Hydrocarbon without carbon

Elements such as gold and silver, which have been known since ancient times, have different meanings in every language. So is hydrogen; “Wasserstoff” in German; “idrogeno” in Italian; “Vate” in Swedish; “Vodorod” in Russian; “Qing” in Chinese. The word originates from hydro-generate. In other words, it is composed of/formed by water.

Since the existence of the human race, hydrocarbons have been used for heating and energy needs. In other words, fuels formed by different combinations of hydrogen and carbon atoms. This adventure, which started with wood, which is almost all carbon, continued with coal, most of which is carbon less hydrogen. As humanity progressed, it has always continued with fuels where the amount of carbon decreased, and the amount of hydrogen increased. As the carbon decreased, it turned into a clean fuel, and as the hydrogen increased, its efficiency increased.

In the last 20–30 years, it was thought that there was a near-perfect fuel, first with LPG of 3–4 carbon 8–10 hydrogen atoms, and then Natural Gas (CH4) with only 1 carbon 4 Hydrogen.

However, today it is said that even 1 carbon in Natural Gas is too much, and even more ironically, Natural Gas should not be called “Natural” because it creates an unfair perception of clean.

Putting aside the futile arguments, the diagram above alone shows a journey towards carbonless hydrogen. But, this product called hydrogen is not found alone in nature.

Well, We were extracting coal from the deposit, oil&gas by drilling, so how do we find hydrogen?

i. From hydrocarbons such as coal, natural gas

ii. From organic wastes by gasification method

iii. From water by electrolysis method.

Hydrogen was already used as a raw material in the manufacture of chemical and petrochemical products. But today, hydrogen comes out with a different identity both from its chemical content and from other hydrocarbons. This is important because hydrogen, beyond being used as a fuel or raw material, also stands out as a clean and versatile energy carrier. As such, it offers the international community a strong option to reduce the greenhouse gas effect.

There are also categories of coloring them in terms of their environmentalism.

i. Gray Hydrogen; Hydrogen from coal. Depending on the carbon content of the coal, it can evolve towards black.

ii. Blue Hydrogen; When the hydrogen obtained from natural gas is also used to capture carbon, it is called blue hydrogen. If it doesn’t capture carbon, it’s called brown.

iii. Green Hydrogen; Green because it is produced from renewable resources and has zero carbon emissions.

In February 2021, when this article was written, it was stated that more than 95% of hydrogen production was produced from natural gas. Of course, it should not be ignored that this technology is at the very beginning of its evolution to fulfill its promises. Government incentives, especially European Union funds, seem to be the most obvious sources for development at the moment.

Due to the versatility of hydrogen, it is difficult to list its uses. However, if we look at the places of use for energy purposes;

For Transportation

With the system called FCEV (Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle), pure hydrogen filled in the vehicle’s tank interacts with the Oxygen in the air, producing electricity and providing the movement of the vehicle in this way.

Advantage: Just like conventional fuels, a fast filling process is provided. It provides a range of >500 km, zero carbon emissions during consumption. Water is coming out of the vehicle tank. In fact, since the hydrogen in the tank is produced from water by the electrolysis method, it comes from the water and goes to the water.

Risk; It is difficult to store. Today, even LPG, which has a 250-fold difference between the liquid phase and the gas phase, is still considered dangerous, and natural gas, which has a 600-fold difference, is mostly preferred only in large vehicles, while giving up the spare tire in vehicles may not create enough space to offer a safe tank for hydrogen, which has a difference of 900 times.

Fuel Sites

The fact that hydrogen can be produced from renewable energy theoretically paves the way for hydrogen to be produced at the filling station by solar panel or wind. In other words, today, a refueling station will turn into a power plant, or from the other side, besides every location will be a filling station.

Gas Grids

There are discussions and trials of injecting hydrogen into the gas grid or completely replacing natural gas with hydrogen. While there is time for change, hydrogen can also be added as a renewable additive to natural gas, just like biofuels in fuel oil.

Energy Transfer

I think this is the most exciting point; For example, we can convert the renewable electricity produced in sun of Africa or or wind of Anatolian wind into Hydrogen by electrolysis and store it. We can transport it to distant points by ships and pipelines.

Besides, the gas distribution network can serve as a storage medium for renewable electricity at times of low demand, thus connecting the electricity and gas grids and increasing flexibility for both.

It is calculated that transporting hydrogen in large quantities in pipes is cheaper than transporting the energy equivalent in electricity.

In conclusion

In the European Union Hydrogen Strategy Report, it has set the target to reach 6 GW of green hydrogen capacity by 2024 and 40 GW by 2030. By 2028–2033, green hydrogen is projected to become cost competitive with gray hydrogen produced from fossils. According to the Shura report, this competitive figure is 2–3 usd/kg. This requires a large investment in electrolysis technology.

Of course, a life without energy is not possible. For any 2 objects to interact with each other, energy is required. For example, I need energy to write this article, or I need energy to go to the next room and wake up my kids. For larger interactions, for example, to heat a building or to move a vehicle, larger energies are required. Humans have been using hydrocarbons for this for centuries.

It looks like carbonless hydra or hydrocarbon without carbon offers a bright option for the future.