the miracle gas
Düsseldorf wants to become climate-neutral by 2035 – hydrogen could also contribute to this. It is considered an energy talent. Several projects in the region are working on how it can be used in an ecologically and economically sensible way.
It is the lightest and most common element in the universe. On our planet, it is only found in chemically bound form, for example as water, in hydrocarbons such as crude oil, natural gas, coal or biomass, or in other organic compounds. Because it leaves no exhaust gases when burned, it is well suited as a substitute for other energy sources in industry and transport, but also for storage and building supply. Hydrogen is therefore often called a miracle gas - it could play a decisive role in shaping the energy transition. However, it will only become a real climate friend, i.e. a “green hydrogen”, if it is also produced with the help of renewable energies.
In addition to climate protection, the German government also sees hydrogen technology as an opportunity for more added value in Germany, for more jobs and for participation in a global market worth billions. Germany is to become a global role model in the use of novel climate-friendly hydrogen energy. In June 2020, the Federal Cabinet adopted corresponding measures. These include, for example, subsidies for fuel cell vehicles, for hydrogen filling stations and for the production of hydrogen.
In June 2020, the Federal Cabinet adopted corresponding measures.
Things are also happening in and around Düsseldorf with regard to the development of hydrogen technology – all the more so as a result of the ambitious resolution passed by the state capital in July 2019: Düsseldorf wants to become climate-neutral by 2035. The “Hydrogen Competence Region Düssel.Rhein.Wupper” was launched by the municipalities of Duisburg, Düsseldorf, Wuppertal as well as the Rhine district of Neuss, the Stadtwerke Düsseldorf, the Wuppertaler Stadtwerke and the company Air Liquide. In 2019, it was recognised as one of three model regions for hydrogen mobility in a North Rhine-Westphalia-wide competition.
Its goal is to advance the production, distribution and application of hydrogen in the mobility sector. “In this sector, emissions are rising rather than falling,” says Judith Litzenburger from Stadtwerke Düsseldorf. “This is where we want to make a contribution so that companies and private individuals can switch to climate-friendly alternatives.”
Angetreten für mehr Klimaschutz und Wertschöpfung: Das Team „DüsselRheinWupper“ hat den Landeswettbewerb zur Wasserstoff-Mobilität gewonnen.
The current figures: According to the city of Düsseldorf, eleven buses and three waste collection vehicles with fuel cell drive are in use in the hydrogen competence region. Another 19 buses and eight waste collection vehicles are planned for the next two years. In Düsseldorf, 17 passenger cars with fuel cell drive were registered as of 1 January 2021. In the other municipalities in the region, the numbers are comparably low. For the competence region, however, heavy vehicle classes have greater priority, also because the use of hydrogen is likely to have a greater climate effect here. Specifically, at least 140 fuel cell buses and at least seven special vehicles are planned by 2030, and up to 200 correspondingly equipped trucks by 2025.
In the meantime, 54 companies from various sectors in the region have signalled their interest in the hydrogen economy, some of which have already developed project ideas and are now looking for support or cooperation partners. For some companies, the economic viability is still a problem. The city of Düsseldorf, for example, cites the high prices of fuel cell vehicles, the filling station infrastructure and electrolysis, i.e. the production process of hydrogen in which water is broken down into its components hydrogen and oxygen using electricity. “The low sales figures for the vehicles in turn also lead to low sales expectations for hydrogen,” says Volker Paulat, a spokesman for the city. This makes it difficult for potential H2 producers to decide to invest in an electrolysis plant. Stadtwerke Düsseldorf is currently examining the construction of an electrolyser at the Flingern site, which will be operated with the green electricity of the biogenic fraction from the waste incineration plant. According to the Stadtwerke, possible applications for this green hydrogen are buses, refuse collection vehicles and the logistics sector.
One of the main risks of hydrogen is that it is easily ignited. How to transport and store it safely as an energy carrier is therefore one of many other questions for the future. The company Vallourec, for example, which has also joined the competence region, has the know-how for this. It specialises in the production of steel pipes and supports energy suppliers and industry, for example, in the construction and expansion of filling station networks or pipelines for hydrogen transport. “Our seamless pipes have good properties for the production and distribution of hydrogen. They withstand the highest loads,” explains Dr Dirk Bissel, Managing Director of Vallourec Germany. Digital inspection and monitoring tools that can check the pressure and temperature in the pipes are also part of the company's portfoli
Wo neue Klimaschutzideen reifen sollen: der EUREF-Campus Düsseldorf
“NRW has an excellent and thematically diversified energy research.”
Similar to the competence region, EUREF AG would also like to connect as many players as possible from the energy and thus also the hydrogen economy with its Innovation Campus in Düsseldorf. The company already operates such a campus in Berlin – in its own words, a “real laboratory of the energy transition”. The choice of the second location is only logical for the initiators: “Compared to all other federal states, NRW has the highest density of large and small energy industry companies and an excellent and thematically diversified energy research,” says Reinhard Hüttl, Managing Director of EUREF-Energy Innovation GmbH. In Düsseldorf, centrally and conveniently located next to the airport, an inward-looking, green campus with a solar glass roof and a gasometer dome is now being created. An environment in which companies, start-ups and research institutions are coming together to work on the mobility of the future. Hüttl says that discourse with society and the promotion of young talent are also important. The campus will also offer training and further education opportunities for craftsmen and companies as well as new types of degree programmes. The first tenants are expected to move in at the beginning of 2023. •
www.kompetenzregion-wasserstoff-drw.de
duesseldorf.euref.de
Words Elena Winter
Pictures PR