Source: IEA - 2019
Figure 2 Hydrogen costs from hybrid solar photovoltaic and onshore wind systems in the long term
LOHC: a safe and scalable transportation solution LOHC are a unique way to deliver and store hydrogen by hydrogenating a chemical compound at the site of production and then dehydrogenating it at the demand centres. The transport of hydrogen in LOHC systems has numerous advantages over other carriers such as ammonia and liquid H 2 , as shown in Table 1 : • Safety: equivalent to petroleum products or sustainable fuels • Handling convenience: liquid at ambient conditions, which is more economical as there is no need for expensive refrigeration systems • Lossless transport and storage: there is no material loss through boil-off compared to liquid hydrogen, and LOHC is chemically stable. More importantly, LOHC systems enable the use of existing infrastructure for fuel,
To reconcile supply and demand for green and affordable hydrogen, there is a need for viable, large-scale clean hydrogen transportation solutions. Four hydrogen transportation technologies have the highest potential: pipelines that transport gaseous hydrogen and the three hydrogen transportation vectors ammonia, liquefied hydrogen, and LOHC carriers. On a regional scale, repurposing the natural gas distribution networks over land may be an option. This repurposing to hydrogen may require significant investment, but there is growing confidence, especially in the EU, that this could be done successfully. However, in regions where new pipelines are needed for hydrogen transport, especially over long distances such as in North America from the Gulf Coast to West Coast states, and certainly for oceanic transport, hydrogen carriers could be more competitive.
Power generation Transportation Fuel cell Synthetic fuels Upgrading oil or biomass Industry supply Metal production Chemical/industrial pro c esses Ammonia/fertiliser
H
ATR/SMR & CCS
H
H
+ LOHC
LOHC +
ATR : AutoThermal Reforming SMR : Steam Methane Reforming CCS : Carbon Capture and Storage
Building heat and power
Electrolysis
Figure 3 Using an organic molecule to safely carry H₂ on long distances
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