The Future of Hydrogen as an Energy Source 

In order for businesses, industries, or even countries to meet climate targets such as net-zero emissions by 2050, experts agree that the implementation of green hydrogen will be key. 

Around the world, more and more hydrogen is produced for hydrogen fuel. Logan Energy is one of the companies working to harness the power of hydrogen through fuel cell technologies, and hydrogen production, compression, and refuelling. 

Logan Energy CEO, Bill Ireland, sat down with Rachel Gregory, Digital Host at The Global Energy Show, to discuss the power of hydrogen to provide clean energy solutions,  what markets will be quick to adapt to technologies and innovations that help decarbonization, and how hydrogen can be utilized within the energy landscape as the world works towards hitting 2050 climate targets.

How Hydrogen Clean Energy Will Help the World Hit Climate Targets by 2050

How Logan Energy Moved Away from Fossil Fuels and Towards Renewable Energy

Rachel: Bill. You’re based out of the UK. Can you tell us a bit about Logan Energy, what is it that you do, and the markets that you serve? 

Bill: Logan Energy goes back to 1995 when we were installing fuel cells running off fossil fuels as combined cooling, heat, and power systems. We graduated from there once we were looking at distributed generation and the advantages. At the time, we were using fossil fuels and that was still producing carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, so we moved into dealing with renewable energy. 

Now, we basically provide energy solutions faced around zero-carbon energy solutions or lower-carbon energy solutions using hydrogen. So we'll use batteries, we'll use combustion engines if necessary, but mainly green electricity for hydrogen production to store energy and then also to use that energy to generate electricity or transfer it into vehicles for fuel. There are loads of loads of uses for this. I've had a burger cooked on a hydrogen barbecue, for example. 

The Process of Producing Hydrogen as an Energy Source 

Rachel: Yes, we are hearing more and more about hydrogen being a viable, clean energy source. So what is the process to produce green hydrogen energy and is it viable to use hydrogen as a fuel source?

Bill: Hydrogen is an energy carrier. So, we have to produce it in its gaseous form or liquid form. We have to produce it from our natural resources and those can be fossil fuels, but then you still have the issue of carbon emissions. 

Mostly, these days, people are talking about renewable electricity generation from wind, tidal and solar power. The problem with those is that they're intermittent and they don't necessarily follow the load profile of when we want to use electricity or electric energy. So, you basically take the renewable electricity surplus and basically go into an electrolyzer that will split water into pure hydrogen molecules and oxygen molecules. That's how we produce hydrogen from renewable sources.

Hydrogen’s Role in the Transition to Green Energy Sources 

Rachel: In your opinion, Bill, what is hydrogen's role in the energy transition? Where do you see this going? 

Bill: Pretty much everywhere at the moment. There's a lot of focus on transport to replace fossil fuels like natural gas to try and reduce pollution. Quite often the transport fuel will be quite heavily taxed. So, you've got quite a high premium fuel there that you're displacing with hydrogen fuel, but to be honest, going forward, it will actually be used in many, many locations. 

However, hydrogen is not the answer at all. It's part of the answer and it'll be used in combination with loads of different energy forms going forward. Whatever your views are on nuclear power or fossil fuel like natural gas or whatever, hydrogen will be part of that answer. It's just how much proportion it will have going forward. 

The Industries On Track to Adopting Hydrogen Fuel Cells

Rachel: There is a demand to decarbonize the transportation sector. So what markets do you think will be quick to adopt technologies like yours? 

Bill: I think the concentration has been around small hydrogen vehicles, passenger vehicles. Far higher profile, but I think the real application will be on large energy users, such as trucks, coaches, and marine, whether it's hydrogen gas, literally hydrogen, or some sort of synthetic fuel is up for debate. Hydrogen's already used in some test sites in the iron sector and there are lots of applications like that, sort of renewable fertilizers. 

The Global Commercialization of Hydrogen Refueling Stations 

Rachel: Congratulations Bill on the news that Logan Energy is to supply one of Europe's largest hydrogen refueling stations. What does a project like this mean for commercializing stations like this globally? 

Bill: We’ve seen, over the last few years, an interest in hydrogen going from one or two small vehicles in a demonstration project to actually rolling out fleets. That's when it really becomes economically viable, where you're looking at dedicated renewable electricity production to generate hydrogen either through wind turbines or solar power usually, and then transporting it by a truck to the refueling station and then producing it at near diesel equivalent prices. 

But the thing about the vehicles themselves is, in effect, they're electric vehicles. Instead of having large batteries and probably two large batteries for some of the vehicles which can cause weight problems, you can use the hydrogen to basically store the energy, produce electricity, and get the price down again. 

Actually, the pollution from vehicles is roughly a third from the tailpipe, a third from the brakes, and a third from the tires. So you're knocking out two-thirds of those emissions by going down the electric route. So you're making a big impact on pollution, which is good for everybody, really; humans and the planet. 

Learn More About Hydrogen Infrastructure & Hydrogen Production Technologies 

It’s clear that hydrogen will play an essential role in supporting decarbonization and building a carbon-neutral future around the world by replacing conventional fuels. Logan Energy is a great example of an industry leader that will be instrumental in helping the world hit climate targets by 2050 by harnessing the power of hydrogen. 

If you’re interested in learning more about sustainable energy innovations from the people actively changing the game in the global energy industry, register for the next Global Energy Show today.