WEST VIRGINIA CENTER ON CLIMATE CHANGE Presents …. “Blue Is The New Green”
>>> From the Invitation by Haley Paul, WV Center on Climate Change, July 20, 2022
Mother Earth is cooking, and she needs our help! So, we apologetically intrude into your e-mail inbox with a last-minute reminder:
Tomorrow, Wednesday, July 27, 2022, from 7:00-8:00 PM USET, you can engage with three prominent experts and activists who are working to rein in global warming and runaway climate change — in a free, audience-interactive Zoom webinar titled:
“Blue is the New Green – Labor Unions Tackle the Climate Crisis”
If you have already registered for this program with Zoom, you should receive a reminder notice and link. If you have not registered, there is still time to do so. (Do not delay). Click Here Now to Reserve Your Place!
The main program speaker will be Jessica Eckdish, Vice President of Legislation & Federal Affairs at the BlueGreen Alliance. Also serving as discussion panelists will be Steve Crum, International Representative for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, and Marc Boom, Director of Federal Affairs at the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Click Here to Reserve Your Place. And please share this message with your climate-concerned friends.
>>> Best wishes, Haley Paul, West Virginia Center on Climate Change
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OPINION from the ENERGY VOICE ~ There is a role for blue hydrogen in a green energy transition!
With its potential as an energy carrier that supports an increasingly renewable electricity grid, hydrogen can complement and accelerate other technologies required to deliver net-zero by 2050.
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The hydrogen blues (and greens and grays) ~ Is this wonder fuel truly green — or just another fossil fuel in disguise?
Article by Jonathan Thompson, High Country News, July 1, 2022
In January, New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, D, unveiled the “Hydrogen Hub Development Act,” saying it would “expand the clean energy economy” in the state “while lowering greenhouse gas emissions through incentivizing low-carbon hydrogen production and export.”
At first glance, it seemed to align with Lujan Grisham’s Energy Transition Act, which phases out coal power while funding a transition to clean energy. After all, hydrogen is a sort of miracle fuel: It can power planes, trains and automobiles; it can potentially replace natural gas for heating, cooking and power generation; and it can be used to fire steel furnaces or cement kilns. And, when burned, it emits only water and warm air.
So it may have come as a surprise when the governor’s initiative was shot down not once, but twice in a legislature dominated by Democrats — and not by Republican clean-energy foes, either, but by Lujan Grisham’s fellow Democrats, with the support of the environmental community. That’s because much of the hydrogen in question would be “blue” — extracted from methane or natural gas, thereby spurring more drilling in the state’s northwest corner and causing greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental impacts.
Here’s the catch: Hydrogen doesn’t fly solo in nature; it’s always attached to something else, whether a single oxygen (water) or an atom of carbon (methane). Before it can be used as a clean fuel, it must be detached from its companions. The method used for the separating (see below), and the type of molecule the hydrogen is separated from, determines the “color” label of the hydrogen: green, pink, blue, gray or black. And that color signifies whether the hydrogen truly is a clean fuel, or just another fossil fuel dressed up in clean clothing.
Proposed hydrogen projects in the West
Advanced Clean Energy Storage Project, Delta, Utah. This ambitious project, currently in the planning phase, would use excess solar and wind power to extract hydrogen from water. The fuel would then be pumped into natural underground salt caverns, where it would be stored for use at the nearby Intermountain coal power plant, which is currently being converted to burn natural gas and hydrogen, with a goal of burning 100% hydrogen by 2040. The power from the plant goes to utilities in Los Angeles and Utah.
Mountain States Regional Hydrogen Hub, New Mexico, Utah, Colorado and Wyoming. After Lujan Grisham’s idea for a New Mexico hydrogen economy was quashed, she teamed up with other Western natural gas-producing states to get a portion of $8 billion in federal infrastructure funds to establish a regional “clean” hydrogen hub. The proposal is “hydrogen colorblind,” meaning either blue or green hydrogen would fit, but Lujan Grisham’s initiative is supported by a blue-leaning report authored in part by the natural gas industry.
Nuclear Hydrogen, Tonapah, Arizona. With the help of $20 million in federal funding, the Idaho National Laboratory and Arizona Public Service hope to extract hydrogen from water using electrolysis powered by the Palo Verde nuclear generating station, outside of Phoenix. The hydrogen would then be used to fuel natural gas “peaker” plants during times of high demand when solar generation drops.
Wyoming Blue Green. A few hydrogen projects are in the feasibility-study phase in Wyoming: a natural gas-fed hydrogen generator and natural gas turbine conversion project; a wind-powered hydrogen-production facility that would ship the fuel to market via existing natural gas infrastructure; and a renewable-energy-powered facility to produce hydrogen and renewable natural gas.
Hydrogen Energy Transition? A provision of New Mexico’s 2019 Energy Transition Act allocates funds for economic development in communities affected by the closure of the coal-fired San Juan Generating Station this summer. When local groups were invited to apply for funding, some wanted to produce blue hydrogen using the region’s natural gas supplies, even though the law was designed to transition the state away from fossil fuels.
Jonathan Thompson is a contributing editor at High Country News. He is the author of Sagebrush Empire: How a Remote Utah County Became the Battlefront of American Public Lands.
SOURCES: U.S. Department of Energy, Wyoming Energy Authority, Hydrogen Hub Development Act (New Mexico), Canary Media, Los Angeles Times, “Defining and Envisioning a Clean Hydrogen Hub for New Mexico;” “The economics and the environmental benignity of different colors of hydrogen,” by A. Ajanovic, M. Sayer and R. Haas; “How green is blue hydrogen,” by Mark Z. Jacobson.
REFERENCE: https://www.hcn.org/issues/54.7/energy-industry-the-hydrogen-blues-and-greens-and-grays/
HS2 reports hydrogen generator trial success
Article by Greg Pitcher, New Civil Engineer, July 22, 2022
High Speed 2 (HS2) bosses have revealed the successful results of a trial of hydrogen-fuelled generators as ministers moved to boost the development of infrastructure for the green energy source.
Use of two hydrogen power units on a site in west London slashed carbon emissions by 51t per 400 hours while producing the electricity required for operations on the rapid rail link project.
HS2 air quality manager Andrea Davidson said the use of hydrogen rather than diesel to power site equipment brought “major” benefits.
The results of the trial were announced as the government held its Hydrogen Investment Summit, where energy secretary Kwasi Kwarteng set out progress made on unlocking £9bn of investment to realise the “enormous potential” of the natural gas.
Ministers also officially opened the £240M Net Zero Hydrogen Fund for bids as well as launching the Hydrogen Business Model, which is designed to incentivise the production and use of low-carbon hydrogen.
And Kwarteng named Jane Toogood – chief executive of catalyst technologies at FTSE 250 research giant Johnson Matthey – as the UK’s first hydrogen champion. This role will see Toogood bring industry and government together to meet targets such as creating up to 10GW of hydrogen production capacity by 2030.
In Ealing, two GeoPura 250kVA hydrogen power units were trialled for a year at HS2’s Victoria Road Crossover Box.
Civils contractor Skanska Costain Strabag (SCS) concluded they produced sufficient energy to replace diesel generators for site equipment while being quieter, less polluting and reducing carbon emissions.
SCS managing director James Richardson said the consortium was “committed” to reducing its environmental footprint by identifying innovations and was striving to be diesel-free across all its sites by next year.
GeoPura managing director Andrew Cunningham added that the trial demonstrated the capabilities of the firm’s units. “They are particularly valuable in inner city sites such as this, as they not only reduce the CO2 impact of the works but also eliminate harmful NOx, particulate, and noise emissions, making the site a better neighbour in the local community,” he added.
Davidson said: “This is another example of how HS2 is driving change in the industry by trialling alternative fuel innovations, which will help us develop a thriving low carbon hydrogen sector in the UK and work towards a cleaner, greener energy system.”
Speaking at the Hydrogen Investment Summit, Kwarteng declared the UK’s hydrogen sector to be “open for business. With the right investment, we can unlock the enormous potential of hydrogen by reindustrialising our economy and ending our dependency on expensive fossil fuels,” he added.
Toogood said: “Working with industry and government, I hope to ensure we make progress in building a thriving hydrogen economy ensuring private sector investment and policy decisions are aligned to support timely decisions and outcomes.”
The UK announced its first Hydrogen Strategy last year.
SOURCE ~ https://www.newcivilengineer.com/latest/hs2-reports-hydrogen-generator-trial-success-22-07-2022/
Hydrogen blends higher than 5% raise leak, embrittlement risks for natural gas pipelines: California PUC
Article by Larry Pearl, Utility Dive, July 22, 2022
Blending more than 5% hydrogen into existing natural gas pipelines raises the chance of leaks and the embrittlement of steel pipelines, the California Public Utilities Commission said Thursday.
“Hydrogen blends above 5% could require modifications of appliances such as stoves and water heaters to avoid leaks and equipment malfunction,” the CPUC said.
The CPUC issued the findings of the University of California at Riverside’s Hydrogen Blending Impacts Study, an independent study it commissioned pursuant to Senate Bill 1369 and as part of the CPUC’s ongoing renewable gas rulemaking.
“The study represents a critical step in considering renewable hydrogen as a component in California’s statewide decarbonization strategy,” the CPUC said.
The study examined operational and safety issues related to injecting hydrogen into existing gas pipelines at various percentages “to help California establish the standards and interconnection protocols for possibly injecting renewable hydrogen into natural gas pipelines,” the CPUC said.
Hydrogen blends of up to 5% in the natural gas stream are generally safe, the study found.
Hydrogen blends greater than 20% “present a higher likelihood of permeating plastic pipes, which can increase the risk of gas ignition outside the pipeline,” the CPUC said.
The study concluded that additional study is needed on blending hydrogen into the state’s gas system to ensure its safety and called for real-world demonstrations to build on the findings “and determine the appropriate blend percentage suitable to mitigate operational risks such as ignition.”
“This study provides additional insight into the possibilities and limits of California’s pipeline infrastructure as we explore options for supplying zero-carbon energy to hard-to-decarbonize applications,” CPUC Commissioner Clifford Rechtschaffen said in a statement.
A California administrative law judge issued a ruling July 18 in part seeking public comment on the UC Riverside study. The ruling includes 11 questions for consideration, including:
>>> Does the UC Riverside Study provide enough information for the commission to consider adopting a safe injection standard for hydrogen in the common carrier pipeline system?
>>> If so, what should that standard be, and why do you think that standard is appropriate?
>>> Are there leakage-related considerations that the commission should consider?
>>> Are there heating value-related considerations that the commission should consider?
Comments are due by Aug. 26.
SOURCE ~ https://www.utilitydive.com/news/hydrogen-blends-higher-than-5-percent-raise-leak-embrittlement-risks/627895/