Hydrogen is an important raw material and production resource. It is used, for example, in the chemical industry for the production of ammoniac, which in turn is used for the production of fertilizers. Ammoniac production accounts for about 50 % of hydrogen gas consumption. Another significant area of use, which accounts for about 37 %, is refineries in which crude oil is transformed into petrol and diesel. Hydrogen is also used in the heat treatment of metals to control furnace atmosphere. It has been used extensively, industrially for more than 100 years and there is wide experience and knowledge of how to handle it safely.
In 2010 just over 700 billion Nm3, or about 70 million tonnes, of hydrogen was produced worldwide with an estimated value of 200 billion USD at the production stage. Just over 30 % of the total global production is in the US. To get a picture of what this entails, in simple terms, a normal cubic metre of hydrogen gas provides the same amount of energy as about 0.35 litres of petrol.
The market for hydrogen is growing by about 5 % a year, increased use within oil refining accounting for the majority of this. Hydrogen is a primary raw material in almost all the processes for producing environmentally friendly fuel. Examples of this are the production of biodiesel, DME and methanol. Hydrogen is also used as energy in fuel cells, pure water being formed during combustion. The market for hydrogen will increase with the development of new fuels.
The most significant financial advantage with our technology is that as much as 65 % of the energy required to produce the hydrogen comes from waste, at low or no cost.
This makes our end product very competitive when compared to that produced through conventional methods.