Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Explainer: Is hydrogen Aberdeen’s energy transition silver bullet?

The wheels on the bus drive demand: There are 25 hydrogen buses in use in Aberdeen, as the city council tries to prove the tech can work, enticing other authorities to buy in.

Within the energy transition, hydrogen is seen as something of a panacea, providing a catchall answer to an array of issues.

Many are pinning their hopes on the low carbon fuel as a means for decarbonising a range of emissions-intensive sectors, such as heavy industry, aviation, and shipping.

It can also be blended into the heating system as a direct replacement for gas.

Moreover, it provides a solution to the problem of storing renewable energy.

Green electricity generated during periods of surplus can be turned into hydrogen and kept until needed, increasing the ability of the grid to respond to fluctuations in demand.

Due to the fact it can be stowed, it also makes it easier to transport long distances, in much the same way as gas is currently.

Two different ways low carbon hydrogen is produced

Low carbon hydrogen is divided into two main camps – green, which is produced using renewable electricity and water through a process called electrolysis, and blue, which is made using natural gas, with carbon emissions captured and safely locked away.

One of Aberdeen's hydrogen buses.
One of Aberdeen’s hydrogen buses, funded with millions from an EU scheme.

Aberdeen’s hydrogen hub will use energy produced by nearby offshore wind farms to create the fuel, meaning it falls into the first category.

Earlier this year the UK Government published its long-awaited Hydrogen Strategy, detailing how it plans to support the development of a hydrogen economy.

It’s hoped the sector will unlock tens of thousands of low carbon jobs and billions of pounds of investment by the end of the decade.

A consultation is also ongoing to draw up a business model for the fuel in order to leverage private sector backing.

Challenges ahead on the hydrogen highway

But, hydrogen isn’t without issues of its own.

A large amount of work still needs to be done in order to establish large-scale uptake for the fuel, and debate continues about whether to prioritise supply or demand.

There are questions too about its efficiency, given it takes more electricity to produce hydrogen than the fuel yields at the point of use.

Green hydrogen is also relatively expensive to produce, particularly in relation to its blue counterpart, although the gap is expected to narrow in the common years.

Several other hydrogen projects are already on the go in the north-east.

Developer Environmental Resources Management (ERM) has selected Aberdeen as the home for the “world’s first” offshore floating facility to produce green hydrogen.

Up the coast at the St Fergus gas terminal, the Acorn carbon capture and storage (CCS) project is exploring producing blue hydrogen at the site.

Under the plans, Peterhead could become a hub for the transportation of the fuel, breathing new life into the town.