Paths to hydrogen in Brazil

The biggest challenge facing hydrogen producers around the world is the lack of viable business models. Technology and productivity are still being pursued. There is no shortage of applications and places to decarbonize. There is still a need for more support policies and subsidies, even across the developed world. The strategy established by businesspeople is for the development of the hydrogen market to be sustainable within a decade.

Information released by the “Massachusetts Institute of Technology” (MIT) indicates that hydrogen fuel costs around US$5 per kilogram to produce. The goal is to reduce it to US$1 per kilo. The reduction in the price of this fuel must be 80% in relation to the current level to guarantee its viability.

Several metropolitan regions and cities need to decarbonize and begin this transition process to clean energy sources free of carbon emissions. Installing solar energy panels on roofs or on top of buildings is expected to continue and be a growing trend. Wind farms must follow successive waves of repowering their wind turbines. Industries and various solutions for transporting cargo and people must have hybrid solutions in energy consumption, probably including the use of hydrogen in their processes.

According to the United Nations (UN/COP 27/2022), the “Sustainable Development Goal (SDG)” numbered “number seventeen” and which contemplates partnerships and means of implementation for sustainable development is one of the most challenging. It is the SDG that requires integration between finance, technology, technical training, global trade integration without tariff barriers and the establishment of multisectoral partnerships, among other challenges to achieve this development.

According to the UN, there are four indicators that prove the existence of climate change on Earth. The first is the high concentration of carbon in the atmosphere, which is causing the greenhouse effect. The second is a significant rise in sea levels. The third is rising ocean temperatures and the fourth is ocean acidification. According to the institution, these four indicators have been successively setting new records. Based on the annual evolution of these indicators, the UN claims that there is a clear sign that human activity is causing changes on a planetary scale. This change dramatically and lastingly affects the very existence of life on the planet.

With this diagnosis, the UN indicates that the key to facing this crisis is to end our dependence on energy generated from fossil fuels, which are the sources that generate carbon, the main responsible for climate change. The institution warns that renewable and clean energy technologies such as hydroelectric, wind and solar already exist and, in most cases, are cheaper than coal and other fossil fuels. He assesses, then, that without renewable energy, there can be no future for human beings on Earth.

Hydrogen is considered clean energy because its combustion results only in water. Its energetic potential is well known and understood. It is the most abundant element in the universe. It currently constitutes a viable option for various applications, allowing industrial use, heating homes and buildings and transport.

Estimates indicate that considering only its application in the transport sector, the use of hydrogen could reduce carbon emissions into the atmosphere by up to 30%. As a source of electrical energy, hydrogen can be used in fuel cells. The cost of fuel cells has been reducing and their technology is gradually being standardized and receiving certifications. For this application, hydrogen meets several requirements, such as storage.

The production of hydrogen receives a type of “seal” due to its origin. It can be obtained in different ways, such as the one that uses high temperatures to separate hydrogen atoms from methane, but its byproducts are carbon monoxide and dioxide, sources of global warming. The hydrogen produced in this way is classified as “gray hydrogen”. Inspection, approval and certification agencies become relevant in this area. There are several other obtaining processes, but the one produced from the electrolysis of water, using renewable sources, such as hydro, solar or wind energy are the only ones established for the production of the product classified as “green hydrogen”. “Green hydrogen” therefore aims to not increase the carbon footprint in energy production, reducing or eliminating the planet’s greenhouse effect.

Hydrogen can be stored and transported by integrating a product such as a hydride, which are compounds formed by two elements, one of which is, necessarily, hydrogen itself. It can also be transported as a hydrocarbon. And in Brazil, it could add more value to ethanol - which has six hydrogen molecules - and which, in addition to being a biofuel, already has several industrial applications.

Brazil occupies an exceptional geopolitical position for hydrogen production in this new market. The country also needs to develop, in addition to the research and development area, several other services such as carbon credit, which can be associated with this market. The country has ethanol, with national distribution and already exported. The ease provided by this distribution and storage structure can promote the use of this product for the production of hydrogen.

In the country, the domestic market for the product is not significant. In principle, its production would be destined primarily for the international market. This product could represent a huge opportunity in the energy business. The Brazilian energy matrix supported by ethanol can bring new opportunities for the product and add more value. Companies will be able to seek new opportunities. These are areas that have not yet been fully mapped on the scale that the energy universe requires.

By Augustine Celso Pascalicchio e Sydnei Marssal de Oliveira, professors at the School of Engineering at Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie