Advanced BioFuels USA

by Helena Tavares Kennedy (Biofuels Digest) Hot hydrogen news hit the past few days with grocery store chain Lidl opening the first logistics platform in Europe to use renewable green hydrogen, thanks to its partners Lhyfe and Plug Power. Plus news from the Netherlands that Minister Harbers of Infrastructure and Public Works officially gave the starting signal for the construction of the ms Antonie, the first inland ship in Netherlands to run fully on green hydrogen.

On the other side of the planet was news about an international partnership to jointly develop, design, build, own and operate the world’s first fuel cell power plant that uses hydrogen produced from plastic waste in Ulsan, Korea. And in Germany, MAN Energy Solutions is investing up to 500 million Euro (over $550 million USD) in hydrogen production at H-TEC SYSTEMS, which has mastered one of the most important processes for industrially scaled hydrogen production from renewable energy sources.

In today’s Digest, the latest in hydrogen news, from waste-based hydrogen to seaweed-based hydrogen and more.

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Lidl sources its renewable green hydrogen from Lhyfe, a pioneer in the production of hydrogen from renewable and local energy sources, since the Lhyfe plant is located a few dozen kilometres from Carquefou. The availability of this green hydrogen, which is produced from seawater and renewable electricity, was the condition for carrying out this project which avoids using fossil fuels or electricity to power the vehicles.

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 To make this hydrogen, Lhyfe uses wind and water. A neighbouring wind farm supplies electricity while water is pumped in small quantities from the sea and then desalinated and purified. The electrolyser then separates the elements that make up water (hydrogen and oxygen) to produce green renewable hydrogen.

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The costs for the construction and development of the first 135-metre-long hydrogen-electric inland ship are about twice as high as that of a regular ship. The Ministry of Infrastructure and Public Works is therefore making a significant contribution in order to cover the additional costs. The ministry views the project as an important part of realising the European goal of making all inland shipping emission-free by 2050.

When the ms Antonie is finished, the ship will transport salt for Nobian, the industrial chemistry branch of AkzoNobel which was spun off last year. The ship will transport approximately 3,700 tons of salt per voyage, the equivalent of 120 trucks, entirely free of emissions, from Delfzijl to the Botlek plant in Rotterdam. Nobian is also the producer of the green hydrogen. In addition to the involvement of Nobian, Lenten Scheepvaart, HyEnergy TransStore and the fuel cell producer Nedstack, the project is supervised by inland shipping cooperative NPRC, which is coordinating the supply of salt as the logistics service provider.

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A few other recent items to note, E.ON and Tree Energy Solutions (TES) want to drive the ramp-up of the future hydrogen economy jointly and agreed on a strategic partnership to import green hydrogen at scale into Germany. Within the framework of the partnership the companies will investigate potential joint engagements along the entire hydrogen value chain to build a source for secure, long-term green hydrogen supply.

Other news also from Germany is that over the next few years, MAN Energy Solutions will invest up to 500 million euro (over $550 million USD) in its subsidiary H-TEC SYSTEMS to transform the hydrogen specialist into a mass-producer of PEM electrolysers as quickly as possible. “Our plan is clear,” explained Uwe Lauber, CEO of MAN Energy Solutions. “We are transforming H-TEC SYSTEMS into one of the world’s leading players in the field of PEM electrolysis. Over the next five to ten years, green hydrogen will become one of the most important primary energy sources for the global economy as it continues to decarbonize. With PEM electrolysis, H-TEC SYSTEMS has mastered one of the most important processes for industrially scaled hydrogen production from renewable energy sources. The technology is mature and has already been placed on the market successfully. The next step is therefore to scale and set up highly automated serial production – and we would like to make rapid progress with this.” READ MORE

PR Inauguration of the Carquefou Logistics Platform (Lidl)

Nobian participates in project first new construction of inland vessel powered by green hydrogen (Nobian)

E.ON and Tree Energy Solutions announce strategic partnership to import green hydrogen (E.ON)

2021 deals position US to be a global hydrogen leader: BloombergNEF (Utility Dive)