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Hydrogen production on the high seas: "Must minimize the impact as much as possible"

2022-10-17T05:24:25.755Z


Hydrogen, best produced with wind power on the high seas, is considered the magic gas with which industry is to be green and climate change combated. Is that realistic, where does Germany stand here, what consequences does this have for the seas? A conversation with the top scientist Corinna Schrum.


Enlarge image

Industrial perspective: Great hopes are attached to hydrogen production on the high seas with wind power (here simulation with a central H2 production platform in the North Sea off Helgoland).

Industry invests billions, the state supports research with amounts in the hundreds of millions.

Photo: Jakob Martens / AquaVentus

Ms. Schrum, the Chancellor recently campaigned for liquefied natural gas in the Persian Gulf and also intensively for investments in the technology for generating green hydrogen.

A few weeks ago, the Baltic Sea countries agreed to increase offshore wind power by 700 percent by 2030.

In the North Sea, it is expected to increase by 400 percent at the same time.

The energy crisis is driving politics in front of it.

Did she let the topic of climate-neutral energy carriers and energy sources slide for too long?

Corinna Schrum:

Politicians have been promoting research into new technologies for decades.

I cannot judge whether it was possible much earlier to get more involved in practical implementation and to create the framework conditions for increased investment.

The energy transition and the installation of large offshore wind farms are complex logistical processes in which, in addition to the question of economic viability and the legal framework, questions of social acceptance, the infrastructure and technological possibilities of production and storage as well as questions of nature conservation must be considered.

In the consideration, a slower transition was opted for, certainly in order to keep the economic burden and the effects on the production site lower.

The current conflict in Ukraine, with all its consequences for the further use of gas as a bridging technology, then came as a surprise to most Europeans and these plans were shattered.

We are now faced with the difficult task of moving forward with the expansion in a very short space of time.

Is it ultimately the current energy price shock that is paving the way for regenerative energy sources?

One thing is obvious: the current crisis is acting like a catalyst at the moment.

It is now important to involve all stakeholders, including consumers, in the conversion of our energy landscape and, in addition to suitable infrastructure measures, to also think about nature conservation and other uses and to involve them at an early stage.

This requires appropriate planning, but also a better understanding of the effects on ecosystems.

In addition, the framework conditions must be optimized so that a corresponding investment volume can be raised and the measures can be implemented quickly.

Olaf Lies, SPD Environment Minister from Lower Saxony, recently promised: "We will manage the rapid expansion of offshore wind power in harmony with the environment and nature".

For the goal of 70 gigawatts, the line capacities would have to be massively expanded, half the Wadden Sea would have to be plowed up, the BUND fears.

So if more offshore wind power and more security of supply always come at the expense of nature - do we have to accept this equation?

In addition to the adverse effects on the marine environment resulting from the installation of the wind farms and the associated infrastructure, the operation also has an impact on the marine environment.

Each wind turbine represents a small obstacle in the sea, which leads to complex turbulence, sediment movements and current changes in the wind farms.

Small artificial reefs and additional habitat are created on the structures.

For some species of seabirds and marine mammals, however, there are also additional dangers and impairments.

In addition to the local effects in the immediate vicinity of the wind turbines, there will also be long-range effects that go far beyond the areas of the wind farms.

Which consequences do you mean?

Considerable energy is withdrawn from the atmosphere, which means that currents and the mixing in the water will also change over a large area.

This will have an impact on the ecosystem in the North Sea and Baltic Sea.

Our findings suggest that patterns of plankton production may shift in the future, resulting in both negative and positive changes of the order of 10 percent and more.

Such changes can propagate into the ecosystem and affect marine mammals and seabirds in addition to species and stock shifts in fish.

What does this mean for protected areas like the Wadden Sea?

Large wind farms and the necessary infrastructure can have an impact on marine protected areas – whether positively or negatively is still unknown.

Our results indicate that there will be shifts in the ecosystem and not a general decrease in productivity, i.e. less plankton.

That sounds more complex than you might think and difficult to calculate.

Yes, all these changes are complex and not yet fully explored.

This also applies to the pollution caused by the operating and supply noise at offshore wind farms and the emitted pollutants.

However, it is to be expected that changes and burdens will arise.

Followed up again: Do we have to accept these burdens?

If we as a society decide to go offshore for energy production - yes, to a certain extent we certainly have to.

Just as we have to accept changes from agriculture, forestry, settlement, mining and industry on land.

However, we must ensure that the impact is as small as possible, but it will not work entirely without it.

It is also important that we weigh up the consequences here, as well as on land, and come to suitable compensation and marine protection measures to ensure sustainable use in the North Sea and Baltic Sea.

We must avoid far-reaching damage from the energy transition and, to do this, research the effects of these technologies urgently and quickly.

You conduct intensive research yourself on these topics.

Yes, we are dealing with the effects of the increased use of the North Sea and Baltic Sea as part of a large, interdisciplinary program of the German Alliance for Marine Research, the research mission SustainMare.

We also consider the significant increase in offshore wind energy production.

In the "CoastalFutures" project, we are developing appropriate future scenarios for the expansion of wind energy and investigating the effects on marine ecosystems.

However, this is only a beginning and many questions remain unanswered.

Hydrogen produced with green electricity is considered a beacon of hope that could replace fossil fuels, at least in heavy goods traffic and in industry.

So it makes sense to produce green hydrogen directly on the high seas with wind turbines.

Industry protagonists say that by 2035, 1 million tons of green hydrogen could be produced annually in the North Sea off Heligoland alone?

Is this realistic?

Compared to the current German annual production of around 400 million tons of hydrogen, one million tons of green hydrogen is only a first step in the right direction.

However, the entry into industrial production is an important milestone on the way to cost reduction: Currently, the production of green hydrogen is four times as expensive as the production of hydrogen from fossil fuels.

The energy currently required to produce one kilogram of hydrogen is around 53 kilowatt hours of electricity.

This means that 6 gigawatts must be continuously available off Helgoland for the desired amount of green hydrogen.

For such a challenge, politics, research and industry must work closely together and the support of the population must also be guaranteed.

Four institutes of the Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon are involved in research in H2Mare, the federal government's hydrogen flagship project.

In your opinion, what are the arguments in favor of the offshore production of green hydrogen?

The implementation of new technologies, in which wind energy is transported, stored and used as chemical energy rather than electrical energy, has the potential to harvest wind energy independently of power grid capacities.

This could mean that fewer submarine cables are needed than if the electricity had to be conducted directly to shore.

The offshore production of green hydrogen is ideal where power grid connections are difficult or particularly expensive.

Offshore hydrogen production near the wind turbines with transport via pipeline is more cost-effective than transporting the electrical energy and hydrogen production on land.

In the case of large distances from the coast, the intervention in the sea ecosystem can be reduced by creating isolated solutions.

You mention the costs: A study commissioned by the industry compared three variants.

1. Hydrogen production on the high seas and transportation by pipeline.

2. Alternative transport by ship.

3. Hydrogen production on land with offshore wind power.

With regard to costs and environmental compatibility, the study sees variant 1 as having a clear advantage.

Do I understand you correctly that you share the results of the study?

With regard to the installation and operating costs, this seems plausible to me at first, but I am no expert here and cannot make a final judgment on this.

In the current H2Mare research project, however, various partner institutions are jointly investigating which of the options mentioned can function logistically with the least disruption.

In addition to the logistical issues, the legal framework also plays an important role.

Therefore, the decision for one of the options within the framework of H2Mare has not yet been made.

With regard to environmental compatibility, this has not yet been fully clarified in my opinion.

Enlarge image

The path of hydrogen at a glance

Photo: BDEW

How to solve the question of storage and transport?

As previously mentioned, the hydrogen can be transported by pipeline or stored at sea and then transported by ship.

As far as storage is concerned, another institute at the Helmholtz Center Hereon, headed by my colleague Professor.

Thomas Klassen has been researching innovative solutions for a long time.

In addition to being stored in a liquid state or as a compressed gas, hydrogen can also be stored in metal hydrides.

This method is particularly efficient because it can be coupled directly to electrolysers without compressors, and these storage systems are also very compact and safe.

This opens up completely new possibilities for storage and transport.

You mentioned that hydrogen produced offshore could relieve the power grid.

How should I imagine that?

If wind energy is not transported as electrical energy, but as chemical energy in the form of hydrogen, which is stored and used later, our power grids are drastically relieved and the problem of uneven energy production by the wind is reduced.

Locating energy-intensive industries close to production is another option.

And there is one more benefit.

Which?

The costs of by-products of hydrogen production, such as ammonia and methanol, could fall significantly.

Ammonia and methanol are important starting materials in the chemical industry, which are currently produced with a significant use of primary energy.

Their climate-neutral production would be an important contribution on the way to German climate neutrality.

What disadvantages of the production of green hydrogen do you see?

The production of green hydrogen is associated with energy losses, so for a completely climate-neutral energy production we would have to increase the production of renewable energies additionally.

In addition, the industrial use of the marine ecosystem with offshore electrolysis is once again being significantly intensified.

Additional shipping traffic or pipelines and electrolysis at sea result in further pollution of the marine environment.

The level of pollution in the sea, caused by corrosion and emissions, for example, can also increase.

The electrolysis also produces significant amounts of brine locally.

Whether these, with large-scale generation, also result in large-scale changes in the sea that have the potential to change the flow conditions in the sea and thus also the ecosystem on a larger scale,

we don't know at the moment.

Corresponding investigations and the development of strategies to minimize the impact on the marine environment is the subject of current research.

In campaigns, some things look so simple: An offshore wind turbine, an electrolyser at the foot of the wind turbine and then transporting the hydrogen away via pipelines or ship.

It's probably not that simple.

What is the biggest challenge in generating green hydrogen on the high seas?

The logistical requirements are much greater on the high seas than on land.

The installations, but also the removal, must also take place when the sea is sufficiently calm.

In addition, much stronger environmental influences act on the systems than on land, which can lead to additional corrosion damage or mechanical damage.

Storms and extreme waves at sea, which also occur again and again in German coastal waters, have a significant potential for destruction and place demands on the materials to be used.

In addition, the seawater has to be treated, which places new demands on the membranes used in the electrolysis

.

Last year, the federal government predicted that Germany would be able to produce at most 15 percent of its own requirements for green hydrogen by 2030.

Where else could the source of energy come from if too little green electricity is available

?

As part of the H2Mare lead project, the production of green hydrogen and downstream products is being researched as an isolated solution.

The island - i.e. a system without a connection to the mains network - can then also be operated at other locations.

For example, offshore outside German territorial waters or in areas with a high yield of solar energy.

Importing is also an alternative to in-house production.

Politicians are working intensively on this, one example being the hydrogen agreement with Canada.

Source: spiegel

All news articles on 2022-10-17

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