What are the uses for hydrogen in today's world and the future?

Industry: what are the uses for hydrogen?

Hydrogen: a key component for industry

At the present time, practically all the hydrogen produced around the world is used by sectors of industry where hydrogen is an essential ingredient for their processes. However, the decision to procure "low carbon" hydrogen would significantly improve their carbon footprint. The largest hydrogen users include fertiliser manufacturing (involving ammonia synthesis), oil refineries, metal production and methanol synthesis.

Industry and aviation: hydrogen as a carbon-free fuel

Hydrogen can also be used directly by "burning" it in the same way as oil and gas. A high level of expertise has already been forged in this long-established area of technology. For example, hydrogen (combined with oxygen in the form of a propellant) is the most widely used fuel for space rockets. The upside is that hydrogen burns in oxygen to produce water and not CO₂ like conventional internal combustion engines! The large plume of white smoke that engulfs each Ariane rocket launch is nothing more than… water vapour!

This use of hydrogen as a fuel could gain greater traction with only a few technical tweaks in those sectors of industry that are hard to decarbonise, such as aircraft engines, blast furnaces and industrial furnaces. The supply chain is actually the number one challenge. How can industry procure hydrogen on a massive scale? Financial considerations are also high on the list. How much will "green" hydrogen cost? Finally, hydrogen faces a number of regulatory issues, such as what changes are required to ensure that operations involving this new energy are completely safe? 

Electricity storage: hydrogen has the solution

One of the major advantages with hydrogen is that it can be used as an energy "carrier" and not only as an energy "source". This approach holds plenty of promise for overcoming the inherent problem with intermittent renewable energies, such as wind and solar power. Today, the process that is most often developed and implemented involves hooking up a renewable energy plant to an electrolyser. During peak generation times, the excess electricity can be used to produce hydrogen, which can be stored indefinitely. When production levels fall or demand surges, a generator reconverts the stored hydrogen into electricity, which is injected into the grid to guarantee a continuous and widely predictable energy supply.

HyDeal: a textbook case in Spain

HyDeal, a joint venture including steel manufacturer ArcelorMittal and fertiliser producer Fertiberia, stands as an ambitious hydrogen-based project. The aim is to build a sprawling 9.5 GW solar power plant combined with a 7.4 GW electrolyser to produce over 300,000 tons of "green" hydrogen a year by 2030. VINCI is driving this flagship project forward through VINCI Construction and its specialised HyFinity brand. VINCI is also involved in the energy side of the venture with Cobra IS, the Spanish industrial engineering expert that was recently incorporated into the Group.

Hydrocarbons: hydrogen for a carbon-neutral footprint

So-called "power-to-gas" and "power-to-fuel" technologies are promising solutions for the short/medium term. The idea is to combine "green" hydrogen with CO₂ taken from the atmosphere or captured at a factory's flue-gas stacks to produce hydrocarbons or synthesis gases. In addition to their extremely low carbon footprint, these technologies have the advantage of being very close to traditional gases and fuels.

Jupiter 1000: power-to-gas in action

Actemium (VINCI Energies) is a stakeholder in the Jupiter 1000 project spearheaded by GRTgaz. The project was commissioned in 2020 in Fos-sur-Mer, France, and features an industrial demonstrator for producing synthetic methane through an electrolyser powered by a local renewable energy facility, combined with a unit for capturing the CO₂ emissions from the flue-gas stacks of the neighbouring steel production plant. The synthetic methane is injected into the gas grid, where it can be used by industrial and residential customers. The carbon atom that was initially emitted into the atmosphere is subsequently captured and reused. This innovation significantly reduces the CO₂ emissions from the upstream phase of producing the gas.

Mobility: travelling with hydrogen

What exactly is a hydrogen fuel cell?

Instead of burning hydrogen, it can be used in a fuel cell to deliver electricity. The principle is the same as an electrical cell. In other words, an oxidation and reduction reaction generates current between two electrodes. This reaction works in the opposite way to electrolysis by producing only water. Hydrogen fuel cells boast a much higher level of performance than conventional generators, meaning that they have tremendous potential for a wealth of applications, especially mobility.

Hydrogen-powered road mobility

Several different models of hydrogen vehicles are already available, but they continue to hold only a marginal share of the global market, i.e. 17,000 sales in 2021 compared to over 6.5 million sales for the surging electric vehicle industry. That trend has not deterred the European Union from moving ahead with its plans to roll out hydrogen filling stations every 200 km along the core roads by 2030. These stations particularly stand to benefit the future fleets of large vehicles (trucks, coaches and buses) which can reach a potentially longer range than vehicles running on electricity. In 2022, VINCI Concessions actually ploughed its first investments into hydrogen-powered road mobility with a €10 million stake in the financing round organised by H2 Mobility, the leader in hydrogen filling stations for road mobility in Germany. VINCI Concessions has also invested €15 million in Hype, the first integrated hydrogen mobility platform in France and a company in which VINCI Energies is the exclusive partner for building new hydrogen production and distribution stations in the Ile-de-France region.

Hydrogen-powered air mobility

Hydrogen faces an even more daunting challenge in the aviation industry than in the other mobility sectors, since radically different aircraft infrastructures need to be developed that are capable of housing liquid hydrogen tanks at -253°C or fuel cells that are compact and powerful enough to take a wide-body jet up to an altitude of 15,000 metres. However, these technologies are growing fast and have caught the interest of several companies. For example, aircraft equipment manufacturer Safran has launched the Explore H2 programme to work alongside startups specialising in this particular area. Meanwhile, Airbus has unveiled the ZEROe concept with a range of three hydrogen-powered aircraft, the first of which is expected in 2035. The imminent arrival of hydrogen-powered aircraft also means major changes at airports. VINCI Airports (VINCI Concessions) is pursuing its action plan by preparing to open its first hydrogen gas distribution station at Lyon-Saint Exupéry Airport, as well as launching a hydrogen-powered bus service at Kansai International Airport in Japan, developing a fleet of hydrogen-powered operational vehicles at Portuguese airports, and partnering with Air Liquide, Copec and Colbún at Santiago Airport in Chile.

Hydrogen-powered rail mobility

Trains are an obvious candidate for hydrogen. Fewer obstacles need to be overcome when it comes to fitting locomotives with large hydrogen tanks or fuel cells. This alternative would not only represent a cost-effective alternative to the many diesel locomotives currently in operation, but it would also be highly beneficial to the climate. Alstom is already blazing a trail in this field by commissioning the very first train in the world to be powered by a hydrogen fuel cell in Germany along a passenger line stretching over 1,000 km.

Hydrogen-powered maritime mobility

A major part of global trade depends on ships whose gigantic diesel engines churn out a considerable amount of pollution and CO₂ emissions. The energy and autonomy needs of these floating behemoths widely outstrip what conventional batteries are capable of producing. Unless the world's entire fleet is fitted with nuclear propulsion systems, hydrogen has a role to play in what is a key industry for decarbonising the economy. The technologies are still in the teething stages, but shipyards and ship-owners are ramping up the number of prototypes and demonstrators, such as the Energy Observer 2 project involving Air Liquide and CMA-CGM, especially since some diesel engines can be converted to run on hydrogen or its derivatives, like methanol and ammonia.

An initial "H₂" success for Barillec Marine

This VINCI Energies company was commissioned by Sogestran to build the electric plant for the first hydrogen-powered barge on the River Seine. Barillec Marine is also working alongside other ship-owners on crew transfer vessels equipped with hybrid hydrogen propulsion systems.