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At a congress this Wednesday (31), the Secretary of Planning and Energy Transition of the Ministry of Mines and Energy, Thiago Barral, assured that the government is committed to a three-year action plan for the use of green hydrogen in the energy transition, reports the “Brazil Agency”.
“We will, obviously, start with a proposal to improve and implement a legal framework for low-carbon hydrogen. This is fundamental to provide legal certainty and a guide for investments”, said the secretary, in a video participation at the 3rd Brazilian Congress on Hydrogen, Energy Transition, Decarbonization and Reindustrialization, in Maricá, Rio de Janeiro.
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The secretary explains that the plan also foresees the mobilization of resources in research and development for hydrogen.
Energy transition
The federal government's National Energy Transition Policy includes the National Hydrogen Program as an important part of commitments such as the quest to accelerate the reach of low-carbon technologies. This transition foresees the transition from the use of fossil energy to the use of sustainable, or decarbonized, energy.
The secretary detailed that the policy is based on two axes. One is sectoral transformation, which includes the decarbonization of the oil and gas industry. The other is the favorable environment, which aims to bring together sectoral and transversal instruments, fundamental in creating the conditions for investments to occur and reducing the costs of new low-carbon technologies.
“We are talking about everything from improving the planning of dialogue and transparency instruments, tax structure, access to low-cost financing, international cooperation, issues such as improving legal and regulatory frameworks for hydrogen, fuels and the low carbon market. ”, he explained.
Competitiveness
According to the secretary, more than 40% of carbon emissions reductions in energy production and use still depend on energies and technologies or business models that are not mature or competitive.
“We need to prepare this ground and that is where the importance of the National Hydrogen Program lies, which has inclusive governance with a management committee with broad participation from academia and ministries, a structure with six axes that will cover everything from technological development, professional training , planning, legal and regulatory structure, market development, international cooperation and relying on technical chamber structures led by the most diverse ministries so that we can take a transversal, very comprehensive and holistic look at low carbon opportunities”.
Challenge
The secretary highlighted, however, that there are challenges that need to be overcome, such as identifying potential consumer sectors for low-carbon hydrogen and incorporating the Brazilian product's environmental quality award into the value chain. “I would say that this is one of the biggest challenges we have, which is pricing and ensuring that this hydrogen can be internalized in the value chains. Brazil has the potential to be a supplier, but we need to build bridges with segments that will demand hydrogen and price the environmental quality of the Brazilian product”, he pointed out.
Hydrogen
Hydrogen is a chemical element that can be used as fuel. It is obtained in several ways, including by transforming fossil fuels, with the extraction of hydrogen and releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, or in a clean way, by electrolysis of water, with the separation of hydrogen and oxygen, and by biomass, with extraction of hydrogen and transformation of carbon into a solid product.
Source: datagro
