A Guide to Green Hydrogen: Production, Uses, and More
Green hydrogen is a clean energy source with zero emissions that is a powerful solution for reducing emissions in energy-intensive sectors.
As private industry and governments around the world explore ways to meet new energy demands and reduce emissions, green hydrogen has taken on an increasingly prominent role. In the United States and around the world, significant steps have been taken to support the nascent clean hydrogen industry, including major investments and legislative proposals.
Since hydrogen (H2) is the most abundant element in the universe, it makes sense to explore its potential. However, on Earth, hydrogen never occurs alone in nature — it is always bonded with atoms of other elements, like oxygen (forming water, or H2O). This means pure hydrogen must be “manufactured” by splitting water molecules apart, and that takes a significant amount of power. The vast majority of the hydrogen used today is produced with methods that release greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane, as well as pollutants that endanger our health. Hydrogen can be stored as either a gas or a liquid, although ample safety measures are required due to its extreme flammability.
Green hydrogen is produced with electricity created from renewable sources like wind or solar power. The electricity splits water into its component atoms using a process called electrolysis. This method results in very low or zero carbon emissions.
Other forms of hydrogen production use different pathways that result in more emissions.
- Gray hydrogen is produced from methane, which consists of a carbon atom and four hydrogen atoms (CH4). Steam is used to separate the molecule into hydrogen and carbon dioxide. Coal is sometimes used to produce gray hydrogen. This method is currently used to produce hydrogen at industrial scale.
- Blue hydrogen production is similar, but the by-product CO2 is captured and stored. However, not all of the carbon can be captured, and long-term carbon storage methods vary widely in their effectiveness.
Uses for Green Hydrogen
Today, green hydrogen is used as a feedstock in refineries and in the chemical industry. It is mixed with other gases to power steel production and is sometimes combined with natural gas to reduce emissions in residential, commercial, and industrial heating systems. Green H2 can also be used in fuel cells for electric vehicles.
Future applications of green hydrogen include replacing gray hydrogen in energy-intensive sectors like steel and iron, where it is the lowest-cost and most scalable pathway to reducing emissions. Drop-in fuels made with green hydrogen could be used in aviation and maritime shipping with minimal adjustments to engines and other equipment.
Green Hydrogen Projects at World Energy
We are making massive investments in green hydrogen with World Energy GH2’s Project Nujio’qonik, which will be one of Canada’s first commercial-scale green hydrogen and ammonia producers. Located on the west coast of Newfoundland and Labrador, one of the best wind resource regions in the world, the facility will generate four gigawatts of renewable energy.
World Energy also has the potential to export green hydrogen through existing marine facilities and a harbor at the Port of Stephenville, as well as one of the shortest shipping routes between North America and Europe. Once finished, Project Nujio’qonik will produce about 280,000 tons of green hydrogen annually.
But our plans aren’t limited to producing and shipping green hydrogen. Although this initiative is in the very early stages, we are exploring opportunities to produce green steel and iron on the island itself. Green hydrogen may also be used to power data centers on a green energy campus at the port.
Green Hydrogen’s Promising Future
Getting green hydrogen to a scale where it will make a significant reduction in emissions worldwide will require investment and effort across the supply chain, industry support, policy and legislative action, and public-private partnerships. Through our operations in Canada, World Energy is helping to lead the expansion of this exciting sector of clean energy. Contact us to learn more about our clean hydrogen projects and goals.
