New base january 10 2022 energy news issue 1478 by khaled al awadi

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NewBase Energy News 10 January 2022 No. 1478 Senior Editor Eng. Khaled Al Awadi
NewBase for discussion or further details on the news below you may contact us on +971504822502, Dubai, UAE
UAE: ADNOC invests close to USD1 billion in the long term
development of Umm Shaif field
Source: ADNOC
Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) has announced the award of a $946 million
(AED3.47 billion) Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) contract for the strategic
long-term development of its Umm Shaif field. The investment supports ADNOC’s oil production
capacity plans of five million barrels per day (mmbpd) by 2030 while ensuring energy security for
the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and partners around the world.
Key Points
 EPC contract award to NPCC will maximize efficiencies while maintaining production
capacity of 275,000 barrels per day from pioneer offshore field
 EPC contract will see over 75% of the award value flow back into the UAE’s economy
under ADNOC’s In-Country Value program
 Investment supports ADNOC’s production capacity plans of 5 million barrels per day by
2030
The ‘Long-Term Development Plan – Phase 1’ (LTDP-1) EPC contract was awarded by ADNOC
Offshore to National Petroleum Construction Company (NPCC) after a competitive tender
process.

The scope of the award covers engineering, procurement, fabrication, installation and
commissioning activities required to maintain Umm Shaif’s 275,000 barrels per day (mbd) crude
oil production capacity, increase efficiencies and enhance the field’s long-term potential.
Significantly, over 75% of the total award value will flow back into the UAE economy under
ADNOC’s In-Country Value (ICV) program, ensuring that more economic value remains in the
country from the contracts it awards. This reinforces ADNOC’s commitment to the UAE’s
‘Principles of the 50’, the economic blueprint for sustainable growth announced by the UAE’s
leadership in 2021.
Yaser Saeed Almazrouei, ADNOC Upstream Executive Director, said: 'This important award for
the long-term development of ADNOC’s pioneer offshore Umm Shaif field will maximize
efficiencies while maintaining future output and supporting ADNOC’s strategic objective of five
million barrels of oil production capacity a day by 2030.
In addition, the development plan for Umm Shaif underpins ADNOC’s commitment to maintain
its position as a leading low-cost oil producer and strengthens our role as a reliable energy
provider to customers around the world.
“We are pleased to be collaborating again with NPCC as a contractor bringing leading expertise
and advanced technologies along with a proven industry track record. Importantly, the very high
In-Country Value generated from this contract award will stimulate new business opportunities
for the private sector and, in line with the directives of the UAE’s wise Leadership, support the
UAE’s economic growth as we look to our next 50 years.'
The EPC contract, which is due to be completed in 2025, comprises two packages for network
expansion and new well-head towers. The first package includes modifications and extension of
existing facilities with installation of new subsea cables and pipelines for debottlenecking.
The second package includes the
design of three lean well-head towers
with associated new pipelines. The
contract incorporates ‘fit for the future’
technology including rigless electrical
submersible pumps (ESP) and other
digital field technologies, which will
increase efficiencies while
maintaining current production
capacity.
Ahmad Saqer Al Suwaidi, CEO of
ADNOC Offshore, said: 'This contract
is an important contributor to ADNOC
Offshore’s plans as we build our production capacity to over 2 million barrels a day in the coming
years in support of ADNOC’s smart growth strategy.
The award follows a highly competitive bid process, which included a rigorous assessment of
how much of the contract value would support the growth and diversification of the UAE’s
economy through ADNOC’s ICV Program.'
Umm Shaif is ADNOC’s most historic offshore asset. 2022 marks the 60th anniversary of the
UAE’s first oil export of Umm Shaif crude oil (July 1962). Continuing investment and development
at Umm Shaif ensures responsible maximization of profitability, enabling greater value for the
UAE, ADNOC and its partners.

Saudi Aramco to produce hydrogen vehicles locally
REUTERS/Hajer Abdulmohsin
Saudi Aramco is cooperating with major motor manufacturers and technology developers to
support developing internal combustion engine models, technologies with lower emissions and
efficient hybrid solutions: official
A man refuels a car at Hydrogen refuelling station during Saudi Aramco's media trip to
demonstrate Hydrogen automotive technology at Techno Valley Science Park in Dhahran,
Saudi Arabia, June 27, 2021. Image used for illustrative purpose.
Ahmed Al-Saadi, senior vice president of Saudi Aramco for technical services, said that the
company aspires to localize production of hydrogen vehicles in the Kingdom, as well as to
develop related technologies through the company’s Advanced Innovation Center, called LAB7.
He said that the use of hydrogen fuel would be instrumental in bringing down emissions in the
transportation sector, especially in the category that is difficult to decarbonize such as heavy
vehicles. “Saudi Aramco is cooperating with major motor manufacturers and technology
developers to support developing internal combustion engine models, technologies with lower
emissions and efficient hybrid solutions,” he said.
According to Al-Saadi, the current trend to develop innovative fuels and efficient technologies for
internal combustion engines contributes to reducing emissions from the automotive sector in the
future.
Saudi Aramco had revealed earlier the participation of the first hydrogen-powered truck in the
2022 Dakar Rally races that had set off on Jan. 1 from Jeddah on the first leg of this year’s more-

than-4,000-mile off-road race. Produced by the French automotive startup Gaussin SA and
sponsored by Saudi Aramco, the H2 Racing Truck ran the first 12-mile stage of the race as a
demonstration vehicle.
This is part of Saudi Aramco’s project of sponsoring vehicles that run on hydrogen. Hydrogen
fuel cells are currently lighter than batteries, making them an appealing option for long-haulers.
It is noteworthy that Saudi Aramco signed in the first week of December an agreement with the
French renewable energy technology giant Gaussin to establish a modern manufacturing facility
for hydrogen-powered vehicles in Saudi Arabia.
Aramco’s LAB7 would be working closely with Gaussin’s hydrogen-powered vehicle and remote
controlled/autonomous hydrogen racing truck developments. Speaking on the occasion, Al-
Saadi, said that the agreement represents the start of an exciting collaboration to advance and
promote hydrogen as a low carbon transportation fuel.
The Dhahran-based state-of-the-art LAB7 facility would have 24/7 dedicated workshops that can
accommodate 19 projects and up to 300 innovators at any one time. LAB7 is empowering new
generation of innovators -the digital and technical entrepreneurs of the 21st century.
Named after the landmark Dammam Well Number 7, the first commercial oil well in Saudi Arabia,
LAB7 is a product development initiative that provides a platform for 21st century pioneers to
develop groundbreaking ideas from conception to completion, helping them turn their vision into
reality.

Libyan Oil Output Rises to 900k B/D as Pipeline Repairs Done
Bloomberg News - Salma El Wardany
Libya’s crude production rose to 900,000 barrels a day after maintenance work on a major crude
pipeline was completed, the North African country’s oil minister said.
The production boost followed completion of last week’s works on the pipeline linking the eastern
Samah and Dhuhra fields to the country’s biggest export terminal, Es Sider, Mohamed Oun said
Sunday.
The operations had stopped output of 200,000 barrels a day. That, combined with the forced
shutdown of the nation’s biggest oilfield and some other deposits in the west, had led production
to falter to the lowest in more than a year.
Last month, members of the Petroleum Facilities Guard, a paramilitary force meant to protect
energy facilities, shut down key oil fields in the west, including Sharara, the nation’s biggest, as
they demanded payment of delayed salaries.
That dispute, which is ongoing, cut the nation’s output by about 350,000 barrels a day in a
setback for the OPEC member, which had enjoyed a period of relative stability last year during
which it managed to pump about 1.2 million barrels a day.
Fighting between rival factions in the country, which has been embroiled in conflict for much of
the past decade, has hindered efforts to increase output. Last month, Libya delayed a presidential
election meant to end political divisions and help stabilize the energy sector.
Any sustained output drop from Libya, which boasts Africa’s biggest reserves, could counter
efforts by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its partners to boost supplies

Dutch:Groningen gas to Double output planned for final year
Reuters + NewBase
Gas extraction at the Groningen field in the Netherlands is likely to be higher than previously
announced this year, its last year of regular production, the Dutch government said.Groningen
output was to be cut roughly in half to 3.9 billion cubic metres (bcm) in the year to the end of
September 2022.
Gas production plant is seen in 't Zand in Groningen, February 24, 2015.
However, production will probably be higher because of a delay in the building of a nitrogen
facility needed to convert imported high-calorific gas into the low-calorific type delivered by
Groningen, said economy minister Stef Blok.
Blok did not predict by how much production could rise, but he said output is not expected to
reach the 7.8 bcm produced in the year to the start of last month.The nitrogen facility is expected
to be ready by August, four months later than previously planned but in time to halt Groningen
production before next October, Blok added.
A main source of gas for Europe for decades, the Groningen field operated by a joint venture
between Shell (RDSa.L) and Exxon Mobil (XOM.N) hit peak output of 88 bcm in 1976 and was
still close to 30 bcm only five years ago.
The Dutch state announced in 2019 that Groningen output would end by mid-2022 to limit seismic
risks in the region, with gas only to be extracted thereafter in the event of extreme weather, for
which a few sites will remain on standby.

Russia Dec-21 Oil Output Flat, Signaling Lack of Capacity
Bloomberg - Dina Khrennikova
Russia failed to boost oil output last month despite a generous ramp-up quota in its OPEC+
agreement, indicating the country has deployed all of its current available production capacity.
Crude oil, condensate output was 10.903 million barrels/day
With OPEC+ meeting in two days to consider output policy in the face of the fast-spreading
omicron variant, Russia’s lack of growth highlights the limits of the group’s attempt to boost supply
if demand continues to recover. Saudi Arabia, Iraq and the UAE can raise output, but others such
as Angola, Nigeria and Kuwait are struggling to meet their quotas.
Russian companies pumped 46.11 million tons of crude oil and condensate last month, according
to preliminary data from the Energy Ministry’s CDU-TEK unit. That equates to 10.903 million
barrels a day -- based on a 7.33 barrel-per-ton conversion rate -- and is flat to November.
It’s difficult to assess Russia’s compliance with the OPEC+ deal, as the CDU-TEK data don’t
provide a breakdown between crude and condensate -- which is excluded from the agreement.
If condensate output was the same as in November -- some 930,000 barrels a day -- then daily
crude-only production was around 9.973 million barrels, about 37,000 barrels below its December
quota.

Until recently, Russia ramped up production by restoring operations at wells that were shut-in or
idled in spring 2020 as the pandemic shattered global demand. Now any further growth in
output will mostly come from newly drilled wells, officials at Lukoil PJSC and Gazprom Neft PJSC
said late last year.
OPEC+ will meet Jan. 4 to discuss output plans for February as uncertainty remains over the
impact of the omicron strain on energy consumption.
“We’ll monitor the situation and see how the market behaves,” Deputy Prime Minister Alexander
Novak said in an interview with RBC news outlet on Dec. 29, when asked whether the spread of
omicron could delay OPEC+ output ramp-ups.
The Expert Opinion – Russian Output
The OPEC+ coalition’s recent agreement to steadily raise oil production is paving the way for
Russia to slowly shrug off Covid-19 curtailments. The country is on track to set a new monthly
crude and condensate output record of 11.00 million barrels per day (bpd) already in July 2022,
a Rystad Energy analysis reveals. Russia’s oil machine will then accelerate further to a peak of
almost 12.2 million bpd in mid-2023.
Russia’s current monthly oil and condensate production record was set in December 2018 with
11.00 million bpd. Rystad Energy’s projections point to 2023 as a peak year also at an annual
production level, expected at 12.16 million bpd. The country’s short- and medium-term production
growth will be driven by Rosneft and Gazpromneft’s greenfield projects.
“Russian production will rise from relatively new fields – fields with early production and producing
fields with 25% to 50% depletion rates. Operators will not be able to increase production from
mature fields, as it will be difficult and expensive to bring back online wells that were shut to
comply with OPEC+ output cuts,” says Daria Melnik, senior analyst at Rystad Energy.
After negotiations failed in early July, the OPEC+ group reached an agreement in mid-July to
raise output by 400,000 bpd each month, starting from August 2021 to the end of 2022. The

baseline production level for Russia has been revised to 11.5 million bpd, an increase of 500,000
bpd from the previous reference production. It should be noted that the country’s crude oil
production has never surpassed the 11 million bpd mark.
Rosneft alone will be contribute more than half of Russia’s spare capacity. The company’s
greenfield projects will add around 250,000 bpd by 2022 and about 380,000 bpd by 2025. The
operator is pressing ahead with its greenfield development plans and is on track with key oil
projects.
Gazpromneft will be the second-largest contributor to Russia’s liquids production growth in 2022,
with greenfield projects as the driving force. By 2025, about 40% of Gazpromneft-operated
production will come from early producing fields and projects that are currently under
development, with the share in total output of the latter reaching 7%.
Other Russian operators – including Lukoil, Surgutneftegas and smaller players such as Bashneft
and Russneft – have less diversified portfolios than Rosneft and Gazpromneft, with a low portion
of greenfield projects. They are therefore not expected to contribute much to countrywide liquids
production growth.
In Rystad Energy’s base case, liquids production from smaller operators will bounce back to pre-
Covid levels after the full phase-out of OPEC+ production cuts. Output will not exceed these
levels as these companies have few greenfield developments in their portfolios.

EU to label some natural gas and nuclear energy projects as
"green" investments … Reuters + NewBase
The EU has drawn up plans to label some natural gas and nuclear energy projects as "green"
investments after a year-long battle between governments over which investments are truly
climate-friendly.
The European Commission is expected to propose rules in January deciding whether gas and
nuclear projects will be included in the EU's "sustainable finance taxonomy". This is a list of
economic activities and the environmental criteria they must meet to be labelled as green
investments.
By restricting the "green" label to truly climate-friendly projects, the system aims to make those
investments more attractive to private capital, and stop "greenwashing", where companies or
investors overstate their eco-friendly credentials.
Brussels has also made moves to apply the system to some EU funding, meaning the rules could
decide which projects are eligible for certain public finance.
A draft of the commission's proposal would label nuclear power plant investments as green if the
project has a plan, funds and a site to safely dispose of radioactive waste, according to a Reuters
report. To be deemed green, new nuclear plants must receive construction permits before 2045.
Investments in natural gas power plants would also be deemed green if they produce emissions
below 270g of carbon dioxide equivalent per kilowatt hour (kWh), replace a more polluting fossil
fuel plant and receive a construction permit by December 31, 2030.
Gas and nuclear power generation would be labelled green on the grounds that they are
"transitional" activities – defined as those that are not fully sustainable, but which have emissions
below industry average and do not lock in polluting assets.
"Taking account of scientific advice and current technological progress, as well as varying
transition challenges across member states, the commission considers there is a role for natural
gas and nuclear as a means to facilitate the transition towards a predominantly renewable-based
future," the commission said.

Consultations on a draft began on Friday. To help states with varying energy backgrounds to
transition, "under certain conditions, solutions can make sense that do not look exactly 'green' at
first glance", an official with the commission said.
However, natural gas and nuclear will be subject to strict conditions, the official said.
EU countries and a panel of experts will scrutinise the draft proposal, which could change before
it is due to be published later in January. Once published, it could be vetoed by a majority of EU
countries or the European Parliament.
The policy has been mired in lobbying from governments for more than a year and EU countries
disagree on which fuels are truly sustainable.
Natural gas emits roughly half the carbon dioxide emissions of coal when burnt in power plants
but gas infrastructure is also associated with leaks of methane, a potent planet-warming gas.
The EU's advisers had recommended that gas plants not be labelled as green investments
unless they met a lower 100g carbon dioxide equivalent kWh emissions limit, based on
the deep emissions cuts scientists say are needed to avoid disastrous climate change.
Nuclear power produces very low carbon dioxide emissions but the commission sought expert
advice this year on whether the fuel should be deemed green, given the potential environmental
impact of radioactive waste disposal.
Some environmental campaigners criticised the leaked proposal on Saturday. WWF Austria said
in a tweet that labelling gas and nuclear as green would lead to "investments of billions in climate-
damaging industries".
Austria opposes nuclear power, alongside countries such as Germany and Luxembourg. EU
states including the Czech Republic, Finland and France, which generates about 70 per cent of
its power from the fuel, consider nuclear as crucial to phasing out carbon dioxide-emitting coal
fuel power.

NewBase January 10-2022 Khaled Al Awadi
NewBase for discussion or further details on the news below you may contact us on +971504822502, Dubai, UAE
Oil Steadies as Supply Interruptions Fade, China Battles Omicron
Bloomberg + NewBase
Oil steadied after recording the biggest weekly gain in a month as supplies returned in Libya and
Kazakhstan, and investors tracked China’s handling of its first community spread of omicron.
Brent crude was little changed after rising more than 5% last week to $83 a barrel, the highest
since late November. Libyan production rose to 900,000 barrels a day after maintenance was
completed, while some output was restored in Kazakhstan following unrest that crimped supplies
last week.
China, the world’s largest oil importer, ignited a mass testing blitz in the northern port city of
Tianjin as the country strives to maintain its zero-tolerance approach to Covid-19 in the face of
more transmissible variants. Two community cases were confirmed as being omicron, the fast-
spreading strain that’s seen infection rates set records in other key energy-consuming nations.
Crude has made a strong start to 2022, pushing higher on a combination of optimism about global
demand coupled with interruptions to supplies. That’s tightened the market, helping near-term
Oil price special
coverage

time spreads firm into a bullish, backwardation structure. While the Organization of Petroleum
Exporting Countries and its allies have agreed to boost output further, there’s concern the group
may not be able to deliver the planned amount in full.
“Crude’s rally was taking in the worst-case scenarios in Kazakhstan and Libya, which haven’t
played out so far, so prices should ease back,” said Vandana Hari, founder of Vanda Insights in
Singapore, who also noted weather-related disruptions in North America would be temporary.
Demand concerns on the back of the omicron wave are returning to the center stage, she said.
Declining U.S. stockpiles have also helped to underpin oil’s recent gains. Nationwide inventories
tracked by the Energy Information Administration have contracted for the past six weeks to the
lowest since mid-September.
The Brent market is in backwardation, a bullish pattern marked by near-term prices commanding
a premium to those further out. The global benchmark’s prompt spread was 69 cents a barrel in
backwardation on Monday, up from 41 cents a week ago.
Investor appetite for risk assets including commodities is also in focus after a sharp surge in
benchmark U.S. Treasury yields since the start of the year. The upswing has been fueled by
signals that the U.S. Federal Reserve may start to raise key interest rates from as soon as March
to combat inflation.

NewBase Special Coverage
The Energy world –Jan -10 -2022
Hydrogen power is gaining momentum, but critics say it’s
neither efficient nor green enough
Catherine Clifford@IN/CATCLIFFORD/@CATCLIFFORD
KEY POINTS
 When you burn hydrogen, you generate energy in the form of heat, and the only by-product
is water, making it a clean source of energy. However, it requires energy to make the
hydrogen in the first place.
 Hydrogen is part of climate discussions for hard-to-decarbonize sectors like trucking,
airplanes and as a store of electricity.
 But critics say pursuing green hydrogen as a fuel source is not the best solution for
combatting climate change because it’s inefficient and is often created with carbon-
emitting energy sources.
The Linde AG logo on a liquid hydrogen tanker truck taking a fuel delivery at the Linde hydrogen plant in Leuna,
Germany, on Tuesday, July 14, 2020.
Hydrogen is the simplest element, and the most abundant substance in the universe.
When hydrogen burns, it generates energy in the form of heat, and the only by-product
is water. That means energy created from hydrogen generates no atmosphere-
warming carbon dioxide, making it one of many potential energy sources that could
help reduce carbon emissions and slow global warming.

But creating hydrogen and transforming it into a useful format requires energy — and
that energy is not necessarily renewable. That process is also inefficient and
expensive compared with other forms of energy, renewable or not.
Many critics say the hydrogen industry a way for oil and gas giants to stall the adoption
of pure renewable energy sources like solar and wind, giving them a “green” cover
while still maintaining demand for their products.
Despite the debate, companies and the U.S. government alike are pushing forward
the continued development of the hydrogen industry.
“In my travels around the world I can’t name a country that hasn’t expressed
excitement about hydrogen,” John Kerry, special presidential envoy for climate, at the
Department of Energy’s Hydrogen Shot Summit last August.
“From Saudi Arabia to India to Germany to Japan we’re setting up hydrogen
partnerships around the world to advance this critical technology that every country
understands has the opportunity to play a vital role in the clean energy transition.”
Hydrogen may grow into a multitrillion-dollar global market, said Kerry, although he
warned China wants to dominate it.
What is green hydrogen, blue hydrogen, and so on?
Producing hydrogen takes energy because hydrogen atoms don’t exist on their own
— they are almost always stuck to another atom, often another element. (On earth,
hydrogen is particularly abundant in the form of water, or H2O.) Creating pure
hydrogen requires breaking those molecular bonds.

In the energy business, people refer to hydrogen by an array of colors to as shorthand
for how it was created.
One may of making hydrogen is a process called electrolysis, when electricity is
passed through a substance to force a chemical change — in this case, splitting H2O
into hydrogen and oxygen.
Green hydrogen is when the energy used to power electrolysis comes from
renewable sources like wind, water or solar.t, if it overcomes hurdles
Blue hydrogen is hydrogen produced from natural gas with a process of steam
methane reforming, where natural gas is mixed with very hot steam and a catalyst. A
chemical reaction occurs creating hydrogen and carbon monoxide.
Water is added to that mixture, turning the carbon monoxide into carbon dioxide and
more hydrogen. If the carbon dioxide emissions are then captured and stored
underground, the process is considered carbon-neutral, and the resulting hydrogen is
called “blue hydrogen.”
But there’s some controversy over blue hydrogen because natural gas production
inevitably results in methane emissions from so-called fugitive leaks, which are leaks
of methane from the drilling, extraction and transportation process.

Methane does not last in the atmosphere as long as carbon dioxide, but it is much
more potent as a greenhouse gas. Over 100 years, one ton of methane can considered
to be equivalent to 28 to 36 tons of carbon dioxide, according to the International
Energy Agency.
Grey hydrogen is made from natural gas reforming like blue hydrogen, but without
any efforts to capture carbon dioxide byproducts.
Pink hydrogen is hydrogen made with electrolysis powered by nuclear energy, which
does not produce any carbon dioxide emissions. (Although nuclear energy
creates radioactive waste which must be stored safely for thousands of years.)
Yellow hydrogen is hydrogen made with electrolysis from the energy grid. The carbon
emissions vary greatly depending on the sources powering the grid.
Turquoise hydrogen is hydrogen produced from methane pyrolysis, or splitting
methane into hydrogen and solid carbon with heat in reactors or blast furnaces.
Turquoise hydrogen is still in its nascent stages of being commercialized, and its
climate-conscious value depends on powering the pyrolysis with clean energy and
storing the physical carbon.
The color system is a bit simplistic and needs to be updated and made more specific,
said Daryl Wilson, the executive director of the coalition of the Hydrogen Council, an
organization of industry CEOs.
“The color scheme is not helpful in in the sense that it’s not getting to the key point,
which is what are the environmental attributes of the hydrogen being produced,”
Wilson told said. “The key issue is there has to be a methodology for tracking and
declaring the specific CO² intensity of whatever hydrogen you’re working with.”
Proponents say hydrogen is versatile, but expensive
Hydrogen is already a key component of chemical industrial processes and in the steel
industry. So making clean hydrogen to use in those industrial processes is critical to
reducing carbon emissions, says Jake Stones at market research firm Independent
Commodity Intelligence Services (ICIS).
But as an energy source itself, hydrogen’s big advantage is its versatility according
to Sunita Satyapal, who oversees hydrogen fuel cell technology for the Department of
Energy.
“It’s often called the Swiss Army knife of energy,” she says.
Clean hydrogen would be useful in decarbonizing industrial heavy transportation like
trucking, big industrial boats, and planes, according to Stones.
It’s less interesting for smaller consumer vehicles, as battery-powered cars are being
adopted much more readily. But bigger vehicles require larger batteries, which
increases their weight, which in turn increases their energy use. Hydrogen can be a
way around that conundrum.

Hydrogen can also be used as a way to store energy from intermittent renewable
sources, which are intermittent -- the sun isn’t always shining and the wind isn’t always
blowing. Instead, utilities can convert the excess energy into hydrogen and then use it
for energy later on, as an alternative to battery storage.
Hydrogen “can be stored underground for as long it needs to be, much the same as
natural gas, and on a seasonal basis,” Stones said.
The main drawback of hydrogen is its expense. Making hydrogen from natural gas
costs about $1.50 per kilogram, said Satyapal. Clean hydrogen costs about $5 per
kilogram.
Last June, the Department of Energy launched a program called the Hydrogen Shot,
which aims to reduce the cost of clean hydrogen per one kilogram in one decade.
Driving down the price of clean hydrogen “would be a huge step toward solving climate
change,” said billionaire Bill Gates, the founder of Breakthrough Energy Ventures, at
the Department of Energy’s Hydrogen Shot Summit. “The goal of cutting premium by
80 percent is a fantastic and ambitious goal,” he said.
There are three primary pathways the Department of Energy sees as how to get the
cost of clean hydrogen down from about $5 per kilogram to $1:
 Improving the efficiency, durability and manufacturing volume of electrolyzers.
 Improving pyrolysis, which generates solid carbon, not carbon dioxide as a byproduct,
Satyapal said.
“Advanced pathways,” which is a bit of a catch-all for experimental technologies. One
example is photoelectrochemical approach (PEC), where sunlight and specialized
semiconductors are used to break water into sunlight and hydrogen.

Skeptics say it’s inefficient and impractical
While green hydrogen could be critical to decarbonize heavy industry, power ships
and planes, and perhaps store energy, it is not efficient to use more broadly as an
energy source, says Robert W. Howarth, professor of ecology and environmental
biology at Cornell University.
Howarth is one of the 22 members of the New York Climate Action Council, a group
charged with developing an implementation plan for the law mandating New York’s
decarbonization plan. In summer of 2020, natural gas industry stakeholders suggested
using blue hydrogen in the existing natural gas pipeline infrastructure to heat homes.
But Howarth and Stanford professor Mark Jacobson published a research paper in
August showing that was a bad idea.
“The bottom line is that blue hydrogen has huge emissions and cannot be used except
at low percentages in the current gas system,” Howarth said. “It is far cheaper to
instead move to electrically driven heat pumps for heating.”
Other critics say the problems with hydrogen are more fundamental.
The process of producing hydrogen, compressing it, and then turning that compressed
hydrogen back into electricity or mechanical energy is grossly inefficient, according
to Paul Martin, a chemical process development expert and member of the Hydrogen
Science Coalition.
“It’s worth putting up with a lot of problems with a battery because for every one joule
you put in, you get 90% of it back. That’s pretty great,” Martin said. In producing and
storing hydrogen, you get only 37% of the energy back out. “So 63% of the energy
that you said, is lost. And that’s best case.”

But the idea of using hydrogen as a fuel is bogus, said Martin, who calls himself a life-
long environmentalist.
“The people that are really behind this hydrogen push are the fossil fuel industry,
because without it, what are they going to do? The fossil fuel industry without fossil
fuels is basically the petroleum chemicals and materials business, which is about 25%
of the current business.”
Still, Martin thinks pursuing green hydrogen is important for all its other uses, like
industrial processes and the Haber-Bosch process, which converts hydrogen and
nitrogen to ammonia to use in fertilizer. The Haber-Bosch process is credited with
massively increasing food production and helping to feed the earth’s exploding
population over the last 100 years.
“I don’t want people to think I’m anti-hydrogen. I think making green hydrogen is super-
important,” Martin said.
“But it’s also super important to use it for the right things and not dumb things.”

NewBase Energy News 10 January 2022 - Issue No. 1478 call on +971504822502, UAE
The Editor:” Khaled Al Awadi” Your partner in Energy Services
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About: Khaled Malallah Al Awadi,
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khdmohd@hawkenergy.net or khdmohd@hotmail.com
Khaled Al Awadi is a UAE National with over 30 years of experience in the Oil &
Gas sector. Has Mechanical Engineering BSc. & MSc. Degrees from leading U.S.
Universities. Currently working as Technical Affairs Specialist for Emirates
General Petroleum Corp. “Emarat “with external voluntary Energy consultation
for the GCC area via Hawk Energy Service, as the UAE operations base. Khaled
is the Founder of NewBase Energy news articles issues, an international
consultant, advisor, ecopreneur and journalist with expertise in Gas & Oil pipeline
Networks, waste management, waste-to-energy, renewable energy, environment
protection and sustainable development. His geographical areas of focus include
Middle East, Africa and Asia. Khaled has successfully accomplished a wide range
of projects in the areas of Gas & Oil with extensive works on Gas Pipeline Network
Facilities & gas compressor stations. Executed projects in the designing &
constructing of gas pipelines, gas metering & regulating stations and in the engineering of gas/oil supply
routes. Has drafted & finalized many contracts/agreements in products sale, transportation, operation &
maintenance agreements. Along with many MOUs & JVs for organizations & governments authorities.
Currently dealing for biomass energy, biogas, waste-to-energy, recycling and waste management. He has
participated in numerous conferences and workshops as chairman, session chair, keynote speaker and
panelist. Khaled is the Editor-in-Chief of NewBase Energy News and is a professional environmental writer
with more than 1400 popular articles to his credit. He is proactively engaged in creating mass awareness
on renewable energy, waste management and environmental sustainability in different parts of the world.
Khaled has become a reference for many of the Oil & Gas Conferences and for many Energy program
broadcasted internationally, via GCC leading satellite Channels. Khaled can be reached at any time, see
contact details above.

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New base january 10 2022 energy news issue 1478 by khaled al awadi

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New base january 10 2022 energy news issue 1478 by khaled al awadi