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MEOG NEWSBASE’S ROUNDUP GLOBAL (NRG) MEOG

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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

GLOBAL WELCOME the latest edition of NewsBase’s does not produce any on-site carbon emissions
Roundup Global (NRG), in which our team of when consumed in a power plant.
international editors reviews how the adoption At the moment, however, blue hydrogen is
of hydrogen is progresssing in their regional the more cost-effective of the two options, which
beats. Get the NRG Oil & Gas Editor’s Picks to could well buy proponents of gas-based produc-
your inbox every week for free. Just sign up here. tion enough time to prove CCS’ ability to offset
the associated emissions.
THE world’s largest energy consumers and pro-
ducers have begun to evaluate how the emer- Africa’s green hydrogen potential
gence of hydrogen as a mainstream alternative The International Energy Agency (IEA) believes
to hydrocarbons will affect their economies. that the shift toward hydrogen energy has the
A growing wave of governments and compa- potential to benefit Africa.
nies are committing to carbon neutrality within In its Energy Technology Perspectives 2020
the next 30 years, with many banking on hydro- report, published on September 10, the agency
gen becoming a major source of clean energy said it expected regions and countries with low-
supply within that timeframe. With the world’s cost renewable generating capacity to lead the
major economies actively seeking to reduce their way in green hydrogen production through
emissions, oil and gas producers find themselves electrolysis. It named Africa as one such region.
faced with a very uncertain future. This optimism appears to be justified, as a num-
As such, more and more gas producers and ber of European entities are mulling hydrogen
exporters are beginning to tout the economic and projects in Africa. For example, Italy’s Snam and a
environmental viability of blue hydrogen coupled think-tank known as The European House-Am-
with carbon capture and storage (CCS) technol- brosetti concluded in a recent joint study that solar
ogy. Climate activists, on the other hand, argue that farms in North Africa would be able to turn out
green hydrogen represents the only realistic path green hydrogen at a price up to 15% lower than
towards carbon neutrality. Blue hydrogen is pro- comparable Italian facilities. The study suggested
duced from gas using steam methane reforming, that Italy team up with North African countries to
while green hydrogen is produced from renewable serve as a “land bridge” to the European market.
energy using electrolysis. Snam and the think-tank unveiled their
In both production processes hydrogen is study shortly after Germany and Niger struck
combined with nitrogen to form ammonia to an agreement on the expansion of their existing
enable it to be shipped as a liquid. Ammonia hydrogen partnership into other West African

Week 39 30•September•2020 www. NEWSBASE .com P13