Nova Scotia researchers helping to fill in pieces of green-hydrogen puzzle

Source: Moira Donovan | · CBC NEWS · | December 31, 2022

Dalhousie lab working on ways to overcome current limitations on the technology

Source: Mita Dasog says her lab is working on different aspects of green hydrogen production, from improving electrolysis to developing alternative technologies. (Moira Donovan)

In a laboratory tucked away on the fourth floor of the chemistry building at Dalhousie University, associate professor Mita Dasog points to an illuminated tube containing a brown liquid, which researchers hope will help shift society off fossil fuels.

The tube represents one part of the lab's work on producing green hydrogen through artificial photosynthesis.

 "We're essentially trying to mimic what plants do," Dasog says. 

It's part of a range of research the lab is undertaking that also includes investigating ways to bring costs down, as well as working with "alternative technologies." 

Both the provincial and federal governments have set ambitious targets for green hydrogen production. The federal government plans to start shipments of green hydrogen to Germany by 2025. Nova Scotia aims to begin granting leases in 2030 for offshore wind that would support green hydrogen production. 

But even as interest in green hydrogen grows, advocates and researchers say there are still barriers to overcome before the promise of supporting the energy transition can be fulfilled.

The cost problem

Nearly all of the hydrogen currently produced in Canada comes from fossil fuels — so-called "grey" and "black" hydrogen — which contributes to greenhouse gas emissions. 

But it can also be made from water, using electricity to split the molecules into hydrogen and oxygen through a process called electrolysis. When that electricity comes from renewable sources, the result is known as green hydrogen.