未来的新燃料：海湾国家纷纷瞄准绿色氢气

据海湾新闻网2023年8月17日迪拜报道，在经历了几十年的石油和天然气繁荣之后，海湾国家时下正瞄准“绿色”氢气，试图将经济转型为非石油收入来源，并一举缓解气候危机。

石油生产国沙特阿拉伯、阿拉伯联合酋长国和阿曼正在大力投资这种对气候友好的燃料，以寻找替代原油和天然气的收入来源。

绿色氢气，即可再生能源电解水产生的氢气，似乎解决了许多问题：它污染低，具有广泛的潜在用途，这可能使它既有利可图，同时又能保护地球。

但是这种燃料目前只占全球氢气总产量的不到1%，还不具备商业可行性，需要大规模扩大可再生能源的使用——这一过程可能需要数年时间。

尽管如此，由于石油收入的下降，海湾国家仍有机会在能源市场上扮演主要角色。

现今大多数氢气是由污染严重的化石燃料产生的，但绿色氢气是利用风能、太阳能和水电等可再生能源从水中提取的。

化石燃料燃烧时会产生有害的温室气体，而氢气只会释放水蒸气。它被吹捧为运输、航运和钢铁等高污染行业的潜在用途。 

“出口领导者”

沙特阿拉伯利用其庞大的投资资本，正在红海上建造世界上最大的绿色氢气厂NEOM，这也是一座耗资5000亿美元的新型未来巨型城市的命名。

官员们表示，到2026年底前，这座耗资84亿美元的绿色氢气厂将整合太阳能和风能，每天生产多达600吨的绿色氢气。

今年将主办联合国COP28气候大会的阿联酋在7月份批准了一项氢气战略，旨在到2031年前使其成为全球十大绿色氢气生产国之一。

“氢气将成为能源转型的关键燃料。”阿联酋阿布扎比国家石油公司（ADNOC）的高级官员哈南·巴拉拉表示，并称这是ADNOC的“自然扩张”。  

巴拉拉告诉法新社：“我们相信氢气及其载体燃料作为新型低碳燃料具有巨大潜力，阿联酋完全可以利用这一潜力。”

但阿曼似乎已经准备好引领海湾地区的清洁氢气竞赛。

国际能源署(IEA)在6月份的一份报告中称，到本十年结束前，阿曼有望成为全球第六大原油出口国。

IEA表示，阿曼的目标是到2030年前每年至少生产100万吨绿色氢气，到2050年前每年生产850万吨绿色氢气，“这将超过欧洲目前的氢气总需求量”。

据德勤会计师事务所称，中东国家，主要是海湾国家，将在短期内引领全球清洁氢气贸易，到2030年前出口他们约一半的国内产量。

德勤会计师事务所在6月份的一份报告中表示，尽管海湾国家仍将是“出口领导者”，但北非和澳大利亚预计届时将拥有最大的潜力。

希望或炒作? 

专家预测，海湾国家可能还需要数年时间才能生产出与化石燃料替代品相比成本具有竞争力的绿色氢气。

虽然由于技术进步，可再生能源的成本已经下降，但绿色氢气的生产还不能盈利。

新加坡国立大学中东研究所研究员艾莎·萨里希表示：“海湾国家将尽可能长时间地专注于最大化碳氢化合物的销售。”

这位专家说：“绿色氢气要成为一种商业交易商品，还需要多年的试验和失败。”他补充说，一旦技术成熟，成本下降，绿色氢气“可能成为未来的新燃料”。

目前全球对氢气的需求依然不明朗。但海湾国家是日本和韩国等依赖能源进口的亚洲国家的长期能源供应国，这些亚洲国家计划将海湾国家纳入自己的脱碳计划。

然而，阿联酋前气候变化部长阿卜杜拉·努埃米警告称，“海湾国家现有的氢气运输基础设施不足，将需要大量投资才能进行改造”。 

李峻 译自 海湾新闻网

原文如下：

'Fuel of the future': Gulf countries, including the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Oman, bet on 'green' hydrogen

DUBAI: After riding an oil and gas boom for decades, Gulf states are eyeing "green" hydrogen as they try to transition their economies to non-oil based revenue sources and ease the climate crisis with one stroke.

Oil producers Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Oman are investing heavily in the climate-friendly fuel in a search for alternative revenues to crude and gas.Ads by 

Green hydrogen, which is the hydrogen created when renewable energy electrolyses water, appears to solve many problems: it is low-polluting and has widespread potential uses, which could make it lucrative and planet-saving at the same time.

But the fuel, which currently makes up less than one percent of total hydrogen production, is not yet commercially viable and needs a major scaling-up of renewable energy sources - a process that could take years.

Despite this, Gulf nations sense an opportunity to remain major players in energy markets as oil revenues fall.

Most hydrogen is produced from polluting fossil fuels, but green hydrogen is extracted from water using renewable energy such as wind, solar and hydropower.

While fossil fuels create harmful greenhouse gases when they burn, hydrogen emits only water vapour. It is touted for potential use in high-polluting industries such as transport, shipping and steel.

'Export leaders'

Wielding its massive investment capital, Saudi Arabia is constructing the world's largest green hydrogen plant at NEOM, the $500 billion futuristic megacity being built on the Red Sea.

The $8.4-billion plant will integrate solar and wind energy to produce up to 600 tonnes of green hydrogen a day by the end of 2026, officials say.

In July the UAE, which will host the United Nations' COP28 climate conference this year, approved a hydrogen strategy that aims to make it one of the top 10 producers by 2031.

"Hydrogen will be a critical fuel for the energy transition," said Hanan Balalaa, a senior official at the UAE's oil firm ADNOC, calling it a "natural extension" for the company.

"We believe hydrogen and its carrier fuels have great potential as new, low carbon fuels, that the UAE is well placed to capitalise" on, Balalaa told AFP.

But it is Oman that looks poised to lead the Gulf's clean hydrogen race.

The sultanate is on track to become the sixth-largest exporter globally and the biggest in the Middle East by the end of the decade, the International Energy Agency said in a June report.

Oman aims to produce at least one million tonnes of green hydrogen a year by 2030, and up to 8.5 million tonnes by 2050, "which would be greater than total hydrogen demand in Europe today", the IEA said.

According to auditing firm Deloitte, Middle Eastern countries, primarily the Gulf, will lead global clean hydrogen trade in the short-term, exporting around half of their domestic production by 2030.

By 2050, North Africa and Australia are projected to have the greatest potential, although Gulf states will remain "export leaders", the company said in a June report.

Hope or hype?

Experts predict it could still take years before Gulf countries can produce green hydrogen at a cost competitive with fossil fuel-based alternatives.

While the cost of renewable energy has fallen due to technological advances, green hydrogen cannot yet be produced at a profit.

"Gulf countries will focus on maximising the sales of hydrocarbons as long as possible," said Aisha al-Sarihi, a research fellow at the National University of Singapore's Middle East Institute.

"It will take years of trial and error for green hydrogen to become a commercially traded commodity," the expert said, adding that it "can be the new fuel of the future" once the technology matures and costs fall.

Demand for hydrogen also remains unclear.

But Gulf states are long-time energy suppliers of import-dependent Asian countries such as Japan and South Korea that plan to incorporate it in their decarbonisation plans.

Abdullah al-Nuaimi, the UAE's former climate change minister, cautioned, however, that "the existing infrastructure for transporting hydrogen is not adequate and would require massive investment to modify".