Redefining the renewable hydrogen landscape A practical model for scalable, cost-effective production, offering breakthrough giga-scale production capability
Richard D Colwill InterContinental Energy
G reen hydrogen-based fuels are generally only necessary in situations where no viable alternatives exist. While once hyped as a universal solution, it is now recognised that low-carbon fuels will be critical to the energy transition, albeit in a more targeted manner. Key industrial and transport sectors – such as green steel production, refineries, cement production, long-distance aviation, and shipping – are major sources of CO₂ emissions, and it is in these areas, where direct electrification is challenging, that green hydrogen fuels will play a crucial role. The lowest carbon intensity fuels are ‘e-fuels’, typically developed from renewable energy powering water electrolysis to create hydrogen, which may then be directly employed or further processed to produce ammonia, methanol, or ‘e-SAF’ – sustainable aviation fuels. While policy frameworks and project pipelines have
expanded, real-world large-scale production of e-fuels remains limited. High capital expenditure, complex infrastructure requirements, and inefficiencies related to centralised production continue to present challenges, and market development is slowed by current price points being too high. For hydrogen to support industrial and transport decarbonisation at a competitive scale, a shift in how it is produced, delivered, and priced is required. Traditional production models involve transporting electricity from large-scale wind or solar farms to distinct electrolysis facilities, sometimes located tens or hundreds of kilometres away from the generation site. This leads to energy losses through long-distance transmission and necessitates substantial investment in substations, transformers, and grid infrastructure. These technical and economic burdens are especially pronounced
Upstream
Downstream
Key:
Electrons 8% - 12% losses
Wind in upstream
Wind
Solar
Electrons 8% - 12% losses
Centralised processing
Electrolysis
Hydrogen storage
Hydrogen
Distributed electrolysis
1% - 2% losses
Ammonia production
Ammonia
Distributed processing
Ammonia storage
Ammonia
Distributed processing & storage
Ammonia export
Upstream
Downstream
Figure 1 A hierarchy of siting decisions when setting up a green e-fuels system (in this case, ammonia)
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