DEKRAbonization: Green Hydrogen for a Sustainable Industry
Until now, the use of hydrogen has been reserved primarily for specific applications. As an important building block for a climate-neutral future, green hydrogen will increasingly find its way into our daily lives. The framework conditions for a cross-sector hydrogen economy still need to be defined in some cases – but DEKRA is already offering comprehensive services along the entire value chain.
In order to meet the climate targets agreed in the 2015 Paris Agreement, the European Commission adopted the so-called Green Deal in 2019. This envisages greenhouse gas neutrality in all EU member states by 2050. The German government's climate protection law aims to implement this at the national level by as early as 2045 – an ambitious goal that is slowly taking shape. To achieve global climate neutrality, there must be a shift away from CO2-heavy energy sources in favor of emission-free substitutes. Due to their wide-ranging potential applications, green hydrogen and its derivatives are considered cross-sector solutions for a sustainable economy – whether as a universally applicable energy store, fuel in the mobility sector, or a raw material and energy vector in industry.
Prioritization of the application areas
In contrast to gray hydrogen, which is still the industry standard in many places, the production process of its green counterpart is emission-free. According to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), green hydrogen should even be able to compete with fossil fuels in terms of price by 2030. In the EU, green hydrogen production is currently in the ramp-up phase and therefore still associated with high costs. This is one reason why certain areas of application need to be prioritized.
The application potential of green hydrogen must be realistically defined in terms of its sectoral effectiveness – emphasizes Dr. Christoph Flink, VP Hydrogen Economy at DEKRA: “Market development depends on which sector we are talking about. In particular, the high-emission industries will rely on green hydrogen in the future – for example, as a raw material to reduce iron ore in the steel industry, to produce ammonia in fertilizer production or for methanol synthesis in the chemical industry. But also as a fuel for emission-free process heat, as required, for example, in paper or glass production. In the mobility sector, other options are currently still being discussed.” Nevertheless, the DEKRA Technology Center in Klettwitz, Europe's largest test site for automated and connected driving, has already made significant progress in the field of hydrogen mobility.
Decarbonization in industry
Green hydrogen and its derivatives, i.e. synthesis with other elements, are considered suitable solutions for decarbonizing the so-called hard-to-abate sectors in the course of the energy transition. These are energy-intensive industries that, according to IRENA, are responsible for almost a quarter of global energy consumption and a fifth of global CO2 emissions. A green hydrogen economy is the foundation for sustainably relieving the burden on high-emission industry through sector coupling.
“Sector coupling plays a crucial role in industrial decarbonization,” explains Dr. Christoph Flink. The idea is to link the energy-consuming sectors (electricity, heating, transport and industry) so that they can collectively obtain their energy from “clean” sources. “Sectors that cannot be fully electrified will benefit from sector coupling and the associated reduction in CO2 emissions,” Dr. Christoph Flink sums up.
Hydrogen ramp-up at EU level
Zero-emission hydrogen is not an ad hoc solution, but a sustainable long-term option. The REPowerEU initiative, launched by the EU in May 2022 to reduce dependence on Russia for fossil fuel imports, is one of the initiatives pointing the way to a comprehensive hydrogen economy within the EU. REPowerEU aims to produce 10 million tons of renewable hydrogen within the EU by 2030 and import a further 10 million tons.
By 2030, REPowerEU calls for the production of 10 million tons of green hydrogen within the EU and the import of a further 10 million tons. Because the prospective demand of many member states cannot be covered by domestic production, hydrogen imports are essential for the fastest possible ramp-up.
Expansion of the pipeline infrastructure
In Germany, the National Hydrogen Strategy of 2020 and its update of 2023 determine the economic policy framework for a flourishing hydrogen economy. In addition, the development of a hydrogen core network with a total length of 9,700 kilometers was legally regulated in spring 2024.
The existing natural gas pipelines are expected to make up around 60 percent of the future hydrogen network, but some of them will need to be reused for nationwide hydrogen transport. This repurposing of existing infrastructure is cost and resource efficient. “Without the reuse of existing natural gas pipelines, a far-reaching pipeline system would be almost impossible to achieve. The expectation of the hydrogen infrastructure expert community is that only 40 percent of the planned transmission network will need to be built from scratch,” says Dr. Christoph Flink.
More acceptance for green hydrogen
DEKRA is already making a substantial contribution to the expansion of the hydrogen infrastructure with numerous services along the entire hydrogen value chain. DEKRA already offers service bundles in the following areas:
- Production (production plants and components)
- Infrastructure (transport and distribution networks, storage)
- Application (industry, mobility, heat and power supply)
- Quality infrastructure (measurement technology, materials)
- Further training, safety, certification
“As a testing, inspection and certification company, we have a responsibility to ensure the transformation to a safe and green hydrogen economy,” emphasizes Dr. Christoph Flink. DEKRA is therefore actively working towards being one of the first TIC (testing, inspection, certification) companies to offer its customers green hydrogen certificates that are recognized by the European Commission. In addition, DEKRA is committed to ensuring that green hydrogen applications find even greater acceptance in society, industry, and politics in the future. Only in this way can global climate targets be achieved. “Green hydrogen and its derivatives will be found in many areas of our daily lives in the years to come. For a safe transformation towards a hydrogen economy, we need a safe and sustainable hydrogen process chain as well as comprehensive and uniform legal guidelines with the corresponding standards, specifications and testing requirements,” says Dr. Christoph Flink. ”And we should understand and accept the hydrogen economy as a sustainable counterpart to the fossil energy industry. After all, not only must the infrastructure be ready for the transformation, but future users must also trust hydrogen. That's what we're working on.”
The definition of the different types of hydrogen can vary slightly depending on whether the National Hydrogen Strategy, the Federal Immission Control Ordinance or the Renewable Energy Ordinance is consulted. DEKRA refers to the National Hydrogen Ordinance, in which the following nomenclature is legally defined as follows:
- • Green hydrogen: produced using renewable energy (wind and solar power) through the electrolysis of water.
- • Gray hydrogen: produced with high emissions through the steam reformation of fossil fuels.
- • Blue hydrogen: produced similarly to gray hydrogen, with 90 percent of the captured CO2 stored underground.
- • Turquoise hydrogen: produced by methane pyrolysis. Production is only climate-neutral if the energy used comes from “clean” sources.
Those seeking comprehensive information on DEKRA's services along the hydrogen value chain should not miss the World Hydrogen Congress in Copenhagen. From October 1 to 2, DEKRA will be represented at the world's largest hydrogen congress with experts in the fields of plant and process safety, sustainability, legislation, mobility and certification. The “DEKRA Talk Corner” (booth D102) offers a continuous program of talks and the opportunity for personal exchange. From October 7 to 8, DEKRA will also be represented at the Hamburg Sustainability Conference.