Germany is at the forefront of the world in promoting hydrogen energy strategy

On September 7, Stuttgart-based German hydrogen propulsion startup H2FLY announced that the world's first electric aircraft powered by liquid hydrogen has successfully completed a manned flight.

German hydrogen propulsion startup H2Flyannounced on September 7 that the world's first electric aircraft powered by liquid hydrogen has successfully completed a manned flight, marking the possibility of zero emissions for medium - and long-haul commercial flights in the future.

It has also been reported that Germany plans to open the world's first hydrogen exchange in 2024. Hydrogen, which emits no greenhouse gases when burned, is highly anticipated as a decarbonized energy source, but its production costs remain high. The opening of hydrogen exchanges is expected to increase trading volume, lower prices, and promote the popularization of hydrogen energy.

Reduce costs and popularize hydrogen energy through hydrogen trading

According to reports, the German hydrogen trading market will be operated by Hintco, a consortium of more than 50 European companies including steel giant ArcelorMittal and financial giant BNP Paribas. The operational system will be provided by the European Energy Exchange (EEX).

At present, hydrogen energy is usually divided into "gray hydrogen", "blue hydrogen" and "green hydrogen", and gray hydrogen is the hydrogen produced by burning fossil feedstock, accounting for about 95% of today's hydrogen production. Because it is derived from fossil fuels, the disadvantage is high carbon emissions. Blue hydrogen is also derived from fossil fuels, but because of the use of carbon capture and storage technology, the carbon emission level is lower than gray hydrogen. Green hydrogen is produced by electrolysis of water using renewable energy and can achieve true zero emissions. Obviously, green hydrogen is the most environmentally friendly, but the current cost is prohibitive. To this end, the German government has settled for the next best thing, and in the updated National Hydrogen Strategy launched in July this year, it supports the use of a certain amount of low-carbon blue hydrogen.

However, the practice has been criticised by environmental groups. To this end, the German government plans to launch a hydrogen exchange as soon as possible to promote competition between enterprises through market trading, and ultimately achieve the purpose of reducing the manufacturing cost of hydrogen energy and popularizing the use of hydrogen energy. Peter Reitz, CEO of EEX, also said, "This is the first step in the market pricing of hydrogen energy, and we hope that through active trading, we can achieve cost reduction and hydrogen adoption."

The International Energy Agency calculates that to achieve the goal of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, the share of hydrogen and ammonia in global electricity and heating energy must rise to 3%. By 2021, the share of hydrogen in the world's total electricity generation will be zero.

A cooling tower at the Irsa 2 nuclear power plant in Bavaria, Germany. In April, Germany shut down its last three nuclear power plants, officially bidding farewell to nuclear power and accelerating its transition to the era of renewable energy.

Developing hydrogen vehicles to escape the fossil fuel crisis

On September 7, Stuttgart-based German hydrogen propulsion startup H2FLY announced that the world's first electric aircraft powered by liquid hydrogen has successfully completed a manned flight, a groundbreaking achievement for the aviation community. As part of an extensive flight test campaign, the H2FLY team has conducted four flights powered by liquid hydrogen, one of which lasted more than three hours.

These historic flights were conducted using H2FLY's HY4 demonstrator aircraft, which is equipped with an advanced hydrogen-electric fuel cell propulsion system and cryogenic storage of liquid hydrogen as the aircraft's power source. The results of these test flights revealed significant advances in aviation technology. By replacing gaseous hydrogen with liquid hydrogen, the HY4 aircraft's maximum range has actually doubled, from 750 km to an impressive 1,500 km. This milestone marks a key step towards achieving emission-free, medium - and long-haul commercial flight.

On August 24 last year, the first 14-car hydrogen-powered Coradia iLint train officially entered service in Lower Saxony, northern Germany. Although its endurance is only 1000 kilometers, the top speed is only 140 kilometers per hour, and it is currently only suitable for driving on regional routes, but this seems to be a small step, but it is a key step for the future use of zero-emission and high energy density high-quality hydrogen energy. This not only raises hopes for Germany's escape from the fossil fuel crisis, but also sheds light on a world struggling with climate change and environmental crisis. The hydrogen in the energy tank on the roof of the Coradia iLint hydrogen energy train and the oxygen collected in the environment are mixed into the kinetic energy of the train, and only steam and condensate are produced when running, so it has the advantages of low noise and zero emissions.

Electrification alone is not enough to achieve complete carbon neutrality, even in the transport sector, such as aviation, shipping and heavy vehicles, which cannot directly replace fuel with electricity. Therefore, hydrogen energy becomes an important part of the puzzle to complete the entire zero-carbon energy system.

In 2020, the German government developed its first National Hydrogen Strategy, which sets out a unified framework for future hydrogen production, transport, use and reuse, as well as corresponding innovation and investment. After the outbreak of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Germany's dependence on traditional energy has been greatly impacted, which has intensified the urgency of Germany's energy transformation. It is against this background that in July this year, the German government launched an updated version of the National Hydrogen Strategy.

In an interview with the media, Habeck, Vice Chancellor and Minister of Economy of Germany, stressed that the most important thing in the new version of the National Hydrogen energy Strategy is to develop specific plans for the acceleration of the hydrogen energy market, and enhance practicability while determining a higher target. In order to truly implement the hydrogen energy strategy, Germany plans to significantly increase its domestic electrolytic hydrogen capacity, doubling its domestic electrolytic hydrogen capacity from 5 gigawatts (GW) to 10 GW by 2030.

In addition, about 50-70% of Germany's hydrogen energy needs are dependent on foreign imports. To this end, the German government has developed a separate import strategy, planning to build an 1,800 km long hydrogen pipeline directly to Norway. According to reports, the technical work of the pipeline is planned to be completed by 2025, in order to finally complete the construction of the pipeline in 2028. In addition to Norway, Germany's eyes will also be on Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Austria, Italy, France, the United Arab Emirates and India.