Russia is unlikely to be able to participate in the European "hydrogen revolution"

October 3 2021 36

In connection with the global energy transition, one of the most hype topics in Russia is the question of the possibility of converting already built pipelines from natural gas to hydrogen. Europeans need green hydrogen, but they won't mind blue. In theory, we can give the Old World a new environmentally friendly fuel, fitting into the rapidly changing world the economy, but in practice, this will pose a lot of serious problems.

Most of all, today Europe is interested in "green" hydrogen obtained from plain water by electrolysis using renewable energy sources. Taking into account the fact that the share of renewable energy sources in the total energy balance of Russia is about 1%, there is nothing to offer us so far. However, there is an option with "blue" hydrogen generated from natural gas by steam reforming. In favor of the environmental friendliness of this type of fuel is the fact that in the process of its production they use Technology capturing carbon dioxide that does not enter the atmosphere. There is also an option with "yellow" hydrogen, obtained by electrolysis of water, like "green", but with the help of nuclear energy, and not fashionable renewable sources.

Therefore, we have everything to enter the hydrogen energy market: natural gas, water, nuclear power plants, and technologies for capturing carbon dioxide. It remains only to resolve the issue with the transportation of raw materials, but this is where the main problems may arise. Recently, there have been many proposals to use existing pipeline systems for this, but they are not technologically adapted to this.

The fact is that hydrogen is extremely corrosive to metals, so it cannot be pumped into Nord Stream or Nord Stream 2 in its pure form. Rather, it is possible, only from the pipe soon nothing will remain due to active corrosion. For this reason, there are only two real ways: to upgrade gas pipelines or pump hydrogen in the form of a mixture with natural gas. The latter option is currently being discussed as the most realistic. However, even here everything is not entirely unambiguous.

At first, even a serious dilution of hydrogen with other gases only reduces, but does not eliminate by 100%, the factor of gradual corrosion of the pipeline material, which is not initially adapted to transport this type of raw material.

Secondly, hydrogen is an extremely volatile gas, so when it is pumped over long distances, inevitable losses will occur. The other day, the report of the global service company Schlumberger was somewhat stunned, according to the calculations of which, when trying to deliver hydrogen via Nord Stream-2 from Russia to Germany, losses of this fuel can amount to 75%. These figures, of course, need to be double-checked, but if they are close to the truth, then there is no need to talk about the commercial feasibility of such supplies.

Despite this, Europe is determined to switch to hydrogen. What is this, some kind of global scam?

Not certainly in that way. The EU is really preparing for the implementation of the H2-Startnetz 2030 project for the transportation and storage of hydrogen. There are already 31 plants in Germany that can potentially produce "green" hydrogen from seawater. All of them are located in the west and north-west of Germany, on the coast, and it is planned to connect them with an interconnector to the existing pipeline system. Hydrogen will be immediately pumped over to direct consumers - industrial enterprises of the Federal Republic of Germany, refineries, hydrogen filling stations, etc., and the surplus will accumulate in the underground storage facilities created on the basis of the former salt caverns. This means that in Germany, "green" hydrogen will be generated and consumed immediately, without the need to pump it over gigantic distances. At the same time, the Germans intend to use the previously created gas transmission system. It has already been calculated that about 660 million euros will have to be invested to re-equip it for hydrogen. This is a ridiculous figure for Europe when compared with the multibillion-dollar investments in trunk pipelines that have to be built from scratch.

It turns out that hydrogen is mainly a European topic. Will Gazprom be able to participate in it? Is not a fact. As you can see, in order to pump hydrogen into the EU, even pure, even in the form of a mixture, the pipe must technologically correspond to this type of raw material. This means that Russia has only 3 options.

The first is to start building the hydrogen Nord Stream-3, investing billions in a gas pipeline for which there is no established sales market.

The second option is to re-equip Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 for hydrogen. It is theoretically possible to do this, but practically ... They will have to be stopped, disassembled and removed from the seabed, transported to factories where special insulating layers must be installed inside the pipe sections, then transported back and laid in the Baltic. And this is only a technical component, but there will also be a legal one. Hydrogen is a new type of raw material that was not provided for by the previous project, which means new risks. Consequently, it will be necessary to re-conduct all the examinations, obtain anew permits, undergo certification, and all this in the face of the traditional resistance of the US satellites in Europe. We have not yet tortured Nord Stream 2 with ordinary gas, will it be possible to restart it with hydrogen?

The third option is to master the technology of hydrogen liquefaction and its delivery by tankers. Let's say right away that this is the most dangerous option in every sense of the word. Liquid hydrogen is volatile and extremely explosive. One incident with a leak and an explosion is enough to accuse Russia of producing "hydrogen bombs".

The bottom line is that Gazprom will be able to take part in the "green revolution" in the EU only by supplying gas, which the Germans will convert into "blue" hydrogen locally. What remains for us is to carry out a "green revolution" at home, widely introducing renewable energy sources for the production of products with a zero carbon footprint. Perhaps, in the long term, it’s not bad that Russia will have to forcibly get off the resource-based model of the economy.

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Sergey Latyshev

-1

3 October 2021 11: 08

Some of the data given with might and main flashed earlier in the comments)))
It is unlikely that Gazprom does not know about the disadvantages of hydrogen. But he said - he was ready to pump hydrogen, so he was ready.)))
123

+1

3 October 2021 11: 34

Three pillars and strategic goals of the energy sector of the European Union for the XNUMXst century.

1) Energy competitiveness.
2) Security of energy supply, including through diversification and reduction of dependence on external sources.
3) Environmental protection.

It is in this order that the main thing for them is to ensure the competitiveness of their own industry, to ensure control and free access to external sources of energy resources, and only then the environment.
"Green" hydrogen is preferable for them, because it does not need imported gas. They will strive for this, the whole question is how much the desires will coincide with the possibilities.

Philosophy of the future approach

Pursuing strategic energy goals for the coming years,
The Union must recognize that its projected energy dependence will increase and
it is also necessary to take into account the fact that its increasing integration
presupposes greater solidarity with the energetic choices made by each
Member State and the economic and social dimension of energy policy,
especially with regard to the impact on jobs. Finally, the Union must have
flexibility in defining and implementing energy policy, since
the situation is always subject to change.
(white paper 1995)

https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/IP_95_1418
Bakht

+2

3 October 2021 11: 52

At the same time, the Germans intend to use the previously created gas transmission system. It has already been calculated that about 660 million euros will have to be invested to re-equip it for hydrogen.

I saw a different figure. The EU has pledged over $ 2 trillion for hydrogen energy. Seems like 10 years. This makes 200 billion a year.
With a lack of electrical energy at the moment, Europe is unlikely to spend it on hydrogen production. Today there is a struggle not for hydrogen, but for coal and gas.
Bakht

+1

3 October 2021 12: 01

A 2018 report co-authored with the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, the United Nations and the World Bank found that the world will need about $ 6,9 trillion in new investments annually to meet the global climate targets by 2030.

https://regnum.ru/news/polit/3181606.html

A new European project aims to generate half a million jobs and establish green hydrogen as a € 100bn industry by 2050, raising the question of whether it can overcome the challenges faced by green hydrogen for a generation?

https://www.power-technology.com/features/a-e100bn-hydrogen-industry-challenges-for-the-european-green-hydrogen-acceleration-centre/

As you can see, we are not even talking about millions. The bill goes to billions and trillions.
rotkiv04

-1

3 October 2021 12: 11

Europe is "successfully" switching to green energy from wind turbines and other junk, we already have the result now, it will also be with hydrogen
Petr Vladimirovich

+1

3 October 2021 12: 24

On the question of wind turbines. Does anyone really like to live under a huge tower with a huge propeller on top ... And walk, knowing that there is a 350-volt cable under your feet ...
1. Oleg Valevsky
  
  -4
  
  3 October 2021 13: 34
  
  Quote: Petr Vladimirovich
  Does anyone really like to live under a huge tower with a huge propeller?
  
  It reminded me of the articles of the old Russian press about the first cars ..
  They also grumbled about how you can ride this "kerogaz" if you have a horse and a cart ...))) Did the Russian provinces decide to go into the same river again?
  So maybe the famous decree of Peter the Great on the need for Russian people to shave their beards and wash regularly again raises doubts about practicality ..?))
  1. Petr Vladimirovich
    
    +2
    
    3 October 2021 14: 05
    
    If not a terrible military secret, what country do we live in and how far is the nearest wind turbine from home?
    1. Artyom76
      
      +2
      
      4 October 2021 08: 47
      
      I will tell you a little secret, if you live in a city, especially a big one, then you often walk where you have a cable with a voltage of up to 10000 V under your feet.
      And windmills, yes, nifiga are not a panacea, on an industrial scale they will not save anyone.
  2. Bakht
    
    0
    
    3 October 2021 21: 34
    
    Somehow ten years ago I wanted to take a plot for a country house. Came and looked. 4 wind turbines 100 meters from the site. I did not take measurements, but the feeling is not comfortable. Refused.
    You, as always, twist. No one is against wind turbines where they are profitable. Let's say my city was called "Baku-city of winds". We have a wind almost every day. Windmills are being built. But I would not want to live under them. I wouldn't even want to be 100 meters away.
  3. boriz
    
    0
    
    3 October 2021 23: 13
    
    Russian people washed regularly long before Peter. It was he, apparently drunk, forgot that this should be done. And he forbade beards from a great mind. Who got better from this? Won in the 19th century in Europe, it was considered stupidity to shave a good beard, if the Lord rewarded. Fashion, however ...
    And today's windmills are a source of infrasonic radiation that has a harmful effect on living organisms. And a source of waste that has not yet figured out how to dispose of. The blades are being buried for now. And in some places it has already been forbidden to bury. Not here, in Europe ...
  4. dpu
    
    +1
    
    4 October 2021 07: 04
    
    As for the beards, that's right. Although it was completely possible to do without shaving. But about "" washing regularly "- no need to lie about it, I don't want to. Dirty and smelly Geyropa began to wash regularly only in the middle of the 19th century, and then only in the capitals. And the rest of the Europeans did not even know. The baths were built for years, and it is necessary to recall Princess Anne, who went to Paris in the 1000th century and was struck by the stench of the royal court.
2. The comment was deleted.
NikolayN

+2

3 October 2021 13: 24

Thus, there is no talk of heating private and apartment buildings. Those. natural gas.
To extract hydrogen from water, electric power of the same thermal stations will be required. If they run on gas, then the consumption of natural gas will increase significantly, if on hydrogen, then logically, how much it will be produced, the same amount will be consumed. Remaining nuclear power plants and hydroelectric power plants. In general, we will see.
1. Petr Vladimirovich
  
  +2
  
  3 October 2021 14: 42
  
  Use natural gas to generate hydrogen.
  The cars were on gasoline, diesel, gas.
  Sometimes you twist something in the garage, gasoline and diesel, you need to open the gates, but you don't need to use gas ...
2. Bakht
  
  +2
  
  3 October 2021 21: 39
  
  In Russia, there is a project for the Penzhinskaya tidal power plant. I wonder who is the customer of this TPP in such a remote region?
  
  Company "H2 Clean Energy" and JSC "Corporation for the Development of Kamchatka Krai" begin joint development and preliminary study of the construction project of the Penzhinskaya tidal power plant (Penzhinskaya TPP), located in the Penzhinskaya Bay of the Sea of Okhotsk, in for the further production of hydrogen and / or chemical compounds based on it.
  
  Penzhinskaya Bay is one of the most promising places in the world for the construction of a tidal power plant. Despite previous preliminary studies, the high cost of the project and no need for additional capacity in the Kamchatka power system have long been the constraints in its implementation.
  
  The installed capacity of Penzhinskaya TPP, according to estimates made by design organizations in the 1970s, can up to 100 GW, which corresponds to about 40% of the total installed capacity of power plants of the UES of Russia.
  1. boriz
    
    -1
    
    3 October 2021 23: 07
    
    I wonder who is the customer of this TPP in such a remote region?
    
    If only Shoigu, for their cities. I remember this project from the times of the USSR. They made some noise and forgot.
    There is nowhere to put this energy, even to the cities of Shoigu it is problematic to drag. And what if warming also starts raising the ocean? How to plan and design? After all, such a project is not for 20 years of operation.
    1. Bakht
      
      +1
      
      4 October 2021 10: 37
      
      It is being reanimated because they want to use all the energy for the production of hydrogen. A port and logistics to Japan and China are also planned.
      "Shoigu cities" seem to be not planned there. But there is also talk about supplying these cities with electricity.
    2. Cynic's Corner
      
      +1
      
      5 October 2021 02: 51
      
      In general, the "Lomonosov" (the one that is the floating nuclear power plant) will provide energy for the quarries and in Magadan, Chukotka. From the Penzhinskaya TPP it is not at all difficult to throw cables to Sakhalin along the bottom of the Sea of Okhotsk (if we take it to the West and along the coast, then there are no more than 250 m depths up to Japan), throw power lines across Sakhalin, and then throw cables to Japan, which will buy every kW of willows Sovetskaya Gavan and further to the power grid of the Far East, and there already either to China or South Korea through the North or along the seabed
bobba94

0

3 October 2021 14: 28

For some reason, I remembered airships .... Then they also said that airships would fundamentally change the global transport logistics ....... fill the shell with hydrogen, load the transport platform and carry the cargo almost for nothing to anywhere in the world ......
1. Alex Orlov
  
  -1
  
  5 October 2021 17: 44
  
  Curiously, the airships are making a comeback. Even in the military sphere. It's just a matter of technology, how practical it will be. At the beginning of the twentieth century, airplanes turned out to be better, but now new tasks have appeared, and technologies allow much of what was previously inaccessible.
Zenn

+1

3 October 2021 18: 50

Russia will definitely not be able to participate in the European hydrogen revolution, the revolution has been canceled.
But nothing will prevent us from participating in the use of the funds allocated by the EU for this revolution.
Anchonsha

0

3 October 2021 20: 46

A sophisticated little article very much denies at least any way out of the situation. He leaves only to improve his household chores and generate hydrogen only for his own needs. Marzhetsky, besides, it is unprofitable for Russia to eat its own minerals without exporting them abroad. It is good that we can already live without a needle from the export of energy resources. And why don't we need to get them out of the depths, when the United States began to live already on the export of oil and gas.
boriz

-1

3 October 2021 22: 46

The third option is to master the technology of hydrogen liquefaction and its delivery by tankers. Let's say right away that this is the most dangerous option in every sense of the word. Liquid hydrogen is volatile and extremely explosive. One incident with a leak and an explosion is enough to accuse Russia of producing "hydrogen bombs".

Precisely because hydrogen is volatile, it is not too (in this case) explosive. Goes up quickly, does not accumulate.
But hydrogen becomes liquid at temperatures below -252,87 degrees. Celsius. For comparison, methane is 160 degrees.
Thermal insulation is unrealistic, plus losses on cold bridges .. What materials (for tanks) will withstand such temperatures under a serious load? Plus, the loads are alternating with a terrible force: temperatures vary from positive to - 253 C. Any metal compounds will not withstand.
In fact, the solution to the issue is quite simple.
Demand from the EU a guaranteed schedule of hydrogen consumption by years and financing for the construction of nuclear power plants based on the NNC. In fact, they are no longer a problem. The process is nowhere more environmentally friendly: uranium with an atomic weight of not 235 is used .. They will pay - to build nuclear power plants and send them electricity, let them frolic with hydrogen at home.
I am sure that they will not agree to this, because hydrogen and other "green" energy is the fruit of the insanity of bureaucrats multiplied by the desire to cut money before the collapse of economies, when all the projects are put on the back burner. And about the money spent on them - will be tightly forgotten.
1. Bakht
  
  0
  
  4 October 2021 10: 42
  
  How about storing hydrogen in hydrides?
  
  for the further production of hydrogen and / or chemical compounds based on it.
  1. Bakht
    
    +1
    
    4 October 2021 11: 49
    
    https://www.eriras.ru/files/smozhet_li_vodorod_stat_toplivom_budushchego.pdf
    Page 4
    
    The most studied method of storing chemically bound hydrogen is in the form of metal hydrides, when hydrogen atoms are embedded in the crystal lattice of metals (magnesium, sodium, lithium, lanthanum, and titanium). Transportation and storage of hydrogen in the form of hydrides is relatively safe, since hydrogen under normal conditions is not released from compounds with metals. In addition, the costs directly for the creation of hydride compounds are less than for the liquefaction of hydrogen.
    
    The main positive properties of hydride storage of hydrogen, in comparison with physical methods, are the small volume of space occupied by the installation and the release of hydrogen from individual hydrides at a temperature of 100 ° C.
    
    http://icarbio.ru/articles/hranenie-vodoroda.html
    And this is a schematic diagram of a hydrogen engine
    
    Thus, the hydride is a double-acting accumulator. When a hydride is charged with hydrogen, heat is removed from it; when it is "charged" with heat, hydrogen is removed from it. Therefore, given the same shape and size, a battery has two functions. With a certain combination of various hydrides, it is possible to achieve engine operation without a cooling system radiator with its fan.
    
    In this case, a combination of two hydrides is acceptable, in particular, FeTi hydride provides a cold start, and NiMg hydride supplies hydrogen when the car is moving, due to the heating of the hydride tank with engine exhaust gases
boriz

0

3 October 2021 23: 17

Reusing JV pipes is not serious. Easier to leave where they lie.
But, they will consume gas for a sweet soul, they will not go anywhere.
Evgeny Zhevlonenko

0

4 October 2021 00: 10

And that they did not mention the pyrolysis method, soot is generally obtained there. Novatek will be able to utilize CO2 by pumping it into the reservoir, increasing methane production. Pipelines are not an option for hydrogen. LNG is being transported, well, and hydrogen carriers will do it.
boriz

0

4 October 2021 00: 18

Hydrogen will be immediately pumped over to direct consumers - industrial enterprises of the Federal Republic of Germany, refineries, hydrogen filling stations, etc., and the surplus will accumulate in UGS facilities created on the basis of former salt caverns.

Why send hydrogen to a refinery? It is there and so obtained as a by-product during the process of aromatization of hydrocarbons (about 2% of the mass of the raw material processed by catalytic reforming). And there it is completely consumed in the course of other processes.
Who said that UGS facilities could be used for hydrogen? Even after replacing metal pipes and valves. So far - general words and indications of the need for research.
Not to mention the fact that UGSs in salt are unique. Even a simple UGS facility is a gift from God, a rare combination of geological conditions in one place.
Let's say that St. Petersburg has been powered (since the times of the USSR) to the Inčukalns UGS facility in case of gas pipeline accidents. Not far from Riga. Closer - no. And not in Estonia, and in Lithuania, and in the Leningrad region, and in Finland and in the eastern part of Belarus. And it is not salt, on sandstone.
Therefore, even if salt UGS facilities are suitable (which is not a fact yet), one cannot count on them.
And the rest of the UGS facilities will have a different permeability to hydrogen and a different chemistry of interaction.
This is a question of many years of research in a limited area.
dpu

0

4 October 2021 07: 08

All ideas are aimed at ensuring that the former colonies contain the former metropolises as well as in the 20,19,18, 17, 16, XNUMX, XNUMX centuries. Nothing new in this world. You just need to create competitive products and do without the West.
kimvladimiril

0

4 October 2021 11: 00

The second option is probably more expensive than the first - the easier it is to redesign the joint venture and the joint venture-2 to build a new one. Do you consider hydroelectric power plants to be renewable energy sources?
Cynic's Corner

0

5 October 2021 02: 40
Complete nonsense, 10% of hydrogen in natural gas is transported quite normally through ordinary gas pipelines and there is nothing complicated for modernization there are already inspection inspection in-pipe shells, which can be easily converted into devices for applying a protective coating (yes, the same "raptor" for example) inside the pipes. the author somehow didn’t have a simple thought - what would prevent GazProm from building either a joint venture and a joint venture-2 at its ends in Germany or at its gas storages the very same hydrogen factories and from there to supply that hydrogen to Germany?
kurilovaleksei1941

0

21 October 2021 07: 20

Europe is determined to switch to hydrogen

Well good intentions is known how it ends. And then the cancer on the mountain even when it whistles, and now give it to eat
NikolayN

-1

12 November 2021 17: 38

Well for sale, maybe. will go, and so why. After all, it is known for sure: climate change on Earth is not related to humanity in relation to co, it is more convenient to use gas - it is safer and cheaper. However, Europe and the States need to justify the work of the printing press, including spending on something unnecessary, but participating in the economy, raising the price of the final product, and, therefore, it is impossible to ensure the growth of GDP and the economy as a whole, well, in fact, it is impossible to impose 20 refrigerators per family, well, 10 more here and there, and more than 7 vacuum cleaners are also not needed, 10 burgers a day is also a bit too much, and not so expensive. And the new energy - you can write off there endlessly. And 5 trillion, and 10, and 20, you can generally write off the entire national debt of America. And in 5 years to print another 28 trillion.
Panikovsky

0

13 November 2021 17: 12

Uv. author, with hydrogen of any color, Europe will not succeed without Russia, to extract hydrogen a lot of energy is needed, which they do not have and is not expected, and there is no need to put shoes on the genitals in bast shoes.
Vladimir Androsov_2

+1

24 November 2021 22: 36

The Europeans embarked on a utopian project that would irreversibly destroy the European economy, in the case of fanatical following the set goal, Europe will burst like ancient Egypt with the pyramids, or, like the islanders of Easter Island. In their strategy, everything is utopian and false, electric traction is limited in use, besides, it is not at all green, it consumes more energy per unit of useful work of transport due to several energy transformations (external energy into mechanical, then into electrical, then into chemical, then electrical, then mechanical) and the extremely non-environmentally friendly production of batteries and their disposal, green energy is actually not at all green, the production of wind turbines and solar panels is also not comme il faut, even if we assume that the whole of Europe will not turn green from this. Windmills, solar panels and dams are damaging the environment much more than expected, several bird species have disappeared in Europe over the past 20 years, who can say what is the reason? The EU hopes for a carbon tax in vain, it can become toxic for Asian and American producers, which will close trade flows bypassing the EU. 77% of the world's population has not reached the EU consumption level, they are unlikely to be carried away by green ideas, their non-green economy has finally begun to bear fruit and they are unlikely to want to risk it.
Cynic's Corner

+1

10 December 2021 06: 08

Бгггг .... Bravo. The idea that GasProm can build its hydrogen plants at the other end of the pipe in Germany does not come to ANALitiks.