Three innovations are emerging to improve the long-term efficiency of producing green hydrogen, according to a new report from TotalEnergies.

The first is the improvement of electrolysis technologies. Solid oxide technologies in particular are expected to bring a significant gain in efficiency, the report notes, though they are still at pilot phase.

UK-based hydrogen technology developer Ceres Power recently announced its move into commercialising solid oxide electrolysis units.

The second innovation is solar-to-hydrogen (STH), a technology with the capability of producing hydrogen directly from water and light, using panels combining photo-electrodes and electro-catalysts based on nanomaterials.

Oil and gas firm Repsol plans to build a solar to hydrogen demonstrator plant at its Puertollano industrial complex in Spain and says the technology could be commercially viable by 2030.

The third innovation is the integration of an electrolyser directly into a wind turbine.

50pc – Gas demand met by hydrogen in TotalEnergies scenario

“This method makes for efficiency improvements by eliminating one of the production steps,” says the TotalEnergies report, entitled Energy Landscape.

A consortium to demonstrate a combined wind turbine and electrolyser system—consisting of Danish energy company Orsted, wind turbine manufacturer Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy, low-carbon consultancy Element Energy and UK-based electrolyser firm ITM Power—has been awarded €5mn ($5.8mn) in funding by the European Commission earlier this year.

The report says these innovations will help hydrogen be a key driver in decarbonising the industry and transport sector in the transition to net zero.

Under its ‘Rupture’ scenario—which the company claims is consistent with meeting the Paris Achievement’s goal of keeping global warming to 1.5°C this century—TotalEnergies foresees green and blue hydrogen meeting nearly 50pc of the total 6tn m³ global demand for gases in 2050, with the remaining demand met mostly with natural gas.

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Author: Tom Young