By Anna Shiryeavskaya
Russia is looking (click here) at how to develop a market for hydrogen in Europe, a move that would help maintain demand for one of its primary exports as governments everywhere work to cut pollution.
Gazprom PJSC, the Russian company that’s the dominant exporter of natural gas into Europe, is exploring ways to produce emissions-free hydrogen from its fuel and create a 153 billion-euro ($175 billion) a year market by 2050, according to a presentation executives from the company made in Brussels last month. That would be bigger than the $110 billion value of Europe’s existing natural gas supply last year.
The effort would bring Russia in step with the government of Japan, oil major Royal Dutch Shell Plc and a handful of companies that are promoting fuel cells and hydrogen as an alternative to electricity generation and transportation fed by fossil fuels. With Europe working to make dramatic reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, Russia is looking for ways to make its gas green enough to remain part of the energy mix. Hydrogen is an option because it can be made from natural gas without generating additional emissions....
Much hydrogen is itself produced in the atmopshere by the oxidation of methane, with total global emisssions estimated to be about 70 million tonnes each year. As well as removal in the atmopshere by its reaction with OH, significant amounts of hydrogen are also taken up by soil microorganisms.....
