Inexperienced hydrogen examine highlights methods for offshore manufacturing – Uplaza

Because the U.S. faces important challenges in scaling up manufacturing of hydrogen in cost-effective and environmentally pleasant methods, a brand new Cornell examine outlines methods to fulfill as much as 75% of the nation’s future hydrogen demand by harnessing offshore wind power.

The demand for hydrogen is predicted to develop considerably within the coming many years, with manufacturing from renewable power sources resembling offshore wind generators, somewhat than fossil fuels, being important for hydrogen to be thought of “green.” Nonetheless, it will take 0.96 terawatts of offshore wind capability to supply 75% of the nation’s serviceable consumption potential of hydrogen, in response to the Cornell examine printed within the journal Power & Environmental Science.

Putting in that a lot capability would require the U.S. to drastically improve its use of offshore wind power, going from utilizing simply 1% of its technical useful resource potential to over 22%, mentioned Fengqi You, the Roxanne E. and Michael J. Zak Professor in Power Methods Engineering, who co-authored the examine with graduate pupil Rishi Kaashyap Balaji.

“This is a massive increase in offshore wind energy production, but pursuing this approach would not just provide an opportunity for the U.S. to spur growth in an important energy sector, but also circumvent potential land and water use challenges from developing large-scale renewable energy infrastructure domestically,” mentioned Fengqi You, who can also be a senior school fellow on the Cornell Atkinson Middle for Sustainability.

The examine takes a complete strategy to analyzing the financial and environmental impacts of offshore wind-based hydrogen manufacturing by using an optimization framework, life cycle evaluation, and multi-scale spatial evaluation. It examines two supply strategies—liquefied and compressed gaseous hydrogen—whereas incorporating wind pace knowledge and state-level hydrogen demand, amongst many different parameters.

“A key finding is that transporting compressed gaseous hydrogen via pipelines offers clear economic and environmental advantages over shipping liquefied hydrogen,” Balaji mentioned.

“The cost and energy needed to liquefy hydrogen to -253 degrees Celsius make the liquefied hydrogen route very expensive. However, this method still warrants consideration, as building extensive pipeline infrastructure could prove to be a monumental challenge.”

The examine additionally conceptualizes ‘offshore hydrogen hubs’—states clustered into geographic areas that broadly align with the U.S. Division of Power’s Regional Clear Hydrogen Hubs program introduced in 2023. The hubs comprise the mandatory infrastructure for manufacturing, storage and end-use of fresh hydrogen, optimizing facility location and bringing value financial savings as much as 30% by shared infrastructure, in response to You.

“The East Coast emerges as a prime region of interest for offshore wind-based green hydrogen production because of high wind speeds, significant regional demand, abundant surplus potential and promising prospects for establishing export-oriented facilities to serve net-importers of hydrogen in European markets,” You mentioned.

Utilizing the examine’s optimum pathways, producing hydrogen offshore might value between $2.50 and $7.00 per kilogram, with greenhouse gasoline emissions properly beneath the 4 kilogram carbon-dioxide-equivalent benchmark. This qualifies inexperienced hydrogen for manufacturing tax credit beneath the Inflation Discount Act, additional rising its market competitiveness, mentioned You.

“Additional supportive policies, such as carbon pricing mechanisms, will be crucial,” You added. “The century-old Jones Act, for example, complicates offshore projects by requiring domestically constructed and crewed ships, yet as of 2020, no U.S.-flagged ships could perform tasks like assembling turbines at sea. Our work discusses the importance of flexible policies to address these practical challenges to the industry’s growth.”