Hydrogen is described by IDTechEx as ‘a key enabler of energy transition’ in the latest webinar on green hydrogen. IDTechEx’s portfolio of Hydrogen Research Reports and Subscriptions covers the latest research on the hydrogen sector, as well as the key technologies working behind the scenes.
Hydrogen’s applications
The versatility of hydrogen across many sectors keeps it in high demand, with current applications include refining, ammonia and methanol production, and steelmaking, with some emerging applications including transportation, energy storage, gas blending, and clean synthetic fuel production.
Decarbonizing hard to abate sectors is one of the main goals for hydrogen, specifically in fuel, heat, and industrial feedstock applications, where production has historically been associated with large carbon footprints due to fossil fuel use and high temperature processes. Green hydrogen is produced through water electrolysis, which is powered by renewable energy, with oxygen as the only byproduct. This enables applications using green hydrogen to achieve lower carbon footprints compared to those relying on hydrogen produced from fossil fuels. IDTechEx’s report, “Green Hydrogen Production & Electrolyzer Market 2027-2037: Technologies, Players, Forecasts”, covers this in greater detail.
The colours of hydrogen
In the transition from traditional grey hydrogen, produced through natural gas reforming, towards the longer-term goal of widespread green hydrogen, blue and turquoise hydrogen provide a transition solution. Blue hydrogen uses the same natural gas reforming processes as grey hydrogen, but incorporates carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) technologies to reduce CO2 emissions. On the other hand, turquoise hydrogen is produced through methane pyrolysis which generates solid carbon instead of gaseous CO2. Both offer lower-carbon alternatives to conventional grey hydrogen.
China leads global hydrogen production, followed by North America, the Middle East, India, and Europe, with most hydrogen production today still being very carbon intensive. Less than 1% of hydrogen production currently uses electrolysis, with low carbon hydrogen (blue and green), only accounting for 1% of hydrogen production altogether.
Electrolyzer technologies at a glance
A green hydrogen plant is made up of multiple components, with the electrolyzer being the core where water is split into hydrogen and oxygen. Other supporting systems, referred to as balance of plant (BOP), include heat management, water treatment, gas-liquid separation, gas purification, power conditioning, and compression or storage systems. A renewable energy site is also part of the system, providing the energy for the process.
The four main electrolyzer technologies are largely categorized into low and high temperature technologies, with each one requiring different conditions for their operation. These include alkaline (AEL), anion exchange membrane (AEMEL), proton exchange membrane (PEMEL), and solid-oxide (SOEC) electrolyzer.
The AEL is described by IDTechEx as being the most adopted and mature technology. Following this, the PEMEL is the second most adopted, using acidic chemistry and having start-up time benefits. The high-temperature SOEC uses solid-state chemistry and operates differently from other electrolyzer technologies and can achieve very high efficiency through integration with industrial waste heat. However, the newest electrolyzer technology on the market is the AEMEL, which can be described as a hybrid between the AEL and PEMEL. AEMELs can use low-cost materials like AELs, offer flexible loading like PEMELs, and can integrate well with renewable energy. These advantages could make AEMELs an attractive electrolyzer option, although the technology maturity has yet to catch up with AELs and PEMELs. IDTechEx’s report, “Materials for Green Hydrogen Production 2026-2036: Technologies, Players, Forecasts”, covers the makeup of the four main electrolyzer stacks, and goes into further detail on the key developments in the stack components of each technology.
