach 200,000 tons by 2024, and by 2035 should grow to 2 million tons. Today the country produces about 5 million tons of hydrogen per year, which is entirely used by domestic industries. According to the authorities, in 15 years Russia should gain a significant place in the global market - at least 16% green, blue, or grey.

The first major Russian manufacturers of "green" hydrogen will probably be "Rosatom" and "Gazprom". These company's pilot plants will be launched by 2024 based on nuclear power plants, gas production facilities, and gas processing plants. What about the nimbler international players? There is a groundswell of interest from serious groups like Fortescue Future Industries which are looking to Russia as a geographically positive location where to base and build the necessary infrastructure for the commercial development of green hydrogen, and attendant uses. Quite a bit of positive movement as well from Germany and similar. Whatever finally develops, it is good to know that all of Russia's extensive gas pipeline networks can, it is said, be dual-used to carry hydrogen as well. Not a bad distribution matrix.