Definition of Green Hydrogen

When we talk about the color of hydrogen, we refer to the matter used for its generation and the amount of carbon dioxide used for its production. That is why we normally hear about green, blue or gray hydrogen. Green hydrogen, which we focus on in this article, is that which is produced from natural resources. renewables that generate renewable energies that give rise to hydrogen, as is the case of energy alone or wind.

To differentiate and understand the general concept and anecdotally, it is said that gray hydrogen is that produced from natural gas (fuel fossil and energy non-renewable) while blue hydrogen is obtained from carbon.

energies in the world

Just as you hear about biomass, biofuels, energy transition, economy circular, renewable energy, all these concepts are closely linked to each other and green hydrogen does not escape this new energy era in which non-renewable energy is sought to be replaced by "clean" energy and "sustainable". Well, why hydrogen? Neither more nor less, because it is an excellent alternative to store energy that allows the development of fuels or

electricity. Likewise, like biomass, energy production does not emit polluting gases in a significant way, since the only product generated is water vapor and the Hydrogen is an easily transportable element that is capable of being used as an energy source to move ships and planes, which is why it is said to be the energy of the future.

Besides, it's the chemical element most abundant on the planet, most of the bodies of our planet and our solar system are made up mostly of hydrogen and, despite the fact that we always associate it with a gas, it also appears in a liquid state when it is subjected to certain conditions of temperature and pressure.

Well, its ability to storage of energy, this being clean energy without the release of greenhouse gases.

When we talk about energy of the future, we are referring to a stage of energy transition: decarburization. Put aside the fossil fuels The production of energy is a long process that requires changes at an industrial, cultural and economic level. However, there are many countries that are challenging themselves in the coming years to achieve this. In this change, green hydrogen plays a fundamental role. In Chile, the first liters of gasoline are already being produced from green hydrogen and in fields where it is very difficult to produce electricity, such as ships, planes, trucks and even the mining industry, green hydrogen and synthetic fuels have high potential for application.

Now, the big question is how you get from hydrogen to produce gasoline. Well, hydrogen combined with carbon dioxide makes it possible to produce methanol and this is refined in processing and undergoes various heat treatments that result in synthetic and origin gasoline renewable.

Green hydrogen in the world

Chile is not a pioneer in this regard, but it is one of the first countries in Latin America to launch tests on a pilot scale. However, countries such as Germany, the United States and some of the Middle East have already directed their renewable energies in the production and hydrogen. Countries like Argentina have high production potential, if we look at some European countries, the number of hours that the wind blows per year to generate electricity from 20 to 25%, while in Argentine Patagonia this factor rises to more than 70%, which turns out to be the wind a very attractive resource for the generation of wind power and for the production and green hydrogen at very low cost.

Now, if it's so cheap and clean, why isn't it widely used? Hydrogen has a main disadvantage which is its high flammability, this conditions the forms of transport and storage and makes it considerably more expensive. these processes, in addition to requiring great care in their management to avoid accidents, which today continues to be one of the greatest challenges of the industry.

In this sense, the costs of green hydrogen production are also conditioned by the way in which this element can be extracted. Traditionally, hydrogen was extracted from the separation of this element with others of nature such as oxygen (from the water molecule) or carbon dioxide where it is combined to form hydrocarbons, processes that require large amounts of energy. For this reason, the greatest challenge today is to promote the production of this element from renewable energies. renewable, which should be less expensive and cleaner and safer and from there the famous "hydrogen green".