Ryze Hydrogen – The Future of Motorsport Is Hydrogen; Will Consumers Follow It In Its Wake?
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Hydrogen Central.
These are the first two paragraphs.
Internal combustion engines running on hydrogen produce just as much torque as their petrol-powered cousins, with all the associated noise and excitement.
Toyota put this theory to the test this month in the ninth round of the 2022 World Rally Championship (WRC) where it debuted the Toyota GR Yaris H2 concept car outside of Japan.
This is a must-read article, which makes some interesting points about the future of motorsport.
Three Shetland ScotWind Projects Announced
The title of this post, is the same as that of this press release on Crown Estate Scotland.
These three paragraphs outline how the leases were allocated.
Three projects will be offered seabed agreements for offshore wind projects following Crown Estate Scotland’s ScotWind clearing process.
The announcement comes as an offshore wind supply chain summit is held in Aberdeen today (22 August) with Sir Ian Wood, chaired by Michael Matheson MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Energy, and including a keynote address by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon MSP.
Clearing saw the ‘NE1’ area east of Shetland made available for ScotWind applicants who met the required standards but who did not secure their chosen location earlier in the leasing process.
I think it was good idea to offer these leases to those bidders that failed to get a lease, the first time around, despite meeting the standards.
- Would it encourage bidders, if they knew that after the expense of setting up a bid, that if they failed, they could have another chance?
- It must also save the Scottish Government time and money checking out bidders.
- How many times have you interviewed several applicants for a job and then found jobs for some of those, that you didn’t choose for the original job?
Let’s hope the philosophy has generated some good extra contracts.
This map from Cross Estate Scotland shows all the contracts.
Note the three new leases numbered 18, 19 and 20 to the East of Shetland, in the North-East corner of the map.
Their details are as follows.
- 18 – Ocean Winds – 500 MW
- 19 – Mainstream Renewable Power – 1800 MW
- 20 – ESB Asset Development – 500 MW
Note.
All are floating wind farms.
- Ocean Winds is a Spanish renewable energy company that is developing the Moray West and Moray East wind farms.
- Mainstream Renewable Power appear to be a well-financed and ambitious company, 75 % owned by Aker.
- ESB Energy appear to be an experienced energy company owned by the Irish state, who operate several wind farms and Carrington gas-fired power station in the UK.
2.8 GW would appear to be a generous second helping.
Ocean Winds and Mainstream Renewable Power
This web page on the Ocean Winds web site, is entitled Ocean Winds Designated Preferred Bidder For Seabed Leases For 2.3 GW Of Floating Projects East Of Shetland, Scotland, contains several snippets of useful information.
- Crown Estate Scotland announced the result of ScotWind Leasing round clearing process, awarding Ocean Winds with two seabed leases for floating offshore wind projects: a 1.8 GW capacity site with partner Mainstream Renewable Power, and another 500 MW capacity site, east of the Shetland Islands.
- Ocean Winds’ international portfolio of projects now reaches 14.5 GW of gross capacity, including 6.1 GW in Scotland.
- Floating wind turbines for the two adjacent sites are confirmed, because of the water depth.
- The partners are committed to developing floating offshore wind on an industrial scale in Scotland, generating local jobs and opportunities in Scotland and the Shetland Islands.
- From the picture on the web page, it looks like WindFloat technology will be used.
- Ocean Winds developed the WindFloat Atlantic project.
Ocean Winds appear to want to go places.
The Shetland HVDC Connection
The Shetland HVDC Connection will connect Shetland to Scotland.
- It will be 160 miles long.
- It will have a capacity of 600 MW.
- It is estimated that it will cost more than £600 million.
- It will allow the 66MW Lerwick power station to close.
- It will be completed in 2024.
I have a feeling that all these numbers don’t add up to a sensible answer.
Consider.
- The three offshore wind farms can generate up to 2800 MW of green electricity.
- With a capacity factor of 50 %, an average of 1400 MW of electricity will be generated.
- The Viking onshore wind farm on Shetland could generate up to 450 MW.
- More wind farms are likely in and around Shetland.
- Lerwick power station can probably power most of the Shetland’s needs.
- Lerwick power station is likely to be closed soon.
- Sullum Voe Terminal has its own 100 MW gas-turbine power station.
- Load is balanced on Shetland by 3MWh of advanced lead-acid batteries.
- Lerwick has a district heating scheme.
If we assume that Shetland’s energy needs are of the order of a few hundred MW, it looks like at times the wind farms will be generating more electricity, than Shetland and the Shetland HVDC Connection can handle.
Various plans have suggested building electrolysers on Shetland to create hydrogen.
Conversion of excess electricity to hydrogen, would have the following advantages.
- The hydrogen could be used for local heavy transport and to replace diesel.
- Hydrogen could be used to fuel a gas turbine back-up power station, when needed.
- Hydrogen could be used for rocket fuel, if use of Shetland as a Spaceport for launching satellites takes off.
Any excess hydrogen could be exported to the rest of the UK or Europe.
The Third Route To Zero-Carbon Transport
The two most common routes to zero-carbon transport are.
- Battery-electric vehicles
- Hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles
Note that most hydrogen-fuel cell vehicles also have a battery.
But I believe there’s a third route and that is the use of hydrogen in an internal combustion engine.
Earlier today, I wrote Rolls-Royce And AVK Provide Over 3.5 Gigawatts Of Emergency Power Capacity In The UK, which is based on a Rolls-Royce press release, with the same title.
This is an extract.
And this is said about the use of hydrogen.
Rolls-Royce is also currently developing its mtu gas engine portfolio for power generation so that the engines can run on hydrogen fuel in future, enabling a Net Zero energy supply. The company is also launching complete mtu hydrogen fuel cell solutions, that emit nothing but water vapor from 2025. This will enable CO2-free generation of emergency power for data centers and many other critical applications.
I certainly think, that they are going in the right direction.
Rolls-Royce mtu have a lot to lose, if their diesel engines that power trains, heavy equipment, ships and emergency power generators are replaced by other companies zero-carbon solutions.
- Large investments will need to be made in hydrogen electrolyser and fuel cell production.
- Some traditional factories making diesel engines will be closed and could this mean redundancies?
- A lot of retraining of staff at both manufacturer and customer will need to be made.
But a traditional internal combustion engine, that runs on hydrogen or even both hydrogen and diesel makes the transition to hydrogen a lot less painful.
Other companies going this route include Cummins, Deutz and JCB.
Conversion Of Existing Diesel Engines To Hydrogen
Surely, if an equivalence hydrogen engine exists for all of their diesel engines, a company like Cummins or Rolls-Royce mtu can produce a sound engineering route to decarbonise some of their existing applications.
A classic application would be converting London’s Routemaster buses to hydrogen, which I wrote about in Could London’s New Routemaster Buses Be Converted To Hydrogen Power?
This was my conclusion in that post.
I believe from my knowledge of Cummins and the way they work, that they will come up with a hydrogen-based solution, that will replace the Cummins diesel in these buses with a zero-carbon engine.
If Cummins don’t then someone else will.
Whoever solves the problem of converting London’s new Routemasters to hydrogen will have one of the best adverts for their product, there has ever been.
After converting London’s thousand Routemasters, the engineers could move on to anything powered by a Cummins engine.
As this is a world-wide problem, I believe that the manufacturers of cars, buses, trucks and many other vehicles will offer zero-carbon solutions for their products, as it will be necessary for survival.
If you have just bought a new diesel BMW and your government says that in two years time, diesel will no longer be available, you’re up the creek without a paddle. But if BMW can convert it to hydrogen for a small fraction of the cost of a new electric equivalent, you have a more available way out.
Rolls-Royce And AVK Provide Over 3.5 Gigawatts Of Emergency Power Capacity In The UK
The title of this post, is the same as that of this press release from Rolls-Royce.
The press release starts with these two bullet points.
- UK’s largest technology companies rely on emergency power solutions from AVK and Rolls-Royce
- Focus on Net Zero solutions with sustainable fuels and fuel cells
And then this summary of the business in the UK.
Rolls-Royce has delivered 200 mtu emergency generators to AVK, UK’s leading provider of critical power solutions, in just three years. AVK has already installed and commissioned the majority across Europe, and in total has already provided more than 3.5 gigawatts of power to data centers, the financial, telecommunications and healthcare industries in the UK and Ireland.
AVK is now the largest supplier of emergency power solutions to data centers and the financial sector in the UK, and since signing the exclusive agreement with the Rolls-Royce business unit Power Systems, has been using only mtu brand emergency gensets.
The next two paragraphs describe the business in more detail.
These are some points from these paragraphs.
- Data is now the ‘fourth utility’ required by all.
- The European colocation data center market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 13.1 percent from 2021 to 2028.
- The most important European markets for data centers are Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam, and Paris, where demand is highest.
- AVK provides, installs and maintains systems over their entire service life.
- Emergency power systems based on mtu diesel systems ranging from 825 to 4,000 KVA are tailored to customer needs.
- AVK has been using mtu engines for emergency power systems for over 20 years.
Rolls-Royce And AVK seem to have developed a nice little earner.
Net Zero Emergency Power Solutions
The last section talks about net-zero solutions for generators and emergency power.
This is set about sustainable fuels.
Sustainability already plays a major role for data center operators. As a result, interest in alternative fuels has grown and AVK is increasingly providing support and guidance on switching from using diesel to HVO (Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil). mtu Powergen engines from Rolls-Royce can be used unchanged for sustainable EN15940 fuels, such as HVO; no engine hardware or software modifications are required with the same performance. Using HVO can significantly reduce CO2, nitrogen oxide and particulate emissions.
And this is said about the use of hydrogen.
Rolls-Royce is also currently developing its mtu gas engine portfolio for power generation so that the engines can run on hydrogen fuel in future, enabling a Net Zero energy supply. The company is also launching complete mtu hydrogen fuel cell solutions, that emit nothing but water vapor from 2025. This will enable CO2-free generation of emergency power for data centers and many other critical applications.
I certainly think, that they are going in the right direction.
- Data center operators are said to want sustainability.
- Other users of emergency power will probably want the same.
- A full range of solutions is offered.
Hopefully, it will bring more sales, as the market size increases.
AA Unveils Hydrogen Fuel Cell Patrol Vehicle
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on FleetNews.
This is the introductory paragraph.
The AA has revealed a hydrogen fuel cell roadside breakdown vehicle – the Hyundai NEXO – to target breakdown jobs in ultra-low emission zones.
Could we see other service companies switching to the Hyundai NEXO.
Hydrogen Fuel Pioneer Wins £247k Funding For Carbon Capture Tech
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on gasworld.
This is the introductory paragraph.
UK-based waste-to-hydrogen specialist Compact Syngas Solutions (CSS) has won £246,568 from the Hydrogen BECCS (bioenergy with carbon capture and storage) Innovation Programme.
I first wrote about Compact Syngas Solutions, in Welsh Firm Wins £300K BEIS Grant To Advance Hydrogen Fuel Tech.
Compact Syngas Solutions appear to be developing a process to turn waste, that would otherwise go to landfill, into green hydrogen.
- The first stage turns the waste into syngas using gasification.
- This process produces carbon dioxide, which must be captured.
- Compact Syngas Solutions seem to have found a chemical mechanism, that uses water to capture this carbon dioxide instead of ammonia-derived amines.
The last two paragraphs of the article state Compact Syngas Solutions’s plans.
Intended to be portable, CSS plans to develop ten Micro H2 hubs complete with four gasifiers.
Capable of producing 60kg of hydrogen and capturing 3.1kg of CO2 per day, the technology could contribute to full-scale Waste-to-Syngas-Liquid-Fuel facilities, leading to a 50,100 tonne CO2 capture capacity in the UK.
I feel, that if this technology can be made to work at scale, then Compact Syngas Solutions will have a viable way to make green hydrogen.
Bord na Mona Planning Offaly Hydrogen Project As New Wind Farm Is Switched On
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on OffalyLive.
The policy of the Bord na Mona is described in detail in the article.
This paragraph describes the green hydrogen development.
The development will be two megawatts and will comprise a hydrogen electrolysis plant containing an electrolyser, three high pressure hydrogen storage units, a generator, a substation and an underground cable connecting to a wind turbine 600 metres away.
Surely, this hydrogen will have the right to be marketed as genuine Irish green hydrogen!
For those of you, who are confused by the various colours of hydrogen, this page on the National Grid web site, which is entitled The Hydrogen Colour Spectrum gives a useful guide.
Note that there is no orange hydrogen defined as yet, but there is a yellow hydrogen defined like this.
Yellow hydrogen is a relatively new phrase for hydrogen made through electrolysis using solar power.
So it does look, that yellow hydrogen, which could be called orange hydrogen at a pinch, is as environmentally-friendly as green hydrogen.
Another Aussie Green Hydrogen Hub In The Works As Total Eren Eyes 1GW Darwin Project
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Recharge.
These two paragraphs introduce the project.
Developer Total Eren is sizing up the potential for a 1GW green hydrogen project in Australia’s Northern Territory (NT), taking the total capacity of green H2 projects under development in the state to 13.8GW.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), signed between Total Eren and the NT state government on Monday, will see the two work together to progress the project, dubbed the Darwin H2 Hub.
This paragraph gives a few numbers.
Plans for the scheme comprise more than 2GW of solar PV generation, which will power a 1GW electrolyser. The project aims to produce 80,000 tonnes of hydrogen a year, equivalent to around 4% of the 1.96 million tonnes of green H2 South Korea expects to import from overseas by 2030.
Note.
- Australia seems to be the place to develop large hydrogen and energy projects.
- South Korea will beat a path to your door, if you have the capacity to create millions of tonnes of green hydrogen.
The article finishes with a good summary of the future prospects of Australia’s green hydrogen industry.
I believe that Australia could become a world superpower, as it will certainly provide zero-carbon power to a good proportion of South East Asia.
UK In Hydrogen Breakthrough As New £26m Deal With Japan To Help Tackle Energy Crisis
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Hydrogen Central.
These two paragraphs explain the deal.
The UK has received a major boost to its hydrogen ambitions as a Japanese energy company is set to sign a £26million deal to develop green hydrogen projects in Wales.
The local council of Bridgend in Wales has signed a memorandum of understanding with Marubeni, a Japanese green energy specialist company. The agreement sets out proposals to develop a new 5MW-class green hydrogen initiative after the company decided to pick Wales as the preferred UK location for a green hydrogen demonstrator project.
These two paragraphs describe how the hydrogen will be used.
Through this deal, the Welsh Government hopes that the project would generate clean fuel for fleet vehicles ranging from council gritters to recycling and refuse collection lorries.
The company is also trying to figure out how hydrogen fuel might be used to heat buildings such as schools, residential homes, and local swimming pools.
We need more projects like these to cut carbon emissions.
When is Sadiq Khan going to produce a hydrogen strategy for London, to help clean up the city’s polluted air?
Significant Step Forward For Keadby 3 Carbon Capture Power Station
The title of this post, is the same as that of this press release from SSE.
These three paragraphs outline the project.
A landmark project in the Humber which could become the UK’s first power station equipped with carbon capture technology has taken a major leap forward following an announcement by the UK Government today.
Keadby 3 Carbon Capture Power Station, which is being jointly developed by SSE Thermal and Equinor, has been selected to be taken forward to the due diligence stage by the Department for Business, Energy and Industry Strategy (BEIS) as part of its Cluster Sequencing Process.
This process will give the project the opportunity to receive government support, allowing it to deploy cutting edge carbon capture technology, and to connect to the shared CO2 pipelines being developed through the East Coast Cluster, with its emissions safely stored under the Southern North Sea. The common infrastructure will also supply low-carbon hydrogen to potential users across the region.
The press release also says this about the power station.
- Keadby 3 power station could have a generating capacity of up to 910MW.
- It could be operational by 2027.
- It would capture up to one and a half million tonnes of CO2 a year.
It would provide low-carbon, flexible power to back-up renewable generation.
The H2H Saltend Project
The press release also says this about the H2H Saltend project.
Equinor’s H2H Saltend project, the ‘kick-starter’ for the wider Zero Carbon Humber ambition, has also been taken to the next stage of the process by BEIS. The planned hydrogen production facility could provide a hydrogen supply to Triton Power’s Saltend Power Station as well as other local industrial users. In June, SSE Thermal and Equinor entered into an agreement to acquire the Triton Power portfolio.
I wrote about H2H Saltend and the acquisition of Triton Power in SSE Thermal And Equinor To Acquire Triton Power In Acceleration Of Low-Carbon Ambitions.
In the related post, I added up all the power stations and wind farms, that are owned by SSE Thermal and it came to a massive 9.1 GW, which should all be available by 2027.
Collaboration Between SSE Thermal And Equinor
The press release also says this about collaboration between SSE Thermal and Equinor.
The two companies are also collaborating on major hydrogen projects in the Humber. Keadby Hydrogen Power Station could be one of the world’s first 100% hydrogen-fuelled power stations, while Aldbrough Hydrogen Storage could be one of the world’s largest hydrogen storage facilities. In addition, they are developing Peterhead Carbon Capture Power Station in Aberdeenshire, which would be a major contributor to decarbonising the Scottish Cluster.
This collaboration doesn’t lack ambition.
I also think, that there will expansion of their ambitions.
Horticulture
Lincolnshire is about horticulture and it is a generally flat county, which makes it ideal for greenhouses.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see a large acreage of greenhouses built close to the Humber carbon dioxide system, so that flowers, salad vegetables, soft fruit, tomatoes and other plants can be grown to absorb the carbon dioxide.
It should also be noted that one of the ingredients of Quorn is carbon dioxide from a fertiliser plant, that also feeds a large tomato greenhouse.
We would have our carbon dioxide and eat it.
Other Uses Of Carbon Dioxide
Storing carbon dioxide in depleted gas fields in the North Sea will probably work, but it’s a bit like putting your rubbish in the shed.
Eventually, you run out of space.
The idea I like comes from an Australian company called Mineral Carbonation International.
- I wrote about their success at COP26 in Mineral Carbonation International Win COP26 Clean Energy Pitch Battle.
- The company has developed the technology to convert carbon dioxide into building products like blocks and plasterboard.
- Their mission is to remove a billion tonnes of CO2 by 2040 safely and permanently.
We would have our carbon dioxide and live in it.
I also think other major uses will be developed.
A Large Battery
There is the hydrogen storage at Aldbrough, but that is indirect energy storage.
There needs to be a large battery to smooth everything out.
In Highview Power’s Second Commercial System In Yorkshire, I talk about Highview Power’s proposal for a 200MW/2.5GWh CRYOBattery.
This technology would be ideal, as would several other technologies.
Conclusion
Humberside will get a giant zero-carbon power station.
The Anonymous Widower 