The much-extolled development of hydrogen as a clean green fuel faces significant hurdles and delays around the world.
But there are some new signs of life in BC. Among them is a BC pulp mill set to test hydrogen to replace natural gas, and a planned hydrogen project coordinated by the Lil’wat First Nation.
The pulp mill is the Kruger Kamloops Pulp mill, which specializes in producing the heavy brown paper that’s used for packaging and shipping and now aims to use hydrogen to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 7,000 tonnes a year.
That’s the equivalent of removing 1,200 to 1,500 vehicles from the roads, says Zachary Steele of New York-based Elemental Clean Fuels, the developer behind the green-hydrogen project.
(“Green hydrogen” is produced by using electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen, meaning no carbon dioxide is released during production, unlike hydrogen produced from natural gas. Read here about the many “colours of hydrogen”)
To lower the mill’s carbon footprint, the 10-megawatt Kamloops Clean Energy Centre at the mill site will house the electrolyzer equipment that splits water into hydrogen and oxygen.
The hydrogen will power the mill’s lime kiln, now powered by burning natural gas, and recycle the lime, while the oxygen will be used to bleach the paper and lighten its colour.
‘Big step forward’
The project is estimated to cost some $21.7 million, and will produce up to four tonnes of green hydrogen and 32 tonnes of oxygen each day.
“To be able to decarbonize the natural gas out of our lime kiln is a really big step forward towards our goal of becoming more renewable,” says Irene Preto, general manager of Kruger Kamloops Pulp.
The Kamloops Clean Energy Centre is a collaborative effort between the Tk̓emlúps te Secwépemc Nation, Elemental Clean Fuels and Kruger Kamloops Pulp.
“We started this project because we have a responsibility to be caretakers of this land for future generations,” says Joshua Gottfriedsen, CEO of Sc.wén̓wen Economic Development Corporation, the business arm of Tk̓emlúps te Secwépemc Nation.
Also in BC, more than $1 million in government grants has been allocated to a new clean-hydrogen project in the Brandywine area, coordinated primarily by the Lil’wat First Nation.
The hydrogen from the Brandywine project will be for use by hydrogen-powered trucks.
Project engineer Cora Moffat says the plant will produce up to four tonnes of hydrogen a day. She says that’s enough to feed 121 trucks, which will displace five million litres of diesel annually, and reduce almost 16,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year.
First Nation ‘excited’
Rosemary Stager, CEO of the Líl’wat Nation business group: “We want our children to inherit a healthy land and economy, and that’s what we’re working towards. So we’re very excited about this project.”
The moves align with a federal strategy that prioritizes hydrogen in the power-generation and transportation sectors. The government expects hydrogen to be a core component of achieving Canada’s net-zero-by-2050 target and is offering investment tax credits to clean-hydrogen producers.
The BC government is dealing with some 50 hydrogen projects valued at $5 billion.
Alberta is already the largest hydrogen producer in Canada, and is integrating clean hydrogen into existing energy systems.
Alberta has produced hydrogen for over 50 years and goals include reducing emissions by 14 million tonnes, through integrating hydrogen into industrial and other processes by 2030.
Canada as a whole is among leading hydrogen producers globally, with six green hydrogen and seven blue hydrogen projects in operation.
And across Canada, since 2020, at least 80 hydrogen projects have been announced, representing over $100-billion in potential investment, according to Natural Resources Canada.
“There is a great potential for Canada to be a global champion in hydrogen ecosystem development,” says Dr. Ibrahim Dincer, director of the Clean Energy Research Laboratory at Ontario Tech University.
But his researchers note there are obstacles to green hydrogen production, including high costs and issues with infrastructure, storage and transportation.
Don MacLachlan is a writer for Resource Works, a non-partisan organization that champions responsible resource development in British Columbia and Canada. Reach him via [email protected].
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