The expert explained why Germany will not replace gas and oil with hydrogen

This solution is still too expensive and not well understood.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said earlier that the country’s authorities intend to arrange a “big boom” in the hydrogen industry as part of a program to combat climate change. However, Vyacheslav Kulagin, director of the Center for the Study of World Energy Markets, is convinced that such an innovation will be problematic to introduce into the inter-fuel sector because of its high cost and lack of study of the issue.

In conversation with “Evening Moscow” Kulagin noted that hydrogen has become very popular in recent years. He explains this by saying that for Europeans this is a way to balance consumption in the face of the rejection of fossil fuels. In addition, as the specialist noted, hydrogen is also used to service power plants, transport, and so on.

In addition, according to the expert, hydrogen can theoretically replace oil, gas, coal and be a universal source of energy, and it was its versatile attractiveness that led to the “hydrogen boom”, which, however, has nuances.

Kulagin recalled that all known accidents at nuclear power plants occurred mainly due to hydrogen explosions. At the current stage, according to the expert, the use of hydrogen takes place in an experimental form, although it has been known about it and its use for a long time. Although this solution is interesting, it is expensive in itself, the expert added.

According to Kulagin, in order to seriously go in this direction, a significant scientific and technical breakthrough is needed. The expert clarified that in the situation of the current year, the question is what to make hydrogen from, because if you take gas, it is expensive, and hydrogen in itself is not a primary resource, and it must be produced from something. The specialist explained that this requires gas, coal or electricity.

Now, as Kulagin noted, hydrogen-based solutions are being worked out, but they are still expensive, although the experiments themselves are a positive thing. The expert does not rule out that hydrogen will be able to conquer some segments, however, in the conditions of high competition between fuel sectors, it is a very big question where it can be profitable, because the solutions that are currently being used are not particularly profitable.

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