Government s Support for CO2-free Hydrogen Production in Germany

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1 Government s Support for CO2-free Hydrogen Production in Germany Dr. Jochen Seier Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH Projektträger Jülich D Jülich, Germany j.seier@fz-juelich.de Prof. Dr. Günter Borm Geoforschungszentrum Potsdam GmbH gborm@gfz-potsdam.de ABSTRACT: The German Federal Government regards renewable electricity and CO 2 capture and storage as two key technologies for the CO 2 -free production of hydrogen. To emphasize the strong interest in the development of these technologies, two major projects pushing the technologies significantly forward are funded by the Federal Government. In addition, public acceptance is investigated. The projects are lined out below. KEYWORDS: CO 2 -free hydrogen production, CO 2 capture and storage, renewable electricity 1. Government s support in the past The German Federal Government considers hydrogen as an energy carrier with a high potential for portable, stationary and mobile applications. Hydrogen can contribute significantly to the restructuring of the energy sector and the traffic sector towards a sustainable development. This has recently been pointed out in the report Strategy Report on Research Needs in the field of Hydrogen Energy Technologies published in January It can be downloaded from the website of the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology respectively from The report was compiled by experts from science and industry on the initiative of the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology. The Federal Government of Germany considers the following features of hydrogen as an energy carrier as most perceptive: Hydrogen can be produced from a large range of resources. Hydrogen can be stored relatively easily. Nearly no pollutants or greenhouse gases are emitted when hydrogen is used. Due to these advances and combined with its large emission-reduction potential, hydrogen is an important topic in the recently released 5 th Energy Research Programme Innovation and New Energy Technologies of the Federal Government (download from website of the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology). By including hydrogen into the new programme, the Federal Government continues a tradition of supporting hydrogen related R&D-projects. The history of funding hydrogen projects is shown in figure 1. The graph does, however, not include projects dealing with the development of hydrogen applications. In particular the development of fuel cells, which is another major topic of the energy research programme, is omitted. 1/7

2 Funds in M Figure 1: Federal Government s support for hydrogen related R&D-projects The graph shows clearly the increase of the funds subsequent to the oil price crisis in 1973 and The highest level was reached in the middle of the 1990s. During this period, the outstanding Hysolar-project was funded. It comprised a close cooperation with Saudi-Arabia to demonstrate the chain of solar hydrogen production in a sun-rich part of the world and the transportation to Germany. In 1995 it was stated that the technical conditions to realize a hydrogen economy were principally ready. However, its early implementation was not expected due to a missing economical feasibility. Further improvements of the technologies were expected to be possible (e. g. new materials for electrolysers), but they were not assumed to make an early introduction of a hydrogen economy more likely. This induced the decision to slow down the funding level for hydrogen energy related R&D-projects. On the other hand, the level of funding for the development of fuel cells increased strongly after On the other hand, with the beginning of the new millennium the interest in hydrogen as an energy carrier rose again on an international scale. Primacy was now that the hydrogen was produced without CO 2 - emissions. CO 2 -free hydrogen production is expected to contribute considerably to the climate protection strategy which the Federal Government is strongly committed to. With CO 2 -free produced hydrogen, a significant CO 2 -reduction can be achieved in the transportation sector where other climate protection options cannot be applied. This is an important step towards the final goal of sustainable mobility. CO 2 -free hydrogen can be produced using the following sources: renewable energy, in particular renewable electricity fossil fuels together with CO 2 -capture and storage (CCS) nuclear energy. The production of hydrogen using nuclear energy is not investigated in the framework of projects supported by the German Federal Government. Concerning the other two options, innovative projects are performed which are supported by the government. Two key projects are pointed out below. 2. Clean Energy Partnership (CEP) The vision of CEP is to demonstrate the practical suitability of CO 2 -free hydrogen as energy carrier for automotives. This comprehensive task includes input of different industrial branches. Therefore, the following companies from several countries in Europe are involved in the CEP-project: 2/7

3 Energy companies: Aral, Vattenfall Europe, Total Technology companies: Linde, Hydro Car manufacturers: BMW Group, DaimlerChrysler, Ford, GM/Opel Transport company: BVG (urban transport Berlin) The project was launched in 2002 and will run until With a budget of 33 M, CEP is one of the largest European projects on the way to sustainable mobility. Governmental support amounts to 5 M. These funds are not included in figure 1 which refers to R&D-funds whereas CEP is a demonstration project. The funds are provided by the Federal Ministry of Traffic, Building and Urban Affairs, Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology, Federal Ministry of Environment, Nature Conservation and Reactor Safety. The very core of the project is the operation of two gasoline stations each equipped with dispensers for compressed and liquid hydrogen. The innovative aspect is that the stations are accessible for public. The hydrogen dispensers are integrated into the gasoline stations which are very strong in turnover. Therefore, the public acceptance can be tested on a relatively large scale. The integration of the hydrogen dispensers into the station operated by Aral can be seen in figure 2. Figure 2: Integration of the hydrogen dispensers into the gasoline station at Berlin, Messedamm. Source: A further innovative aspect is that the compressed hydrogen is produced onsite and CO 2 -free. This is the reason for the word clean in the title of the project. The technology used to produce the hydrogen onsite is shown in figure 3. 3/7

4 Figure 3: Scheme of the Aral-station with hydrogen dispensers and electrolyser. Source: An electrolyser of hydro is installed on the site of the gasoline station. The electrolyser is constructed to be very compact to fit the strong requirement of limited space in an urban area. One technical measure to achieve compactness is to operate the electrolyser at an elevated pressure of 12 bar. The power is about 5 kw per m N 3 /h capacity. As the hydrogen output is 60 m N 3 /h, the total power is 300 kw. The electricity for the electrolyser is provided by the energy company Vattenfall Europe. The company certifies that it is produced CO 2 -free. As it is not possible to operate a power generator of 300 kw based on renewable energy at a narrow site in the middle of the largest city in Germany, the generator is located offsite. Vattenfall Europe assures that the electricity is generated by hydro power in Switzerland. Liquid hydrogen cannot be produced onsite since a liquefier cannot be operated economically at that small scale. Therefore, the liquefied hydrogen is produced at the only industrial hydrogen liquefier in Germany. To avoid additional CO 2 -emissions due to liquefaction, certified CO 2 -free electricity is used for liquefaction. The hydrogen stations are used to serve 16 hydrogen vehicles. Their power trains consist partly of fuel cells and partly of internal combustion engines. More information on CEP is given at The activities of CEP will be continued in the HYFLEET:CUTE project. The second hydrogen station was opened in March The German and the French ministers for traffic both participated in the opening ceremony. The German minister Tiefensee then announced the Innovation Programme Hydrogen and Fuel Cells comprising additional governmental funds of 500 M over the next 10 years. As the CO 2 -free hydrogen production is a key element of the sustainability strategy of the Federal Government, it is likely that a fraction of these funds is used for demonstration projects like CEP. However, detailed information on the structure of the Innovation Programme is still to be worked out. 3. CO 2 -Recovery, Transport, Intermediate Storage, and Conditioning CORTIS The nationally funded project CORTIS is a part of the European Integrated Project CO2SINK, which plays an important role in the progress of the method of CO 2 -capture and storage to avoid CO 2 -emissions. For the first time, sub-surface storage of CO 2 will be tested onshore at the small city Ketzin which is located very close to Berlin. The objective of CO2SINK is to investigate the behaviour of the injected CO 2 underground. The geological reservoir for CO 2 -injection is a saline aquifer located below an abandoned natural gas storage reservoir. By the anticline structure of the subsurface it is ensured that CO 2 cannot evaporate from the geological storage site under realistic assumptions. See for more information. The Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology funds the national project CORTIS by nearly 4 M as one project of the COORETEC concept which is part of the energy research programme. CORTIS deals with the capture of CO 2 from the flue gas of a hydrogen production site at a refinery, transport to the injection site, intermediate storage, and conditioning of the CO 2 for injection. These funds are not considered in figure 1 as 4/7

5 they are assigned to the thematic priority of CO 2 -storage. Compared to CEP, the character of CORTIS is rather more oriented towards R&D than towards demonstration. CORTIS is in the very beginning, and the delivery of CO 2 to the injection site will not start before But the conceptual phase of the project already gives important hints how hydrogen can be produced CO 2 -free from refinery gases. In addition it became clear, how many aspects have to be considered before the CO 2 can be injected. The hydrogen is produced at the Total-refinery at Leuna, Germany. Residues from oil distillation processes and from visbreakers are gasified using the POX process. The synthesis gas is then desulphurized using a Rectisol scrubber. CO is converted to CO 2 by means of a shift reaction. CO 2 is captured from the synthesis gas to produce hydrogen using a second Rectisol scrubber and pressure swing absorption. As the hydrogen has a purity of 99.9 % now, it can either be used in the refinery or sold to customers. To enlarge the hydrogen output on the refinery site, a steam reforming unit for natural gas is installed at the same site. Apart from the target product hydrogen, the scrubber and the pressure swing absorption produce a CO 2 -rich purge gas. The purge gas is treated to produce pure CO 2 for commercial applications following the scheme shown in figure 4. The new option of transport to the injection site is drawn in red. purge gas from hydrogen production compression pre-cooling drying with molar sieves cooling pressure swing absorption gas for heating liquefaction tanks for liquid CO 2 delivery dry ice production tank trucks to injection site Figure 4: Preparation of CO 2 for transport to the injection site at Ketzin. Source: Linde AG The purity of the CO 2 transported to Ketzin for underground gas storage is of food quality. This results from the permit requirements for the injection site as well as from the integrated CO 2 -conditioning process at the 5/7

6 refinery, which has not been designed with respect to injection of CO 2. It is an open question which degree of purity would be required for industrial CO 2 -storage underground. Pressure and temperature are adjusted to 12 bar and -35 C. The liquid CO 2 cannot be injected into the underground directly from the tank truck due to its low temperature which could give rise to freezing of the injection tubes. Prior to geological storage, pressure and temperature of the CO 2 must be adjusted to the reservoir conditions, i.e. the P-T-state of the CO 2 at injection is 70 bar and 40 to 50 C so that the CO 2 is no longer liquid. For this purpose, an intermediate storage tank, a conditioning unit and an evaporating unit will be inserted prior to the injector pumps. Two possible paths in the h-p-diagram were compared to adjust the state of the CO 2 mentioned above (see figure 5). Druck in MPa CP 323 K 313 K 308 K 303 K 298 K 293 K 288 K 3 K K 283 K 278 K 273 K 268 K 263 K 258 K 253 K 248 K 243 K 238 K Enthalpie in kj/kg Figure 5: Pressure-enthalpy diagram of CO 2. Two paths for preparation for injection are lined out: Path A: 1-2 compression, 2-3 heating, 3-4 throttling, 4-5 injection, 5 state of CO 2 underground Path B: 1-1 evaporation, 1-4 staged compression of gas phase with cooling. After evaluating the pros and cons of the two paths, the following process has been chosen to adjust the necessary state of the CO 2 ready to injection (see figure 6). 333 K '' 1' 3' 2' 6/7

7 tank truck CO 2, liquid, 12 bar, -35 C onsite pump CO 2, liquid, 22 bar, -7 C CO 2 -tank 125 t heater pump CO 2, 15 bar, > 0 C evaporator CO 2, ready to injection, 80 bar, 40 C Figure 6: process of CO 2 -conditioning for underground injection. Source: Linde AG The transport of the conditioned CO 2 to the wellhead of the injection hole is the link between the nationally funded project CORTIS and the EU-funded project CO 2 SINK. The subsurface activities of CO 2 SINK are complemented by research activities funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research in the framework of the special programme GEOTECHNOLOGIEN. These projects include further investigations of the reactions underground and the development of measuring and monitoring devices and methods. See for more information. 4. Public Acceptance A point of very big importance for CO 2 -free production of hydrogen or electricity is the public acceptance of CO 2 capture, transport, injection and storage. This thematic area is investigated in a specific research project funded by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology. 5. Conclusion The Federal Government favours two ways of CO 2 -free hydrogen production. The commitment is lined out in different publications, e. g. in the recently released 5 th energy research programme Innovation and new energy technologies. To push forward the development of these technologies, several projects are funded which complement each other and allow a better assessment of the technologies. The immediate outcome of the projects is that there is strong demand for further R&D to reduce the effort and thus the costs of CO 2 -emission reduction. In the case of CO 2 -free electricity from hydro power for electrolysers, a restriction is the limited potential of this source. Concerning electricity from other renewable sources, the potential is larger than for hydro power, but the costs are a restriction. Regarding CO 2 -capture and storage, the restrictions are the costs, the open questions on underground storage and the necessity to achieve public acceptance. References: See text for links 7/7