Making Hydrogen Work
Electrification with batteries might not be enough to replace fossil fuels in transportation, especially shipping and air travel. The same can be said for industrial processes requiring very hot temperatures. Even with recent battery technology improvements, electricity is difficult to store without heavy or too large batteries.
An alternative considered for a long time now has been hydrogen. As green hydrogen can be produced from renewable energy, it would be a good way to convert green power into dense liquid fuel.
However, green hydrogen has lagged behind other green solutions for 2 reasons: production of hydrogen is expensive, and storage of hydrogen is difficult.
The issue of production is being tackled from many angles departing from the usual water electrolysis, like, for example, artificial photosynthesis, microwave & cerium oxide, or nickel-based electrolysis, using metal swarf.
Storage is a more tricky issue, as hydrogen is very volatile, flammable, and difficult to contain as it is the smallest possible atom. This is why it is significant that scientists might have made a breakthrough on this topic.
The researchers working at the Washington State University, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, University of New Haven, and Natural Resources Canada have published their results in the International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, under the title “In-situ dehydrogenation of lignin-based jet fuel: A novel and sustainable liquid organic hydrogen carrier”1.
Storing & Transporting Hydrogen
Hydrogen gas is one of the Universe’s smallest molecules, being made of only two of the lightest atoms in the periodic table. As a result, it tends to have a few characteristics undesirable for an energy carrier:
- Low density.
- Volatile and flammable.
- Hard to contain, as it leaks between the molecular bonds of its container.
All of these aspects of hydrogen tend to make its storage and transport expensive and technically complex.
The tendency to react to steel and make it brittle does not help either, as it implies the need for a specialized hydrogen pipeline for long-distance transportation, instead of the cheaper pipeline network used by natural gas.
An idea to avoid these issues is to turn hydrogen into ammonia, a liquid fuel much easier to handle. However, this reduces the overall efficiency of the process. An ammonia economy would also need to have its own infrastructure built from scratch.
Lignin-Based Fuel
A new alternative proposed by the researchers is to use an experimental fuel based on lignin, an organic polymer found in plants. The fuel was developed in Pr Bin Yang’s laboratory and analyzed with nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.
Source: Washington State University
This was previously developed and proved that plant waste from agriculture could be turned into sustainable aviation fuel. This fuel blend was also more energy-dense than the fossil fuel-based products, and was also reducing pollution by replacing the aromatics molecules (carbon cycles) normally added to aviation fuel.
Source: International Journal of Hydrogen Energy
Lignin Fuel Carrying Hydrogen
The new research proved that this lignin sustainable aviation fuel can be used as a hydrogen carrier, without requiring energy-wasting chemical changes like for ammonia production.
It works by having the lignin jet fuel (LJF) release the hydrogen atoms contained in it (mono-, di-, and tricyclohexylalkanes) when exposed to platinum nanoparticles on crystalline aluminosilicate.
The researchers called this process Lignin Jet Fuel-based Liquid Organic Hydrogen Carrier (LJF-HyC).
The part of the lignin jet fuel carrying hydrogen was estimated by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) to represent 18.5% of the total.
“This new, lignin jet fuel-based technology could enable efficient, high-density hydrogen storage in an easy-to-handle sustainable aviation fuel, eliminating the need for pressurized tanks for storage and transport.”
Pr. Bin Yang – Professor at Washington State University
Using Existing Infrastructure
What makes this process interesting is that there is already a massive infrastructure for carrying jet fuel and other similar liquid fuels. So, instead of trying to store and transport pure hydrogen, LJF could be used to transport hydrogen from point A to point B.
It could also easily be used to store hydrogen, as jet fuel storage is commonly used and economical.
“This innovation offers promising opportunities for compatibility with existing infrastructure and economic viability for scalable production.
It could help create a synergistic system that enhances the efficiency, safety, and ecological benefits of both sustainable aviation fuel and hydrogen technologies.”
Pr. Bin Yang – Professor at Washington State University
Coming next for the researchers is the goal to design an AI-driven catalyst that enhances and completes the hydrogenation reactions, making them more efficient and cost-effective.
Hydrogen Company
Plug Power Inc.
Plug Power Inc. (PLUG +0.77%)
Plug Power is a leader in green hydrogen, with a focus on fuel cells. Notably, its fuel cells power over 40,000 forklifts, with revenues up x8 since 2013. It is also active in building hydrogen infrastructure like hydrogen production, logistics, utility-scale power generation, and deliveries.
Source: Plug Power
The company is aiming for scale to reduce production costs from $10/kg to $4/kg, while multiplying production by 14x in 2027.
Source: Plug Power
Due to massive investments to increase production capacity 19x since 2020, the company is not profitable yet. This led to almost doubling revenue from the beginning to the end of 2023. Most of the current and projected business is expected to come from North America.
The company sees its solutions as either a direct mobility fuel or a complement to EVs, as hydrogen allows for the reduction of the pressure on the grid of Ev’s peak charging not matching the times of production of renewables in the day.
Source: Plug Power
As a major fuel cell producer, Plug Power would benefit strongly from a turn toward a hydrogen-based economy. The appearance of a cheap and safe hydrogen carrier would radically improve the economics of using hydrogen as a fuel source.
So this makes Plug Power a good stock to bet on a turn toward hydrogen in general, with a growth in demand for its fuel cells each time a cheaper method to produce, store, or transport hydrogen is invented.
Study Reference:
1. Andrew S. Lipton et al. (2025) In-situ dehydrogenation of lignin-based jet fuel: A novel and sustainable liquid organic hydrogen carrier. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy Volume 98, 13 January 2025, Pages 1275-1282