“As a bridging technology, we need turquoise hydrogen from gas and, in the longer term, also red hydrogen from nuclear fusion.”
(Photo: Fraunhofer)
Munich Regardless of whether it is used to store electricity, for steel production or as a means of propulsion for cars, ships and aircraft: hydrogen is one of the key elements of the energy transition. “We will need huge amounts of hydrogen,” predicts Reimund Neugebauer, President of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft.
Ideally, green hydrogen should be used. The massive expansion of renewable energies is essential for this. But Neugebauer is convinced that the required quantities cannot be produced from renewables alone. The expansion of wind power, for example, will quickly reach its limits. But Germany needs its own hydrogen economy in order to remain independent.
In an interview with Handelsblatt, Neugebauer therefore demands: “We need turquoise hydrogen from gas and, in the longer term, red hydrogen from nuclear fusion as a bridging technology.” There are still many hurdles, but the latest results from the USA give hope. Therefore one should not lose sight of the topic of nuclear fusion. Germany has always done well when it has shown itself to be open to technology.
The subject of hydrogen is central to German industry. Both steel and chemical producers have high hopes of decarbonising their processes with the help of the climate-neutral gas. The Thyssen Krupp Group, for example, no longer wants to produce its steel with coke, but with hydrogen.
Top jobs of the day
Find the best jobs now and
be notified by email.
In the past few years, Berlin and Brussels had launched funding programs worth billions. Shortly before the general election, the federal government drew a positive interim balance sheet for its “National Hydrogen Strategy”. According to the interim report, 62 “large-scale hydrogen projects” are being funded with a total of eight billion euros. These range from projects for hydrogen production, for use in traffic to applications in industry.
However, the mass production of green hydrogen will only be possible if the production of renewable energies continues to increase. This year, however, the share of green electricity has declined to around 43 percent of gross electricity consumption in Germany.
Neugebauer calls for large European alliance for nuclear fusion project
It is right to promote the green hydrogen economy, says Neugebauer. “But you shouldn’t put all your money on one card.” The question of energy is “essential for the sovereignty of a country”. The shortage of chips has shown how vulnerable large economies are when they become dependent on others. “Technological sovereignty is a basic requirement and very important if you don’t want to be blackmailed.”
Neugebauer therefore calls for different technologies to be used. Turquoise hydrogen is obtained from gas. Solid carbon is produced as a by-product, which can be further processed. “That is the most obvious way for the transition period alongside green hydrogen from renewables.”
In the long term, Neugebauer sees great opportunities in nuclear fusion – despite major hurdles – based on ultrapulse lasers. The successful fusion experiment at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in August showed that the technology works under laboratory conditions.
With the help of nuclear fusion, red hydrogen – which is actually also a CO2-neutral, greener one – could one day be produced in large quantities at competitive prices. The next federal government must forge a large European alliance for a corresponding nuclear fusion project.
Science and politics have to convince society that nuclear fusion cannot be compared with nuclear power through nuclear fission. “No nuclear weapons grade material is enriched, and the half-life of the waste is eight years.”
This is how nuclear fusion works
Nuclear fusion has been researched around the world for decades. However, the technology has not yet made the breakthrough. So far, the projects have often used fusion through the magnetic confinement of a hot plasma. The international ITER fusion reactor, which has been under construction in the Cadarache research center in southern France since 2007, also relies on this technology.
Neugebauer, however, sees great potential in so-called inertia fusion. With the help of large, pulsed nanosecond lasers, a globule about one millimeter in size containing a mixture of the hydrogen isotopes deuterium and tritium is compressed. Once the necessary density and temperature have been reached, hydrogen fuses to form helium.
In the experiment near San Francisco, a robust, burning fusion plasma was generated in the laboratory for the first time in the world. “Up until now, the running gag was that fusion is always 50 years away,” says Neugebauer. That has now changed with the results from Livermore. Germany and Europe mastered essential technologies for nuclear fusion. However, there is no concerted program with corresponding research facilities outside of the military.
Overall, Fraunhofer President Neugebauer is confident about the green hydrogen economy in Germany. Above all, the production of electrolysers must be industrialized. “So far, this is largely one-off and very small series production.”
Fraunhofer is currently building a hydrogen test center on the innovation campus in Görlitz in cooperation with Siemens Energy. In the plant, for example, the service life and durability of electrolysers will be tested under constant load. Technologically, there are no major hurdles, according to Neugebauer. The high-temperature electrolysers still have the highest degree of efficiency, but they are not very powerful. There must be further developments and investments here.
More: Electricity and gas network operators promote the production of green hydrogen in Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein
