Green Energy

Policymakers and industry say the Midwest Hydrogen Hub will create green jobs and slash emissions, but environmentalists see a ploy to keep fossil fuels in use.

To make hydrogen, electricity is used to split hydrogen molecules from water. But this process is energy intensive, and where that energy comes from makes climate advocates question the “clean” branding.

Hydrogen production is color-coded based on the energy source used to produce it. Green hydrogen, for example, denotes that the power comes from renewables, like solar or wind. Pink hydrogen sources its power from nuclear energy. Blue hydrogen comes from natural gas and then traps emissions using carbon capture. When it comes to defining “clean hydrogen,” environmental advocates want to draw the line at green. But according to Banwart, the Midwest Hydrogen Hub will count all three as carbon-cutting options.

The vast majority of hydrogen manufactured in the United States today is produced with natural gas. Advocates say that anything that keeps fossil fuels online — including natural gas — isn’t clean.

I'm very interested to see how countries like Pakistan can lead the way in the clean energy revolution out of a necessity for cheap electricity rather than a desire for clean power.

Their electric grid and economy is such that they can optimize around solar rather than trying to force solar to fit into their existing system. Necessity is the mother of invention, and places like Pakistan will probably be able to teach us all a thing or two about how to develop economies around the Sun.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.bestiver.se/post/122848

Comments

A snow turbine?

Via @5715@feddit.org

https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2023/01/d7451269f0bb-research-begins-to-generate-electricity-from-snow-in-japan.html

The city of Aomori, which sees heavy snow every year, started a trial in a swimming pool at an abandoned elementary school in December [2022] to explore the feasibility of producing energy by utilizing the temperature difference between stored snow and the surrounding air.

According to Forte, challenges include finding a large-scale facility to store snow as well as securing heated air during cold seasons.

A year ago, I highlighted 24/7 carbon-free energy (CFE) hourly matching as the future of corporate energy procurement. Today it is steadily emerging in Europe with new buyers joining in beyond the traditional Big Tech trailblazers, Google and Microsoft. Now it’s time to take it mainstream.

Vanadium flow batteries aren't the only option; there are a number of them going up based on other chemistries which don't have the materials-scarcity problem.

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As per the title, I'm curious of your thoughts on this concept. Methane from landfills are already used as a source of energy in many cases, but according to the EPA, a tremendous amount are not, and contribute 14% to the US's methane gas emissions.

I'm not terribly happy how the inventors of this tech are trying to keep it a trade secret, and their estimate that an installation will cost between 1 to 10 million takes it out of reach a backyard solarpunk from taking advantage of it (though it sounds like it could be DIY'd with enough know-how).

On the face of it, if it makes more landfills become viable as a source of energy to reduce use of fossil fuels, it seems like it could be a useful tool against climate change. The best case scenario would be that a local energy co-op is able to afford the initial startup cost to get it operational, ideally using repurposed engines from used cars.

What do y'all make of it?