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LatAmOil NEWSBASE’S ROUNDUP GLOBAL (NRG) LatAmOil

NRG: The blue-green future

Energy consumers and producers are evaluating how the arrival of hydrogen as a
mainstream source of fuel will affect their environmental, political and financial goals

COMMENTARY WELCOME to the latest edition of NewsBase’s towards carbon neutrality. Blue hydrogen is pro-
Roundup Global (NRG), in which our team of duced from gas using steam methane reforming,
international editors provide you with a snap- while green hydrogen is produced from renewable
shot of some of the key issues affecting their energy using electrolysis.
regional beats. Get the NRG Oil & Gas Editor’s In both production processes, hydrogen is
Picks to your inbox every week for free. Just sign combined with nitrogen to form ammonia to ena-
up here. ble it to be shipped as a liquid. Ammonia does not
The world’s largest energy consumers and pro- produce any on-site carbon emissions when con-
ducers have begun to evaluate how the emergence sumed in a power plant.
of hydrogen as a mainstream alternative to hydro- At the moment, however, blue hydrogen is
carbons will affect their economies. the more cost-effective of the two options, which
A growing wave of governments and compa- could well buy proponents of gas-based production
nies are committing to carbon neutrality within enough time to prove CCS’ ability to offset the asso-
the next 30 years, with many banking on hydrogen ciated emissions.
becoming a major source of clean energy supply
within that timeframe. With the world’s major Africa’s green hydrogen potential
economies actively seeking to reduce their emis- The International Energy Agency (IEA) believes
sions, oil and gas producers find themselves faced that the shift toward hydrogen energy has the
with a very uncertain future. potential to benefit Africa.
As such, more and more gas producers and In its Energy Technology Perspectives 2020
exporters are beginning to tout the economic and report, published on September 10, the agency
environmental viability of blue hydrogen coupled said it expected regions and countries with low-
with carbon capture and storage (CCS) technol- cost renewable generating capacity to lead the way
ogy. Climate activists, on the other hand, argue that in green hydrogen production through electrolysis.
green hydrogen represents the only realistic path It named Africa as one such region.

P6 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 39 01•October•2020