Hydrogen key to breaking Alberta’s energy logjam

Hydrogen is an important next energy step for Alberta and the province already has everything it needs to get there—it’s another way to get long-term value out of Alberta’s resources. In the new global clean energy economy transformation taking place, hydrogen is a key player and an enormous opportunity for Canada—it also provides a potential solution to Alberta’s natural resource dilemma. To pass the energy logjam, Alberta is going to be forced to reset its traditional value proposition for coal and unconventional oil as fuels. In whatever future decarbonized energy scenario one sees for Alberta (and for that matter the rest of Canada), hydrogen will play a critical role. Hydrogen is unique, as it can be used in multiple applications involving energy production and storage, the chemical industry, gas and electrical grid networks, and transportation. The importance of hydrogen is reflected in the recently released Hydrogen Strategy for Canada, which sets a framework to establish hydrogen as a critical part of Canada’s path to net-zero emissions by 2050 and to make Canada a global leader in hydrogen technologies. Today, 95 per cent of the world’s hydrogen comes from the reforming of natural gas (grey hydrogen) which, though an efficient and common process, produces carbon dioxide. More recently, however, green hydrogen produced from the electrolysis of water (even sea water) using renewable electricity is decreasing in cost and increasing in efficiency. With the increased generation of electricity by renewables in Alberta, the province has the opportunity to use green hydrogen in all of its chemical processing, including synthetic fuels and chemicals, to significantly reduce carbon dioxide emissions. By 2030, Alberta is expected to generate 30 per cent of its electricity from renewables and add more natural gas generation to the grid. Curtailment of large-scale electricity generation beyond baseload requirements results in many terawatt-hours of lost energy. Rather than being discarded or subject to negative pricing, the excess electricity can be used to create hydrogen for many applications, or stored for generation of electricity when needed, bringing flexibility and stability to the grid. Furthermore, hydrogen can be injected into the natural gas distribution system by up to as much as 15 per cent to support the reduction of carbon emissions and improve fuel combustion quality. Although the increased penetration of renewables and the use of hydrogen is inevitable in a decarbonized energy system, what is Alberta to do with its stranded fossil fuel reserves? Alberta’s recently released hydrogen strategy focuses on producing hydrogen from natural gas with carbon capture and utilization and storage (CCUS) to produce exportable clean hydrogen. This is a promising transition strategy that produces a value-added and globally desirable commodity. Both Alberta and British Columbia have enormous natural gas resources and the ability to produce and export natural gas and hydrogen, if it can get to markets. The provinces need a united and cohesive strategy around natural gas and hydrogen and on a pipeline strategy to get these products to the coast and to market. It may require reassessment of currently unpopular infrastructure proposals. The Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, for example, could be converted to a natural gas pipeline, or, with even more modification, to a hydrogen pipeline—a repurposing approach currently being explored in Europe. In Canada, the connection of energy resources with pipelines, the electrical grid, and energy storage and conversion are the infrastructure building blocks of the clean energy economy. Building this Canadian infrastructure will require unprecedented collaboration between the provinces and with the federal government. This is a longer-term plan with significant payback for all players, but it requires commitment, collaboration and moving beyond polarized partisan and short-term re-election politics. This may be the biggest challenge Canada faces with the Hydrogen Strategy and its commitments to the Paris Agreement. David Wilkinson is a professor and Canadian Research Chair in Clean Energy and Electrochemical Technologies (Tier 1) at the University of British Columbia faculty of Applied Science. He was named a recipient of the Order of Canada in 2020. The Hill Times

Hydrogen key to breaking Alberta’s energy logjam

With the increased generation of electricity by renewables in Alberta, the province has the opportunity to use green hydrogen in all of its chemical processing to significantly reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

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Hydrogen key to breaking Alberta’s energy logjam

With the increased generation of electricity by renewables in Alberta, the province has the opportunity to use green hydrogen in all of its chemical processing to significantly reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

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