12 kilometers from El Prat airport, in the Barcelona Free Zone, is the first Green Hydrogen Supply Center in Spain.
Built by Iberdrola and inaugurated a year ago, the hydrogenerator supplies clean fuel to the city’s bus network, Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona (TMB). The start-up of the plant is part of Spain’s commitments to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals in the industrial field. Both the processing of the fuel and its use in vehicles emit zero greenhouse gases.
Green hydrogen has quickly risen to the forefront of clean energy because, unlike that obtained from the sun and wind, it can be stored relatively easily. The disadvantage that it still has is that it is expensive to produce – and therefore still requires subsidies – but the development of technologies is rapidly making it cheaper.
This fuel is obtained from renewable energy sources. The best-known production method is water electrolysis, which consists of separating the water molecule into its components (hydrogen and oxygen) by applying electric current in an electrochemical device called an electrolyser.
Its use will accelerate in the coming years, as large shipping companies, such as Maersk, have commissioned the construction of ships that will only use green hydrogen. The Danish company predicts that its annual CO2 emissions will be reduced by 1.5 million tons, when these ships begin to sail in 2024. The maritime transport of goods is responsible for 3% of the emission of greenhouse gases worldwide. There is even talk of the manufacture of hydrogen-powered aircraft, which could be on the market as soon as 2035.
While all this is happening in the world, Mexico has not yet taken notice. His government has not been able to get the exploitation of fossil fuels out of its head and is currently building one of the few new refineries in the world.
This vision does not take into account the enormous business that the production of green hydrogen could be for the country, since the US government is reconverting its industrial plant, based on the Infrastructure, Investment and Sources of Employment Law, approved in November 2021. , which contemplates multi-million dollar subsidies for the development of green hydrogen and other clean energies.
The recent North American Leaders Summit would have been a great opportunity to get on board with that plan. As I say, to make money, but also to comply with the country’s commitments in the fight against climate change; to offer clean energy to companies seeking to establish themselves in Mexico, and to close the development gap between the north and the south of the country.
Why not think, for example, of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec to produce the green hydrogen that is required in the United States? The area has enough water. They also have plenty of sun and strong winds to use in producing that fuel. And, as if that were not enough, two important ports –Salina Cruz and Coatzacoalcos– through which green hydrogen could be exported to both coasts of the American Union. This would also bring sustainable development to the south-southeast region of the Republic.
It is a pity that ideological clichés prevailed at the last summit. I hope that the next government, of whatever party it is, understands that this is a development opportunity that Mexico cannot afford to pass up.
SQUIB
On Saturday afternoon, the head of the capital’s government, Claudia Sheinbaum, tweeted a photo in which she was seen meeting with collaborators and which had the following text attached: “Working with the Metro team and the Ministry of Finance (in) streamlining all the processes for the acquisition and delivery of materials and spare parts for the Metro”. So, the problems were not due to sabotage, but due to lack of maintenance?
