Being open to new technologies is important, as different forms of hydrogen derivatives and hydrogen technologies may be required depending on the application and its location to achieve the best combination of sustainability and costs. And it is this combination that is so important. In principle, this is not so different from our old world of fossil fuels, in which we use coal, heavy oil, kerosene, gasoline, or gas depending on whether we want to power a container ship or heat a single-family home, for example. In the same way, we require more than one hydrogen technology, given the scale of the task at hand. The future global hydrogen economy will include many different forms of hydrogen supply, for example in the form of compressed hydrogen or liquid organic hydrogen carriers as well as ammonia, methanol, or formic acid.

Chemical hydrogen storage is an important pillar of our future energy system. It is a process that involves converting renewable electricity into energy-rich molecules, which are then stored over a long period of time, transported over long distances, and can be used, for example, in industry or to power large vehicles. The energy-rich molecules talked about today are often referred to as hydrogen derivatives, as they are created by bonding hydrogen to a carrier molecule. Suitable carrier molecules include nitrogen or CO₂, both of which are components of air, as well as organic liquids, which – as we know from the bottle deposit principle – can be used in multiple charge/discharge cycles. What’s important is that all technologies form a sustainable hydrogen cycle. In this instance, cycle refers to the carrier molecule being reused as often as possible.

Key steps in the chemical hydrogen storage process include the binding of hydrogen to the carrier molecule at the point of production and the release of hydrogen wherever the customer is situated, for instance in an industrial plant, at a hydrogen filling station, or to be fed into a pipeline. Both processes use reaction accelerators, known as catalysts. The storage and release units form suitable process solutions together with the necessary auxiliary units and hydrogen purification units.  We are working in various projects to optimize catalysts, apparatus, and the corresponding processes for different storage technologies to achieve attractive products that will generate high demand.