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Archives of Business Review – Vol. 8, No.12
Publication Date: December 25, 2020
DOI: 10.14738/abr.812.9425.
Novak, D. (2020). Hydrogen (H2) Is On The Rise – Is Germany On The Right Track? Archives of Business Research, 8(12). 44-49.
Hydrogen (H2) Is On The Rise – Is Germany On The Right Track?
David Novak
ABSTRACT
Purpose: The anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions cause the
global temperature rise. The solution must therefore be combinations
that together do not produce any greenhouse gases. Green produced
hydrogen (H2) is a profound example of this, but is still at the very
beginning of a comprehensive development and solution for numerous
applications. As a large technology nation, Germany has a special focus
and responsibility. Design / methodology / approach: Due to the fact
that practically all information on this is only press releases from the
media, only public media can be used, especially for the latest findings.
This also includes statements from the federal and state governments
and other public authorities done in personnel interviews to the author
by phone. Results: Since H2 is a completely new field in the course of
decarbonization and will result in investments of billions in every
country, the answer to the research question posed for Germany at
least can be: Yes, Germany is definitely on the right track with H2.
Research / practical implications: Future research should deal with the
implementation of the H2 application and the challenge of supply and
demand. Originality / Value: This paper is based on brand new
publications and 2 interviews with key decision makers about
investments in new hydrogen plants.
Keywords: Hydrogen (H2), challenges at H2, relevant projects
INTRODUCTION
The fact of anthropogenic climate change has not been denied for years, even if a few leading
politicians are still resisting it. The data from global weather and climate research institutes are
clear in this regard. Based on this, the Paris Climate Protection Agreement was passed in 2015,
from which the USA was the only relevant country to withdraw at the instigation of President
Trump. Regardless of this, the rest of the world obviously agrees that there is anthropogenic
climate change and that humanity must therefore change its behavior when it comes to emitting
greenhouse gases. In any case, this includes reducing this output and bringing it down to 0 (in
words: zero) by 2050 (in some countries by 2060). This means that you have to say goodbye to the
burning of fossil fuels such as coal, natural gas and all petroleum derivatives forever. This term is
called decarbonization in the new linguistic usage. Whether it should also be a question of
defossilization as a whole, which would then also include nuclear energy, will not be discussed
further here. So there are de facto only regenerative energy sources left, such as wind and sun, as
well as other options coupled with them such as geothermal energy / heat pumps.
The area of hydropower is left out here, as reservoirs of various types require numerous
preconditions that are often not given. The regeneratively generated energy must then be stored
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and also transported, both of which are generally difficult with electricity. The solution here is
called green hydrogen (from regenerative power sources, hereinafter referred to as H2, as it is
practically the only one that occurs in production and use). Why? Because it is relatively easy to
manufacture, store, transport and use. It can be used in almost the same way as previous petroleum
derivatives, the only difference being that no exhaust gases are produced when used, only oxygen
and water. Let's put it clearly: H2 is obviously the solution to the energy problems of the 21st
century. From the perspective of the end of 2020, no other statement can be made. And since
mankind has to act now because of the ever faster rise in temperatures, it de facto has no choice.
So if it has no choice, H2 is the only meaningful source of energy and it is imperative that we act
now and not only in decades, then we have to answer the question of whether we are currently on
the right track with H2.
WHAT ARE THE CHALLENGES WITH H2?
As with any new technology, there are numerous hurdles and challenges in introducing it. So here
too. And that applies all the more if the solutions have to be brought about under great time
pressure, both for climate protection and competition reasons.
The production of H2
Hydrogen is considered to be an important carrier for the success of an energy transition. His
shortcoming: To date, too little of it has been produced in Germany, and imports are cheaper. A
study has now shown that the economical production of green hydrogen is also possible in
Germany. Gaseous energy sources are a fundamental part of the energy transition. Politicians made
this clear with the adoption of the national and European hydrogen strategy in summer 2020.
However, politicians are placing too much emphasis on imports from abroad, criticize the authors
of a joint study by the Wuppertal Institute and DIW Econ GmbH, on which this paper is largely
based. Their summary: Competitive hydrogen production is also possible in Germany - with clearly
positive effects on domestic added value and the German labor market.
The transport of H2
However, for economic reasons, hydrogen imports via ship transport do not make sense, as these
require energy-intensive liquefaction beforehand. According to the authors of the study, such as
Yann Girar from DIW Econ, the costs for transport by ship are around three times as high as for
transport by pipeline and therefore only pay off from a distance of at least 4,000 kilometers from
the production country. In Germany itself, longer transports are easily possible via existing gas
pipelines, but the individual filling stations then have to be approached by tank trucks.
Storage and filling with H2
H2-Mobility is continuing the technology development funded in the national innovation program
and successfully tested in the Clean Energy Partnership for refueling with hydrogen at 700 bar for
cars and 350 bar for trucks and buses (Cleanenergypartnership, homepage). These refueling
processes have been tried countless times and have been proven to work technically flawlessly.
This problem also seems to have been solved.
The necessary infrastructure and using end products
The company H2-Mobility, charged with setting up the infrastructure, the H2 vehicles for users and
other things, are funded in the German National Innovation Program for Hydrogen and Fuel Cell
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Novak, D. (2020). Hydrogen (H2) Is On The Rise – Is Germany On The Right Track? Archives of Business Research, 8(12). 44-49.
Technology (Nationales Innovations Programm). Specifically, within the scope of the project, the
standardization of the system design and the layout planning will be optimized under technical,
economic and legal aspects. The aim is to reduce space requirements, planning and construction
time, energy consumption and ultimately costs. The NOW National Organization Hydrogen and
Fuel Cell Technology advises H2-Mobility on political issues. The plan is to provide 100 H2 filling
stations in Germany in the first step and to grow to 400 in the second step, which would guarantee
sufficient area coverage, especially for national and international freight and bus traffic. What is
definitely not enough are currently only around 180 H2 filling stations in the entire EU.
When it comes to which applications are possible for H2, then it is in fact the entire area of mobility,
whereby especially with land and water vehicles, the bigger and heavier the more useful the use, if
only because of the incurred One-time costs when purchasing. For example, trucks, buses and
construction machines will initially prevail on the road and only with a delay will cars, although it
makes more sense for large and expensive cars than for small and cheap ones. Added to this is the
entire ship and rail traffic. The extent to which it can be used in air traffic, at least with a fuel cell,
cannot currently be estimated, nor is it on the priority list.
How the H2 is used, whether via a fuel cell or as fuel for an internal combustion engine, is also open.
If the technology openness, which is repeatedly demanded, is implemented, numerous applications
of H2 in combustion engines with zero pollutant emissions might well be possible. However, if the
internal combustion engine is generally banned by politics, numerous and absolutely sensible
applications for H2 will automatically be dropped (Ehret, 2020).
Potential costs and additional jobs
As a politician, it is imperative that you realize that the decarbonization project towards purely
renewable energies is the largest investment project since the reconstruction after the Second
World War. Yann Girard, co-author of the study and manager at DIW Econ states: “In the optimistic
scenario of a domestic hydrogen production share of 90%, direct value added effects of up to a
maximum of 30 billion euros in 2050 and more than 800,000 direct additional jobs are realistic
that are directly related to green hydrogen production. Large synergies arise above all where
excess quantities are converted into hydrogen with the increasing use of fluctuating energy
sources. In addition, electricity from onshore wind turbines enables competitive H2 generation ”
(Merten, Girar, 2020). If you consider that all vehicles and possibly also all heating systems will
have to be replaced, then in the coming decades an additional sales volume within the EU will arise
which, with all related expenses, will reach the trillion euros (author's own calculations) .
RELEVANT PROJECTS IN IMPLEMENTATION USING GERMANY AS AN EXAMPLE
The most important German projects from the author's point of view are briefly described below.
There are currently at least a dozen that are in preparation and subsequent implementation. A
complete listing is just as impossible as an evaluation of those that have already started. Instead of
perfection, speed appears to be the relevant factor in the decision and in the subsequent
implementation.
“West Coast 100”
In Schleswig-Holstein, the cross-sector partnership “West Coast 100” was formed from EDF
Germany, Holcim Germany, OGE, Ørsted, Raffinerie Heide, Stadtwerke Heide, thyssenkrupp
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Industrial Solutions and Thüga -together with the Heide Region Development Agency and the West
Coast University of Applied Sciences. This wants to produce green hydrogen from offshore wind
energy and use the resulting waste heat. The hydrogen is then to be used both for the production
of climate-friendly fuels for airplanes and fed into gas networks. When producing fuel without
fossil fuels, unavoidable CO2 from regional cement production is used in the manufacturing
process. The special and innovative thing about this real-world laboratory project is this
interlinking of different material cycles within an already existing regional infrastructure.
Within the five-year project period, an electrolysis system with a capacity of 30 MW is to be
installed. It provides a wide variety of insights in order to transfer them to the next scaling step.
This could, for example, be an electrolysis plant of the order of 700 MW. The approach of the real
laboratory West Coast 100 is holistic: The regenerative energy generated with the help of wind
power is used to generate green hydrogen through electrolysis at the Heide refinery. Furthermore,
it is checked whether the oxygen also produced during the electrolysis can be fed into the
combustion process of a regional cement works with the help of a so-called "oxyfuel process",
which at the same time could significantly reduce the nitrogen oxide emissions (NOx) of the works.
In return, the carbon dioxide (CO2) produced in the cement works is to be used as a raw material
together with the green hydrogen in the refinery for the production of synthetic hydrocarbons (e.g.
as aviation fuel or chemical raw material such as methanol). This would be an important
contribution to the decarbonization of the cement industry. In the aviation sector - the fastest
growing transport sector in Germany and the EU - a synthetic green fuel would mean another
breakthrough in decarbonization (West Coast 100, homepage, no A., no D.; as well as an additional
telephone interview with the responsible member of the state parliament Andreas Hein, CDU).
H2 project Emsland
Lingen BP and Örsted are starting the production of green hydrogen together. The mineral oil
company and the wind farm operator announced on Tuesday that they wanted to build a 50-
megawatt electrolysis plant on the premises of the BP refinery in Lingen, Lower Saxony, to produce
green hydrogen. With the project, the two companies are entering a new size class. Electrolysis
systems of this size have not yet existed in Germany. The joint project by BP and Örsted is designed
in such a way that it can be easily expanded / scaled. According to the company, the electrolysis
output could be increased from 50 to 150 megawatts. The aim of BP is to “replace all fossil- generated hydrogen in the Lingen refinery in the long term” (Cleanthinking, 2020; as well as an
additional telephone interview with Örsted's General Manager, Volker Malmen).
Political initiatives in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and Bavaria
In the future, NRW will need five to six times as much hydrogen as it does today. In the absence of
green electricity, NRW will have to import up to 90 percent of this demand. That doesn't have to
surprise us at all, since gas, coal or oil are still imported today. But where do you get it from? On
the one hand, NRW relies on electrolysis near the German, Dutch or Belgian coast. On the other
hand, Germany is establishing partnerships with sunny countries, for example in Arabia. You can
get hydrogen from different directions. This competition enables competitive prices and can secure
or create up to 130,000 jobs in NRW. The innovative model region hydrogen mobility NRW
Düssel.Rhein.Wupper is picking up speed: The winning region of the competition model region
hydrogen mobility NRW will use a hydrogen-powered fuel cell truck in inner-city delivery traffic
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Novak, D. (2020). Hydrogen (H2) Is On The Rise – Is Germany On The Right Track? Archives of Business Research, 8(12). 44-49.
in Düsseldorf. The practical test is part of the cross-border project "H2-Share", which is testing
emission-free hydrogen fuel cell trucks in heavy freight traffic in six north-western European
regions. Düsseldorf is the only test municipality in Germany (Müller-Arnold in Süddeutsche
Zeitung, 2020).
In summer 2019, Bavaria founded “H2.Bayern”, a central coordination point for the Bavarian
hydrogen economy. At the same time, an alliance was created with now over 100 partners from
business, science and municipalities. In May 2020 the Minister of Economic Affairs presented a
“Bavarian Hydrogen Strategy”. Bavaria will fund 100 hydrogen filling stations over the next few
years. With 50 million euros in funding, the Ministry of Economic Affairs will lay the basis for a
hydrogen filling station infrastructure by 2023. There is also support for domestic companies in
the acquisition or conversion of hydrogen commercial vehicles. In addition, funding for
electrolysers for the production of green hydrogen is pending (Stmwi, 2020).
CONCLUSION
So what can be finally determined? Both the federal and numerous state governments in Germany
have obviously understood the importance of H2. Political decision-makers are now increasingly
opting for decarbonization and this obviously in practically all areas of energy generation. The only
sensible measure that can be implemented in Germany is the production, transport, storage and
use of green H2. The necessary production capacities are being built up at a cost of billions.
Problem: the construction of a large and functional H2 system takes at least 3 years. However, since
it takes time to build a nationwide filling station network, there are no unbridgeable obstacles.
Production using fuel cell motors and electrolysers at least works, even if a lot is still in its infancy.
Gigantic amounts of funding / subsidies are available to actually not only dare to make the big turn
to decarbonization, but actually implement it. There is evidence that important projects in all parts
of Germany have been launched.
The research question that remains to be answered is whether one is on the right track? Answer:
Yes, it can be proven. Even if there will certainly still be setbacks and delays, Germany is on the
right track with billions in investing in the transition to greenhouse gas-free energy generation and
energy use - and not at some point, but in this decade.
References
All literature used is currently only available in German due to its topicality and has been translated by the author.
Cleanenergypartnership (Homepage, no Author, no Date). Retrieved from:
https://cleanenergypartnership.de/en/faq/hydrogen-mobility/. Retrieved at 2020.11.09.
Cleanthinking (Homepage, no Author, no Date.). Retrieved from: https://www.cleanthinking.de/lingen-green- hydrogen-wie-orsted-und-bp-die-energiewende-vorantreiben/. Retrieved at 2020.11.13.
Ehret, O. (2020). Wasserstoffmobilität: Stand, Trends, Perspektiven (Hydrogen mobility: status, trends, prospects).
DVGW, Bonn.
Hein, A., Member of the parliament of the CDU, responsible for the West Coast 100 project in his constituency,
interviewed by telephone by the author at 2020.09.18.
Malmen, V., General Manager at Örsted GmbH, Telephone interview by the author on the Emsland H2 project, am
2020.11.19.
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Merten, F., Girar, Y. (2020). Grüner Wasserstoff aus Deutschland beflügelt Klimaschutz und Volkswirtschaft (Green
hydrogen from Germany gives wings to climate protection and the economy). Study of the Wuppertal Institut and the
DIW Econ GmbH. Retrieved from: https://wupperinst.org/a/wi/a/s/ad/5188/. Retrieved at: 2020.11.10.
Müller-Arnold, B. (2020.11.09). Erst grau und blau, dann grün (First gray and blue, then green)? Retrieved from:
https://www.sueddeutsche.de/wirtschaft/wasserstoff-nrw-andreas-pinkwart-klimaschutz-industrie-thyssenkrupp- shell-eeg-lee-1.5110003. Retrieved at 2020.11.10.
Stmwi – Bayerisches Staatsministerium für Wirtschaft, Landesentwicklung und Energie (Bavarian State Ministry for
Economic Affairs, Regional Development and Energy) (Homepage, no Author, no Date, 2020). Retrieved from:
https://www.stmwi.bayern.de/presse/pressemeldungen/pressemeldung/pm/43900/. Retrieved at: 2020.10.02.
Westküste (West Coast) 100 (Homepage, no Author, no Date). Retrieved from: https://www.westkueste100.de/.
Retrieved at 2020.11.11.