11 Feb 2020 | 11:33 UTC — London

Future hydrogen market 'can only succeed' with gas: Wintershall Dea

Highlights

German company calls for 'right' political conditions

Blue hydrogen more economic than green hydrogen

Wintershall Dea working on hydrogen research project

London — Germany's Wintershall Dea said Tuesday the development of a future hydrogen market can only be achievable through the conversion of natural gas.

In a statement, Wintershall Dea -- which describes itself as a leading European independent gas and oil producer -- also called on governments to create the policy framework to accelerate the development of a hydrogen market.

The production of hydrogen by removing CO2 from natural gas -- so-called blue hydrogen -- can contribute to making the energy system carbon neutral, the company said.

Wintershall Dea board member Thilo Wieland said it was currently more economical to produce hydrogen from natural gas than from renewable electricity -- so-called green hydrogen.

"What's more, blue hydrogen can be made available quickly, cheaply, reliably (without fluctuations) and in large quantities," Wieland said. "This can significantly facilitate the establishment of a hydrogen market."

But, Wieland said, it is also clear that for a hydrogen market to develop, "the underlying political and economic conditions must be right."

"All sources for producing hydrogen must be pursued in a technology-open way and taken into account politically. One thing, however, is already quite evident: the future hydrogen market can only succeed with natural gas," Wieland said.

Research project

Wintershall Dea is currently collaborating with the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) on a project for the production of hydrogen from natural gas.

The research project, initially scheduled to run for three years, is aimed at laying the foundations for the future industrial use of methane pyrolysis.

In this process, gas is thermally broken down in a high-temperature reactor into its components hydrogen and carbon.

Instead of CO2, a very pure, powdered carbon is produced as a byproduct, which can be further processed as an industrial raw material for producing elastomers, lightweight construction materials, printing inks and in battery production.