There is a huge hunger for hydrogen, says Erwin Cornelis, Programme Manager at ECOS

Q: What opportunities and drawbacks do you think are in line with the field of energy transitions?

A: We are an environmental NGO. It's under that umbrella that we look at the energy transition, including the upcoming hydrogen as part of the energy transition. Looking at it from an environmental perspective, in the case of hydrogen, we see some opportunities, but we also see some drawbacks. 

The main drawback has to do with the primary energy versus the final energy needs, you need quite some primary energy. So first of all, for full decarbonisation, the only true hydrogen that you can use is fully renewable hydrogen. And we are very much in favour of hydrogen which is produced based on renewable electricity without the use of fossil gases, which are connected with carbon capture and storage. We still have too many remaining greenhouse gas emissions in that supply chain for renewable hydrogen as that hydrogen is produced using renewable electricity and electrolysis. 

Although there are also other techniques, this is the most promising route for producing renewable hydrogen, in view of the supply chain. There are a few inefficiencies over there, which are unavoidable, and have to do with the electrolysis process itself, which has an efficiency of about 70%. 

We also have a lot of offsets and a lot of energy losses along the supply chain. Therefore, it's better from our point of view, that the green electrons are used directly by the end consumers to the extent possible, rather than using those green electrons to produce green molecules, which then can cover energy needs. In view of the challenges, Europe will have to cover all its needs for green electrons. Therefore, it's better to use green electrons directly to drive our vehicles and heat our homes instead of using green hydrogen.

Q: Since this is a futuristic proposition on which we are still working in many ways, could green hydrogen be an alternative to solar power, which has been around for decades? And do you believe that green hydrogen is profitable?

A: Direct electrification with solar power will always be more efficient than using renewable hydrogen, which is an indirect electrification. For this reason, solar power should always be the preferred option in those sectors that can use it. Economically, it's still hard to compete with ‘grey hydrogen.’ But there is a huge hunger for hydrogen and a lot of projects on the move. I also saw an article in your magazine about this huge 12-square-kilometer project in Oman. So, I think that quite soon we will have economics of scale and that hydrogen or ammonia and their effects will be presented to the world market at competitive prices.

Q: Since you are an energy expert could you tell us a little bit about the actual problems when it comes to hydrogen being used or supplied, or distributed in the Middle East at a massive scale?

A: I think, that in the Middle East, there might be a challenge in convincing the people that electrification is more beneficial than using hydrogen as fuel. I think this is the first challenge, and this is true not just in the Middle East and Europe but everywhere. You need to have a certain renewable electricity capacity and be able to take most of it, to serve the most final energy. For this, it's better to use the electrons directly. So, I think that is something that might be more needed to explain to the Middle East, where fossil fuels are so easily accessible and people are so used to using fuels, that they do not consider using electrons instead of fuels.

Another challenge is the supply chain. It's not only in Europe, but all over the world, we have a supply chain in place for fuels that need to be adapted for hydrogen. Hydrogen is different and it isn't just another molecule since it has all the characteristics of the molecules that are currently distributed for one such as natural gas. Infrastructure needs to be adaptable too.

Q: When it comes to green hydrogen, there's minimal awareness among young researchers. How can this problem be catered to?

A: Europe will be leading in the use of hydrogen, but there's also been the vision that hydrogen must be renewable. That's why Europe is also collaborating with many parts of the world, including the Middle East. And I think that Europe will present quite a lot of cases demonstrating to the world how renewable hydrogen can be a key component in the energy system, especially in energy-intensive industries. And I think that these cases from the field of practice are the best argument and can also demonstrate to the young how it can work and that it is profitable. I think that it's this is the best solution that we can have. 

I do fully understand the low awareness of green hydrogen amongst the youngest in the Middle East and Europe. They receive messages going in various directions, and it is not easy for them to see the overall picture. So, the energy transition as a whole is a very complex evolution. But the best way to convince them that it can work as well is by looking at cases, which first developed in Europe, and we do hear echoes from Japan, that it is looking into the development of a supply chain.

Q: In the era of startups, what would you say is the best way for governments across the Middle East, probably not just to invest, but to encourage more and more people to start investing in emission-free technologies?

A: Huge projects are coming into the field, like the 12-square-kilometer-project in Oman. This is not a project for startups. This is a project for big companies, which have a vested relationship with a lot of other stakeholders in the supply chain. We have a lot of companies in the supply chain that are also in the financial sector. There are a lot of new technologies that are being built, and going to market maturity, and this creates an opportunity for a startup to embrace those technologies that have come to market maturity, and to develop business models around them. It has to do with smart grids and more digitalization of the energy system. The intermittency of renewable electricity generators is easier to cope with. For hydrogen, there are also opportunities for smaller applications, so the industry can start and try to sell those innovative solutions to the market.

Q: Tell us a little about one of the best projects for hydrogen that could work as an inspiration for the whole of the Middle East.

A: I recently got the explanation of a project in, Denmark, and the plan is to have electrolysis in place with a capacity of 100 megawatts of electrolysis around 2026. Now, they will start with one electrolyser of six megawatts, and then they will multiply it and add more electrolysers to it.

They would like to have also a sustainable industrial estate, so that those electrolysers will be part of an innovative and sustainable new industrial estate, and they are very keen and looking into synergies between the electrolysis process and the processes around so that they also could make use of the oxygen because electrolysis does not only generate hydrogen, it also generates oxygen, as part of a biological process. Also, the electrolysis uses power supplies at low-grade heat as there is a district heating grid nearby.

There are also small solutions to cope with the intermittency of renewable electricity production with demand; site management of the companies and storage, so that while they have an optimal balance between the intermittent supply of renewable electricity, and the demand on one hand, on the other hand, they try to take most of it. So, they look at electrolysis as something to be integrated in the best possible way with the environment at lower risk, maximize the number of operational hours, and also have site revenues next to hydrogen as well as from the oxygen so that they have, from a financial point of view, a more viable project which then also can be a steppingstone for a bigger hydrogen economy within Denmark.

Q: How do you think green hydrogen will change the sustainability picture 10 years from today?

A: If I look at the projects that are on the move, the international collaborations that are set up between Europe and the Middle East and other continents, and ships that are being built to convey hydrogen or hydrogen benefits from one continent to another, it's an award and I am quite confident that within 10 years hydrogen will be visible. If you see the energy balance and those charts of energy flows, then it will be visible as an energy carrier. That's my conviction because some sectors will still rely on fuel. 

One of the advantages of hydrogen is that it is a fuel. And fuel has the advantage that you can store it for some time, which is harder when it comes to electrons. Molecules are easy to store, and electrons are fairly difficult to store due to the high cost. Not all end users can have a connection to the electricity grid. 

Talking about aviation, for instance, there are no power lines in the air, chips, or other applications that have a specific thermal. So, electricity terminates at a very high temperature.

This is not something that you can easily electrify. So, for those sectors, there is a need for fuel and hydrogen, to present themselves as a renewable solution for existing fuels. That's why a lot of companies and countries are eager to act on climate and eager to decarbonize by 2050 or 2070. But these strategies that are there need to become the solution for those sectors, which cannot be electrified, and then hydrogen will present itself as a valuable solution, especially in view of the large projects that we now see being developed. It's really something that's on the move, it will be a commodity that will be traded within 10 years. It's hard to predict to what extent, but it will be there.

Q: Do tell us more about yourself, your journey in energy efficiency, and the renewable energy sector. Also tell us about your favourite movie, book or quote.

A: I've been here for more than 25 years in the field of energy, so I have a long history. I started my career working for a gas utility that was the natural gas provider in Belgium, so, I have a good understanding of the gas system, and I have witnessed the liberalization of the gas markets. 

About 20 years ago, I decided to change my career, and then I joined a research institute on environmental issues and energy. At first, I was working in transport, but gradually it was more to do with running a program for industrial energy efficiency and overseeing a program for energy efficiency on behalf of the Belgian government. 

So, I also have a good understanding of industrial energy efficiency and its policies. I have been working on schemes, and green certificates for renewable electricity, and about eight years ago, also gained experience in that. I've worked on the energy efficiency obligation schemes for utilities and experienced the social policy instrument and how that can work. 

Gradually also moved to renewable heat potential cogeneration as an element in the energy system, the development of district heating grids, which we need to cope with in the north of Belgium about 15 years ago.

I also did some studies for the European Commission and worked for a consultancy company that was looking at energy efficiency solutions. At present, I am working for an environmental NGO, first for a Belgian NGO, and finally for ECOS, an international NGO advocating for environmentally friendly technical standards, policies and laws.

My favourite film is a French movie, Wages of Fear (French: Le Salaire de la Peur), which is a film from 1953.

And a favourite quote, well, that would be from my mother who would say, “Do what you say you will do and say what you're going to do.”