Why Perfume May Hold the Key to Mass Producing Green Hydrogen

Researchers working on the Horizon Europe-funded GH2 project believe that perfume may hold the key to producing green hydrogen in a way that is both economically and environmentally sustainable.

The International Energy Authority estimates that the global hydrogen industry emits 830 million tonnes of CO2 each year, a tonnage equivalent to the combined emissions of the United Kingdom and Indonesia.

Although scientists have devised several means of producing green hydrogen, the costs associated with manufacturing the gas at scale using sustainable energy sources remain stubbornly high.

A recent Bloomberg report put the cost of producing a kilogramme of green hydrogen between $4.5-$12. By way of comparison, grey hydrogen, where natural gas is used to split water into its constituent parts, hydrogen and oxygen, costs between $0.98-$2.93 per kg.

This is where the GH2 project steps in. The project seeks to produce green hydrogen alongside valuable chemicals that can be used in multiple everyday products, including perfume.

In an article published in ACS Catalysis, researchers working on the GH2 project published findings from an experiment in which they employed solar energy to convert ethanol into green hydrogen and 1,1-diethoxyethane (acetal) a core ingredient in the manufacturing of perfume and pharmaceuticals.

Dr Vitaliy Shvalagin from the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces believes their research could increase the economic viability of manufacturing green hydrogen in future.

“Although green hydrogen is relatively easy to manufacture, its production costs are substantially higher than those employed to generate H2 using fossil fuels”.

“As such, the challenge we face is both scientific and economic”.

“To overcome that hurdle, the GH2 project is seeking to lower the cost of producing green hydrogen by manufacturing it alongside valuable chemicals like acetal which can be sold to offset manufacturing costs”.

“In our most recent experiments, we used solar energy and advanced carbon nitride photocatalyst to produce green hydrogen and acetal from ethanol”.

“From an economic perspective, our ability to produce green hydrogen and acetal is hugely important as the latter is used as a starting compound in the perfumery and pharmaceutical industries, and can be employed as an additive to diesel fuel”.

Given that the global fragrances market is projected to generate a revenue of $60.13bn in 2024, the research team have identified a lucrative market to supply with acetal.

In a previous study, Dr Shvalagin and his team estimated that they could manufacture 72 litres of acetal and one kilogram of green hydrogen from 87 litres of ethanol. 

While the monetary impact of their current research is limited, Dr Shvalagin suggests that the simultaneous production of green hydrogen alongside valuable C2+ chemicals, such as acetal or acetaldehyde, can offset the cost of producing green hydrogen. 

“Acetal is used across many industries. Most of us encounter it in food, textiles, photography and rubber”.

“If we’re successful, future green hydrogen producers could also become manufacturers of C2+ chemicals”.

“Imagine a hydrogen production facility delivering outputs to an array of clients ranging from energy companies to Dior, that is what we’re thinking about here”.

“As a result, our project has the potential to impact numerous sectors, promote job creation and advance environmental sustainability”.

Now in its final year, the GH2 project is progressing toward developing a novel production process that reduces the environmental and financial costs associated with producing green hydrogen.

Researchers anticipate that the modules and workflows they develop will create crossover applications across multiple sectors, including the automotive, chemical and fertiliser industries, where the technologies developed by the project will have practical applications.

Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.