Hydrogen development is starting to step up globally but the importance of starting small was underlined in the latest 1895 podcast, entitled ‘How to support the hydrogen economy through infrastructure innovation’.
Chuck Hayes, Global Technical Lead of Clean Energy at Swagelok, said, “Keeping systems small, elegant and compact is really the goal. Oil and gas systems use pressure release valves everywhere, but in hydrogen we want to build it with the least amount possible. That leaves you with [fewer] possibilities of leaks.”
He provided listeners with useful geographic and market updates on the podcast.
“Some areas of Asia are taking off like crazy. China, Japan and India are coming up to scale quickly and Indonesia is finally getting off the ground. Canada, in particular Alberta, is coming along, and British Columbia has always been active.
“As for the US, when we find out if the generation tax credits will be in place or not then we’ll know how quick it’s going to go. If they are [retained], the hydrogen hubs will take off. Europe is doing a lot of work on its backbone projects, and there will be a lot of movement by pipeline.”
In terms of hydrogen market development, he identified two clear trends.
“Firstly, there are established, larger companies that have been … producing hydrogen for years, and then there are the new startups that are anxious to capitalise on clean energy opportunities.”
Regardless, he said both camps need to be firmly focused on infrastructure innovation given that “the first goldrush” is over.
“Some of them have great technology but not a lot of knowledge, and that’s an area we can help them,” said Hayes.
“It depends where you’re based. North America is primarily venture capital and small companies having a dream; Europe is a bit different, and [the UK] especially, where we are seeing collaborations through universities.”
“There is a lot of hydrogen in the world but most of the offtakes are called for. So now the problem is we don’t have enough gas where we need it. It’s expensive to compress and put on tube trailers, so there’s been a large discussion … and there’s a price for liquefying, too.”
To listen to the podcast click here