Forget Green Hydrogen, Pink Hydrogen is Heating Up http://gestyy.com/edFgCC

http://gestyy.com/edFgCC
Zero-carbon hydrogen can be made from nuclear power plants, too. Could it save America's aging fleet?
MAXX CHATSKO
AUG 31, 2022 5:26 PM EDT
After years of hype and broken promises, investors are hoping this time might really be different for hydrogen stocks.
A sudden sense of climate urgency in boardrooms and government alike has spiked interest in emerging technologies that could help reach aggressive decarbonization goals. That includes hydrogen, especially hydrogen produced with renewable energy to create truly carbon-free fuel. This so-called green hydrogen could decarbonize industrial processes, and perhaps make marginal contributions to transportation and heating as well.
It's all sounds so promising, but it's important for investors to remain realistic. Production costs, economies of scale, storage, and transportation all present significant hurdles to green hydrogen and the hydrogen economy at large.
But if hydrogen ever lives up to its potential as a wonder fuel, then it may be thanks to nuclear power plants. Although this supply is also carbon-free, environmentalists are a sensitive bunch. Therefore, this is referred to as pink hydrogen. It could be just what ageing nuclear fleets need to remain economically relevant.
Pink Hydrogen, Explained
Hydrogen can be manufactured in numerous ways. The most referenced process is electrolysis, which uses electricity to split water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen. Electrolysis is the process used to manufacture green hydrogen, where electrolyzers are supplied by companies such as Plug Power (PLUG) and electricity is supplied by wind or solar farm.
Pink hydrogen can also be manufactured via electrolysis, but with the electricity supplied by nuclear power plants. However, the manufacturing process would be tweaked slightly due to low efficiency and poor economics.
The chemical reactions needed to manufacture hydrogen require significant amounts of energy. Whereas methods to produce green hydrogen must rely primarily on energy in the form of electricity ("cold electrolysis"), nuclear power plants can leverage waste energy from the heat they produce. That opens a whole new economic reality for pink nuclear power plants could manufacture zero-carbon hydrogen using four different processes, according to the World Nuclear Association:
Cold electrolysis, which uses only electricity
Low-temperature steam electrolysis (LTSE), which uses both electricity and heat
High-temperature steam electrolysis (HTSE), which uses both electricity and heat
Processes that use heat benefit from higher efficiencies and potentially lower production costs, although they can be limited by materials science. That's because the membranes used in HTSE can be quickly degraded by the high temperatures. Similarly, existing nuclear reactors aren't optimized for high-temperature thermochemical production, which would be the Holy Grail of low-cost hydrogen production. Next-generation nuclear technology now in development could provide viable manufacturing pathways in the 2030s.
Industry isn't waiting idly in the meantime. The potential to manufacture hydrogen with excess heat and electricity could significantly alter the economics of atomic energy.
High-temperature thermochemical production, which uses only heat
Nuclear power plants could use off-peak electricity to manufacture hydrogen more efficiently and in greater volumes than renewable energy, then sell the supply to existing industrial customers for an additional revenue stream. A single 1,000-megawatt reactor could produce nearly 500 metric tons of hydrogen per day. For perspective, Plug Power has announced a goal of achieving the same level of production by 2025, but needs 13 green hydrogen production sites combined to reach that volume.
About us https://bit.ly/3GUPFOa
Contact us +919942258153 kvk.subadhra@gmail.com
https://fe29fat9uc41e-5ewl1grs3l0c.hop.clickbank.net