Green hydrogen by Concord Blue

Hydrogen nowadays appears in many colors; grey, blue and green. The element is, of course, colorless with the color referring mainly to the type of production. The label aims to describe how environmentally friendly a particular technology’s manufacturing process is. However, keeping track of a growing list of color-coded labels is both increasingly difficult to manage and of less importance versus a technology’s carbon footprint and the actual amount of CO2 emissions produced. What is increasing in relevance are the core benefits derived from green hydrogen produced by Concord Blue Reformers©. You can learn more about these key differences including what distinguishes our hydrogen from other sources here.

What is green CBR© hydrogen?

Introduction. Concord Blue manufactures our hydrogen using a special, steam thermolysis reforming process, which decomposes and reforms waste into our hydrogen-rich syngas in an oxygen-free environment. As every toddler knows without “air” (oxygen) there can be no combustion / no burning. No combustion means significantly less dilution producing a higher quality product gas with less tars, CO2 emissions and contaminants. On this page (link to the corresponding article) you can learn more about the special process we use to produce our hydrogen.

Certified “Green” & Net Negative CO2 Emissions. In November 2021, TÜV Süd examined the application of using a CBR© to produce hydrogen from biomass waste feedstocks. After careful evaluation, they awarded our CBR© technology as a generation process for “green hydrogen.” More recently, RedCert auditors following the principles established by the EU’s Renewable Energy Directive (RED II) certified our upcoming Herten CBR© W2H2 facility will produce hydrogen that yields net negative CO2 emissions of -245.81 kilograms per GJ of hydrogen. This results in certified CO2 emission savings of over 100,000 tons per year—a new industry benchmark, which currently no other waste to hydrogen technology has been able to come close to achieving.

Emissions Savings Generating New Revenue Streams. In addition to reducing greenhouse gas emissions to improve our environment, CO2 emission savings produced from CBR©s may also translate into additional revenue streams for the facility. For example, German regulations provide that approximately 30% of Herten’s certified emission savings can be sold to fossil fuel companies to meet their quotas under the law. With a market value today of €400 per ton of CO2 savings, this results in additional annual revenues of €12M—100,000 tons of emission savings times 30% times €400.

The advantages of green CBR© hydrogen

More Energy. The major difference between our technology versus other waste to hydrogen alternatives is that from the very beginning CBR© technology was developed to optimally produce hydrogen from waste feedstocks. Therefore, our efficiency and yields are notably higher than competitors. This advantage translates into more energy produced from the same quantity of feedstock at lower operating costs.

More CO2 Emission Savings. These advantages in efficiency and yield were recently validated by RedCert auditors during their certification process of our Herten W2H2 facility. They noted in their analysis that the Concord Blue Reformer© hydrogen production is 2.6 times higher than their base case alternative, which used a combination of the latest generation of incineration and electrolysis-based technologies. The key takeaway was that CBR technology produces much more energy in the form of hydrogen per the equivalent level of CO2 emissions. This translates into significantly greater CO2 emission savings during the production of our CBR© hydrogen.

What distinguishes CBR© hydrogen from normal “green” hydrogen?

CBR Hydrogen—Greener than (Electrolysis) Green. As noted during the RedCert certification process of our Herten W2H2 facility, the manufacturing of CBR© hydrogen is significantly more environmentally friendly producing more energy at equivalent levels of CO2 emissions than alternative technologies even those which include the use of electrolysis-based technology—the original gold standard for what was considered “green” hydrogen.

“Green” Hydrogen Concerns. Environmental scientists have raised several concerns with generically designating hydrogen produced from electrolysis plants as “green” and therefore potentially prematurely concluding the production process is environmentally friendly and consistent with the principles of energy conservation. They note electrolysis requires the consumption of large quantities of fresh water and energy in the form of electricity to produce less energy in the form of hydrogen. Also problematic is that the electricity used by many electrolysis plants is wholly or partially produced from fossil fuels, which may result in a larger carbon footprint than if the electricity was simply consumed directly by the end consumer versus by the electrolysis plant.

What distinguishes CBR© hydrogen from conventional “Grey” and “Blue” hydrogen?

Three Key Criteria. Most experts agree that truly “green” sources of hydrogen including those produced by Concord Blue Reformers© should meet three major criteria:

  • Produces hydrogen without the consumption of fossil fuels
  • Uses sustainable sources of energy replenished through a naturally reoccurring process
  • Emits significantly lower levels of CO2 emissions per unit of energy than benchmark technologies

Grey & Blue Hydrogen. Most of the world’s hydrogen today is produced using natural gas fueled, steam methane reforming (SMR). SMR produced hydrogen fails each of the three criteria to qualify as green—it uses fossil fuel-based energy source, which isn’t renewable and generates significant amounts of CO2 emissions per unit of energy produced. Therefore, this source of hydrogen is designated “grey” by most experts. In the event the “grey” hydrogen production plant makes significant investments in carbon capture technologies to limit the amount of CO2 emitted into the atmosphere then the hydrogen may be designated “blue.”

Result

As a manufacturer of truly “green” hydrogen, our product is developed using a production process that protects the environment by greatly reducing the amount of CO2 released into the atmosphere.

Furthermore by using the energy inside waste to create CBR© hydrogen, we are able to conserve natural gas and electricity consumed by traditional methods of hydrogen production. This in turn not only contributes to sustainable energy generation, but also greatly facilitates successful energy transitions to achieve net zero emission initiatives worldwide.

CBR® Technology Produces Green Hydrogen

CBR W2H2 technology now certified “Green” by TÜV SÜD November 2021 & Net Negative CO2 Emissions by RedCert Auditor.
Grey Hydrogen Blue Hydrogen Green Hydrogen “Green” CBR Hydrogen
1

Non-Fossil Fuel Derivative

Excludes use of gasoline, natural gas and other fuel sources derived from fossil fuels.

2

Sustainable Fuel Source

Requires renewable sources of energy, which will be replenished through reproduction or other recurring process.

3

Low Carbon Emissions

Significantly lower levels of CO2 emissions per unit of energy than comparable, prevalent technologies.

4

Net Neg. CO2 W2H2 Technology

CBR technology certified by RedCert Auditor to produce net negative carbon emissions when compared to SMR1, incineration & electrolysis.

1) SMR = Steam Methane Reforming

Together

TOWARDS A BETTER FUTURE

If you are interested in learning more about us or acquiring, building, operating and/or licensing our technology, please contact us.

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