Green Hydrogen from Geothermal Volcanoes

By Michael Markrich RRH 2023 copyright

Hydrogen has been mentioned as a fuel since 1806 when it powered the first internal combustion engine invented by Francois Isaac Rivaz. The hydrogen fuel cell was developed in 1838 and its first use as a fuel came from science fiction thinking in 1923. Unlike fossil fuels, hydrogen gives off water as its by-product not spent carbon. It is among the world’s cleanest fuels.

But from that point forward hydrogen never really developed as a fuel because there were fears that hydrogen gas was too volatile and dangerously explosive. It was also expensive. In order to create hydrogen a process called hydrolysis is used which uses electricity to produce hydrogen gas from water under controlled conditions. The means to do this is through an electrochemical device called an electrolyzer.

But there was a problem. Electrolyzers require a lot of electricity to make the heat required for the process to work. It was never economical when compared to existing alternatives like coal and gas.

However, as fears of climate change intensified energy pioneers from Saudi Arabia to Norway to Vietnam began looking at the possibilities of green hydrogen - developed in electrolyzers from renewable sources - as opposed to blue hydrogen which comes from natural gas.

Some of the renewable methods have made use of solar farms to develop enough energy to power batteries that would make the electrolyzers work. But the solar farms are expensive and there are already complaints in Hawaii that they are using up too much valuable agricultural land.

The issue remained theoretical until 2008 when the price of energy spiked to $4.50 per gallon and electricity reached 50 cents per kWh on Kauai.  Hydrogen proponents went to Republican Governor Linda Lingle. She introduced Senate Bill 240 in an effort to diversify Hawaii’s energy base which for transportation was then 90% dependent on fossil fuels for its energy needs; including producing 80% of the state electricity, Blll 240 became the Hawaii Renewable Hydrogen Program which was to take Hawaii in a carefully series of steps using a number of different renewable energy sources -including geothermal - to its goal of 100 % renewable energy in 2025. The report that was produced by consultants said that green hydrogen was economically feasible in Hawaii under certain conditions.https://energy.hawaii.gov/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Analysis_of_Geothermally_Produced_Hydrogen_BigIsland.pd

The report said that “Hydrogen is viewed as the ultimate sustainable fuel for the United States if it can be made cost-effectively from renewable energy. “

The report went on to say:

“The Big Island has been specifically identified as a unique and favorable location to test and validate the potential for hydrogen-fueled transportation due to its variety of renewable resources (including geothermal), unique electrical generation system, and economy.”

The report further specified that electrolyzers that make green hydrogen from electricity and then mandated that County buses use this fuel as part of a pilot program.

The University of Hawaii Natural Energy Institute (HNEI) also began a program to test whether electrolyzers might be used to stabilize the Big Island grid like a large battery. The electrolyzers used as a variable load could help balance the Big Islands grid which is affected by intermittent renewable power such as solar and wind. They began to believe that electrolyzers powered by hydrogen might be a more effective and cleaner energy storage system than the Battery energy storage systems BESS that are presently used for this purpose.

The hydrogen produced as a by-product under this scenario could be used to operate fuel cell electric buses powering the Island of Hawaii’s bus system. By providing an inexpensive source of bus transportation it could take many cars off the roads on the Big Island in a situation where gas is sometimes very expensive. It is presently $6 a gallon in some areas of the Big Island.

The thinking of volcanoes - to green hydrogen to base electricity to green fueled buses in 2008 was so far ahead of its time it was largely an uphill battle led by Richard Rocheleau the director of HNEI and Mitch Ewan, the HNEI Hydrogen systems program manager. Hydrogen buses had already been used for some years in Oakland, California. But it was a reach for the Big Island where there was not a single electrolyzer. It became clear that if only a small amount of hydrogen were used many people could be transported on specially adapted hydrogen County of Hawaii buses.

The report created during the Lingle Administration envisioned that if “the Roadmap delineating the most prudent pathways for the development of a hydrogen energy infrastructure based on the geothermal resources on the Big Island of Hawaii through 2020. The results of this analysis indicate that hydrogen is a potential transportation fuel for the Big Island of Hawaii; however, a concerted effort by the state’s leaders and policymakers will be necessary for hydrogen to become a significant transportation fuel. The primary conclusions of this report are as follows: Conclusion 1: Hydrogen transportation fuel can compete with diesel only if the electricity to produce hydrogen is available at less than $0.10/kWh and diesel costs exceed $5.30 per gallon. In order to make hydrogen from renewable energy, electricity must be produced from renewable resources and hydrogen must be produced by splitting water using an electrolyzer. Our analysis indicates that the two main cost drivers in this process are the cost of electricity and the capital cost of the electrolyzer. Our conclusion is that, in order to compete with diesel prices greater than or equal to $5.30 per gallon, the cost of electricity to produce hydrogen must be less than $0.10/kWh.” [2]

Despite incredible setbacks such as volcanic eruptions shutting off geothermal power, lack of public support, and skepticism by politicians, Rocheleau and Ewan persevered. They won grants, obtained donations, and changed their plans several times

However by 2023 what once seemed like a quixotic quest became a reality. An electrolyzer was purchased and installed by the Kona airport, three hydrogen buses were purchased and the project suddenly became real.

Then as Big Island entrepreneur, farmer, and Native Hawaiian advocate, Richard Ha reported it has been announced that ORMAT generators can produce Hydrogen at 10 cents per kilowatt hour (-.06 cents per Kilowatt hour for the energy and a .04 cent charge to ratepayers). The present cost of diesel in Hawaii in 2023 is $5.96. Suddenly what seemed like just another government test project had become reality. The future had arrived.

What This Could Mean

Mililani Trask and others like Stan Osserman see the possibility of producing hydrogen on an industrial scale and shipping it as hydrogen gas to power the electrical grids of the other islands of Hawaii. Or as Osserman believes a model that would encourage the digging of geothermal wells on the private lands of existing energy plants that once burned coal or oil. Why not, he says, use that hydrogen fuel to power not just cars but the entire Hawaii economy?

“Modern drilling is NOT location dependent, so we should put geothermal where it's needed, NOT where there's volcanic activity. 3) Let's make sure we vet the technology and make sure the contract is clear and detailed regarding environmental and health implications, etc.  (We need to have a clear picture of what we are getting into before we break ground, or get people’s hopes up). Expectation Management is critical.” says Osserman.[3]

Richard Ha began to see the possibility of a huge new industry of hydrogen coming from the volcano that could be sold to Hawaii, to the Pacific fleet, and throughout the world.

Saudi Arabia has started using its cheap energy to create liquid Hydrogen for export to Japan. Why couldn’t Hawaii do the same thing? 100 years ago Hawaii shipped its sugar to markets around the world maybe now it could ship hydrogen.

What’s more the creation of a hydrogen economy would enable the development of a new industry that would provide a guaranteed basic income through royalties to Native Hawaiians and other people in Hawaii. Currently, the Alaska Permanent Fund is worth more than $81 billion dollars annually. Why asks Ha can’t Hawaii do the same thing? This generation he says must help future generations of Native Hawaiians face the future. He calls it the “Rubbah Slippah Revolution” after the cheap rubber footwear worn by most indigenous people in Hawaii.

There is a caveat to all of this of course. The development must be ecologically sound and not be done on sacred sites. It should also as Trask asserts make use of ammonia and basalt - valuable commercial by-products of the volcanic process

As Mililani Trask noted, “All over the world we have a pressing crisis as a result of climate change.  There is a vast renewable energy resource available.” And it sits directly beneath us.