Offshore renewable energy presents different challenges than offshore oil and gas

Oct 7 2021

There is an argument raging about the attractiveness of using hydrogen as a component of the energy transition. Much of the discussion is about the inefficiency of ‘green’ hydrogen.

The argument is that a lot of energy is required to convert wind (the expected largest source of energy for green hydrogen) first to electricity and then to hydrogen – and most of this energy is not recoverable when the hydrogen is eventually consumed by the end user. As a consequence, using hydrogen is deemed less inefficient, and is currently much more expensive than oil and gas.

But I think that this is a misleading comparison. Granted, it does not take as much energy to extract oil and gas from its source, and then convert it to a usable form. However, this ignores the creation of the oil and gas in the first place – a major part of the hydrocarbon supply chain when viewed in its totality.

Creation of fossil fuel required considerable energy for animals and plants to grow, then to die and decay. The timescale for this process is huge - creation of fossil fuels takes millions of years, while generation of green hydrogen using energy from the sun happens in a few days or weeks.

So while current assessments indicate that hydrogen is apparently less efficient and more expensive to produce than Oil and Gas, this is because the full cost of producing these fossil fuels is not considered.

If a realistic ‘cost’ could be attributed to fossil fuels, including taking into account the depletion of a finite reserve and the resultant pollution as they are eventually burned, the comparison with hydrogen would be very different – and O&G is unlikely to come out favourably.

Hydrogen hype is growing, and it is unlikely it will be used in all the areas where it is currently being touted as a replacement for fossil fuels. But it does have some valid applications and it should not be eliminated from these on the basis on a flawed efficiency comparison with oil and gas.

#energytranistion #managementconsulting #hydrogen #collcuttasssociates