How much green hydrogen Germany’s chemical industry will need to decarbonize varies widely, according to a April 27 press release from acatech, German Academy of Science and Engineering and DECHEMA, Society for Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology eV.
"The hydrogen demand of the chemical industry could at least double by 2050. Some scenarios also model an increase in demand by factors of 5 to 7," says Jens Artz, project manager at DECHEMA, adding the sector can use hydrogen and its derivatives not only as an energy provider, but also as a raw material to make plastics and other products. The scenarios examined result in hydrogen requirements of between 80 and 283 terawatt hours in 2050.
"In order to be able to offer such amounts of hydrogen, it will be essential that cheap green electricity is sufficiently available," predicts Andrea Lübcke, project manager at acatech, German Academy of Science and Engineering. "The defossilization of the chemical industry also depends on their sites being connected to gas grids (hydrogen, CO2) and the electricity grid."
The enormous range results from the fact that the scenarios give different weights to the different areas of application for hydrogen.
The current, fossil-based hydrogen demand of 1.1 million tons has to be covered. For example, around 0.4 million tons of hydrogen, primarily based on natural gas, are required to produce ammonia in Germany. These needs will continue to exist in the future and require CO2-neutral hydrogen. The Fischer-Tropsch synthesis and the expansion of the methanol-to-X processes can be used to replace fossil raw materials that are used as materials. These processes also rely on hydrogen. For example, the Fischer-Tropsch synthesis produces synthetic naphtha, which can replace fossil naphtha as the most important raw material in the chemical industry. The chemical industry has a high demand for heat. In particular, the processes require temperatures of 300 to 1,000 degrees Celsius. In the future, hydrogen or synthetic methane could be used and generate process heat. "Process heat from hydrogen (derivatives) is particularly relevant when there are no electrifiable or biomass-based alternatives," says Artz.