News - Green hydrogen 2024
January 2024
Important decisions for the future of green hydrogen in the last year. An outlook for 2024.
On the way to the energy supply of the future with climate-neutral hydrogen
The production of climate-neutral hydrogen is an important cornerstone in the transformation of industry, the transport sector and the energy business on the path to sustainability and climate neutrality. In the future, the world will need large quantities of so-called green hydrogen from the sun and wind. To ensure that it is available in sufficient quantities in the future, the technical foundations must be laid to split water into oxygen and green hydrogen by means of electrolysis using electricity from renewable energy. The EU member states are currently investing in building the necessary infrastructure and developing the required technologies. In this regard, important steps were taken last year.
How are the parameters for the production of green hydrogen developing?
According to a recent study by the Wuppertal Institute, the market for green hydrogen has the potential to grow significantly in the coming years. This is due to the increasing demand for clean energy sources and the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The German government therefore updated the National Hydrogen Strategy (NHS) for the development and use of green hydrogen in summer 2023 and is aiming to achieve the following goals:
- The aim is to double domestic production capacities and thus build up an electrolysis capacity of 10 gigawatts by 2030.
- The acceleration of the hydrogen market and the expansion of hydrogen application technologies will be significantly increased and the level of ambition along the entire value chain will be massively raised.
- The transport infrastructure will be further expanded and 1,800 kilometres of pipelines will be ready by 2028.
In line with this, the EU Council adopted a new Renewable Energy Directive in October 2023. It states "(...) that industry will need to increase the use of renewable energy annually by 1.6%. Member States agreed that 42% of the hydrogen used by industry should come from renewable fuels of non-biogenic origin (RFNBOs) by 2030 and 60% by 2035." In practice, this means that the hydrogen produced should come primarily from renewable energies in 12 years at the latest.
Water treatment units from Herco for the production of green hydrogen
At Herco, we support the energy transition with our efficient water treatment systems based on chemical-free reverse osmosis. After all, high-purity water is required for the production of green hydrogen, from which the hydrogen is then extracted by electrolysis. We can offer you the right solution for your project.