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In late April, Edmonton hosted the third instalment of its annual Canadian Hydrogen Convention at the Convention Centre, attracting its biggest crowd yet and upholding Alberta’s spot at the forefront of the Canadian hydrogen industry.
“The number of people coming from outside [Canada] has definitely increased significantly. And this is now becoming a kind of global hot spot in North America,” said Amit Kumar, professor and Canada Research Chair in assessment of energy systems at the University of Alberta.
What started three years ago with a modest 3,000, ballooned to a whopping 8,000 attendees this year as it ran from April 29 to May 1. As Kumar said, it’s not simply more people attending, but more people from all over the world attending, including the president of Poland, Andrzej Duda. With the increase in interest and international eyes, the hydrogen industry in Alberta is on the rise. Whether you know a little or a lot about the industry, here’s some hydrogen highlights according to the experts.
A (brief) history of hydrogen
The industry has been in the province for decades, with hydrogen used in Alberta’s oilsands in several ways. Kumar referenced oil refineries as one area where the gas is frequently used.
If you research hydrogen contemporary uses, you’re likely to find references to different colours of hydrogen, ranging anywhere from green and blue to yellow and pink. As the element is an invisible gas, the colours aren’t indicative of any physical properties of it, despite our science fiction dreams. The colours are an informal way of referring to the how that hydrogen was produced. The three main “colours” in Alberta are green, grey, and blue hydrogen.
- Green hydrogen = hydrogen produced with clean electricity, no CO2 generated;
- Grey hydrogen = hydrogen produced with natural gas resulting in CO2 emissions;
- Blue hydrogen = hydrogen produced with natural gas but the CO2 emissions are captured and sequestered.
Carbon capture means the CO2 is “captured” before it can enter the atmosphere. Carbon sequestration comes in a variety of different methods, but it involves storing or using the captured carbon. Its capture and sequestration, however, is not cheap.
Recently, Edmonton-based energy company, Capital Power, announced that it would be scrapping its $2.4-billion carbon capture and storage project because it is not economically viable. The science was there, but the money was not.
While green hydrogen is a great goal, like so many other forms of renewable energy resources, it is currently expensive.
Grey hydrogen is what Alberta has experience in.
With an abundance of natural gas, the province has been using it to leverage hydrogen use for a long time, said Kumar. The more recent movement in the provincial hydrogen sector has been toward more, and better, blue hydrogen.
Producing more blue hydrogen is a huge opportunity for Alberta, said Kumar, but more on that later.
Big investments
To kick off the hydrogen convention, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, announced $57 million towards 28 projects in the hydrogen industry in Alberta, which both Kumar and Emissions Reduction Alberta (ERA) CEO, Justin Riemer, said is a strong indicator for what is to come in the industry.
The provincial funding came from Emissions Reduction Alberta with $32.5 million towards late stage innovations and $22.5 million for early stage innovations from Alberta Innovates.
“It’s important to note that we require at least one-to-one private sector matching for each dollar we provide to these technologies,” said Riemer of ERA.
What this means is that, not only is the province backing the industry, it’s also using the provincial funds to leverage the private sector to double the investments. Kumar said Albertans should be bullish on the hydrogen sector.
“Some of these projections [are] huge. $12 trillion in the next 25 years,” said Kumar.
Smith’s announcement of investment and the growth of the industry could mean a rise in high-paying jobs within the field, which Albertans are well-positioned to take advantage of. Riemer pointed to Air Products’ recent announcement to build hydrogen refuelling stations between Edmonton and Calgary and Dow’s Path2Zero expansion project in Fort Saskatchewan as proof of the jobs to come, and something that excites him about the future of the industry.
Despite all of the investment in projects, the next step for further growth will be creating and upgrading infrastructure for effective hydrogen production and distribution throughout the province and the country.
The hydrogen timeline
Although hydrogen use in Alberta has been around for a while, the new uses are going to take some time to ramp up. Riemer said it’s often roughly 13 years from innovation to commercial deployment for new technologies.
“Innovation always takes a number of years to take hold,” said Riemer.
“In innovation the important point is you try. You learn both from successes and failures and you adapt and then keep improving as time goes on.”
Some project highlights include, hydrogen buses, hydrogen trains and even hydrogen communities.
The rollout of more projects, demonstrations, and tests are a key part of expanding the industry and attracting more investment, according to Riemer.
The opportunity
After clarifying that hydrogen had been used in Alberta for decades, Kumar spoke at length about the opportunity that the burgeoning hydrogen industry presents Albertans, likening it to the oilsands industry 30 to 40 years ago.
“This is such a big industry. There is a potential to grow this industry, make it big and become a leader,” said Kumar.
Kumar said Albertans should get excited at the growth of hydrogen for a few reasons.
With the province’s experience working with natural gas in industrial environments and exporting it, Alberta is a world-leader in its workforce’s widespread knowledge in natural gas, which will be in high demand as the industry grows.
As hydrogen grows, it won’t replace the oil industry, but it could integrate into it and other industrial sectors, making their production and transportation sustainable; meaning oil that’s extracted and refined in Alberta could be done with hydrogen-powered vehicles and plants, which reduces the greenhouse gas emissions before the fuels are burned.
Finally, as the industry grows and oil production and exportation slows, Alberta’s natural gas reserves will be in higher demand to a world that’s increasingly dependent on hydrogen power, and Alberta is already producing more than two million tons of hydrogen, by Kumar’s estimate.
These are the reasons that Kumar said it’s important for Alberta to broadcast its hydrogen story far and wide.
“Tell our story in terms of production capacity, in terms of the resource availability, in terms of the trained workforce, in terms of the capacity to produce low carbon intensity hydrogen, because of the carbon capture and storage capabilities and the geology that we have.”
The more people listen to Alberta’s hydrogen story, the better the chance to lead the globe in the industry into the future, he said.
With 8,000 attending the latest hydrogen convention from all over the world, including country leaders, up from 3,000 just three years ago, perhaps the world is listening to Alberta’s story.
