Ronald Mulder understands that Gasunie and Shell are focusing on hydrogen for their own interests, but why are our regional governments cooperating so hard with this, he wonders.
About 20 or 25 years ago, the wind changed in The Hague regarding regional economic policy. In short, politicians no longer wanted to support the weak regions, but instead wanted to make the strong areas, the ‘peaks in the delta’, even stronger. The rest of the country would then automatically be sucked into progress. The Northern Netherlands, the largest recipient of support under the old policy, was told that it had better quickly come up with a number of ‘peaks’ if it wanted to get money from The Hague.
The people of Groningen invest heavily in energy. They convinced the Ministry of Economic Affairs that NAM and Gasunie were not just extracting gas from the ground and pumping it through the country, but that Groningen was a true Energy Valley used to be. Full of valuable knowledge and promising companies in the field of energy.
Bluff worked
The bluff worked. The people of Groningen got their peaks – and so did the Frisians and Drenthe, because that’s how it works, but that’s not what it’s about now. It did mean that a large part of the money that from now on went from Economic Affairs to Groningen would be intended for energy-related projects. This happened, and after skilfully surfing on all kinds of money flows, Groningen did indeed have a number of knowledge and other institutes in the field of energy over time.
All these institutes quickly agreed on where Groningen’s future would lie when gas production would inevitably end: hydrogen! In a few years, the energy valley was converted into a hydrogen valley. Groningen is even hydrogen capital of the world, I read on billboards in the provincial capital. (Hydrogen is in English hydrogen and no waterstuff which is a shame.)
That’s where it ends
Hydrogen is currently mainly used in industry. Everyone agrees that the production of green hydrogen (from water and green electricity) to replace this ‘grey’ hydrogen (from natural gas) is a great opportunity. And Eemshaven is an excellent place to produce green hydrogen. But that’s pretty much where the opportunities for hydrogen in the energy transition end.
The problem is not that there are no possible applications, but that there are better alternatives for most applications. In road transport, the battery will win. Developments in battery technology are happening so quickly that the traditional disadvantages (weight, charging time and lifespan) no longer apply. Furthermore, in homes and buildings you could in principle run the central heating boiler on hydrogen, supplied by the old gas pipes. But heat pumps and heat networks perform better in the vast majority of cases.
Hydrogen cargo bike
And that’s how it always is. It is possible, a cargo bike on hydrogen, or a city bus, or a train. Or a new housing estate. It just doesn’t make sense.
Except of course if you operate the Dutch gas pipeline network, such as Gasunie. Or if, like NAM owners Shell and Esso, you jointly own 30 percent of Dutch gas stations. Then you are not looking forward to a future in which every household drives, cooks and heats on its own solar power. Then you grasp at every straw. I get that. I understand it much less that our regional authorities are participating in this.