The German Chancellor recently visited the President of Canada to reach preliminary agreements on the supply of green hydrogen. In the short term – for this or next winter – it certainly won’t be effective. But is it the solution to our energy problems in the medium or long term?

Green projects are characterized by the fact that technical and economic feasibility studies are finished and implementation begins immediately. So sometimes it becomes quite expensive, but the benefit is negligible. The energy transition then costs little more than a scoop of ice cream, and instead of electricity from coal and nuclear, freezing for peace. So that’s reason enough to take a closer look at the Canadian hydrogen thing.

The island of Newfoundland lies off the Canadian mainland, being three times the size of North Rhine-Westphalia but with fewer inhabitants than Düsseldorf. This sparsely populated area is said to have stable and strong winds, making it an ideal location for turbines to generate electricity. But who gets the electricity? The nearest cities worth mentioning are too far to line up there. So you package the energy in a way that makes it easy to export.

Hydrogen is generated by running electricity through water, and because it comes from clean wind power, it is referred to as “green hydrogen”. One kilogram of it contains 33 kWh of energy, which is about five times that contained in one kilogram of coal. That is the good news. The bad news is that one kilogram of hydrogen takes up a volume of 11 cubic meters, which would fit in a very large cupboard.

Because of this low density, the airships were filled with hydrogen; This made them lighter than air. But now we don’t want to transport passengers, we want to transport hydrogen itself. To do this, we use the effect that gases become liquid at low temperatures. The smaller the molecules, the colder it has to be. For example, methane CH4 liquefies at -164°C and hydrogen H2 liquefies at -253°C. It is freezing cold, only 20 degrees Celsius above absolute zero. The machines for this liquefaction consume 12 kWh per kilogram of H2, which is more than a third of its energy content. And one more piece of bad news: one kilogram of liquid hydrogen (LH2) still has a volume of 14 liters! This makes it very cumbersome to transport, not to mention that it always has to be kept at 20 °C above absolute zero during travel. So it is not possible to ship hydrogen from Canada to Germany as planned?

Are there no viable transportation options at all?

LNG ships laden with liquefied natural gas, ie liquefied methane, have been plowing the world’s oceans for half a century; These are huge barges with half a dozen domes on their deck. Couldn’t they also be used for green hydrogen?

No – not for two reasons. The difference between -164 °C and -253 °C is not significant in our imagination – both are cold. Physically, the difference between 20 Kelvin for LH2 and 109 Kelvin for LNG is huge. Insulation systems must be isolated, as are cooling units that ensure low temperatures.

But there is another aspect, the economic aspect. In each cubic meter of tank, such a ship would transport 440 kg of LNG, but would transport only 71 kg of LH2, that is, only one-sixth. Of course, the ratio of the cost of transportation to the value of freight is also included in the profitability calculation, and this is very unfavorable with LH2.

So is there no viable way to transport LH2 from Canada to Germany? This would be a prerequisite for the Canadian deal!

it would be insanely expensive

world’s first journey This type, including loading and unloading of LH2, made Suiso Frontier Victoria, Australia to Kobe, Japan, arrival in May 2022. It was a highly subsidized technical feasibility demonstration project.

So does this prove the viability of LH2 imports from Canada? Technical possibility can be given. However, the profitability is more than questionable. If you look at the whole supply chain: wind power – electricity – electrolysis – liquefaction – ship transport – distribution – storage – production in fuel cells – feeding into the grid – you should be very suspicious. It would be insanely expensive. Maybe then the LH2 tax will be implemented in Germany and the kilowatt hour will eventually cost one euro.

Let’s hope that one day the realization is that citizens are not there to finance the Greens’ absurd energy plans, but that this energy policy is to ensure citizens the quality of life they have worked for and to offer. An economy is an infrastructure in which it can operate competitively.

This article first appeared on the author’s blog think again, Their bestseller “Green and Dumb” is with heroine Available.