Organisation:
National Climate Change Secrétariat (NCCS), Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB) and Energy Market Authority (EMA)
Published year, Resource Link:
2021, Link
My Key Takeaways
In 2021, Singapore completed two feasibility studies on low carbon hydrogen, and carbon capture, utilisation & storage (“CCUS”) tech.
For context, Singapore has limited renewable energy resources and it is challenging for us to produce green hydrogen at scale using domestic green electricity. We need to explore various supply pathways for price-competitive low-carbon H2.
Although the studies’ findings highlight low-carbon hydrogen and CCUS opportunities and deployment barriers for Singapore, I think these data points could also be interesting to other countries and organisations pursuing a low-carbon future:
- Global uncertainty over cost of deploying Hydrogen (H2) technology – more studies are needed for pathways like importing H2 via shipping, piping H2 from neighbouring countries, and the domestic production of H2 (e.g. steam methane reforming with CCUS, electrolysis of water using imported renewable electricity, biomass gasification, or methane pyrolysis).
- Similar lack of global consensus on dominant carrier for transport of low-carbon hydrogen via shipping (i.e. Ammonia, Liquid Organic Hydride Carriers, Liquefied H2).
- For Maritime – H2 and their carriers such as ammonia hold significant promise in decarbonising the industry. The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) supports industry test-bedding of low carbon fuels and just set up a new maritime carbonisation centre.
- For Power Generation – H2 fuel could be blended with natural gas to fuel Combined Cycle Gas Turbines (CCGTs) used to generate electricity today.
- For Industry – low-carbon H2 could directly replace Jurong Island refineries’ & chemical plants’ brown/steam methane reforming H2 feedstock with minimal infrastructural impact to end users. H2 can also replace natural gas for embedded heat and electricity generation. There is still a need to improve these applications’ cost competitiveness though.
- For Aviation – near-term carbon-neutral efforts could use H2 to produce sustainable aviation fuels for aircraft. In the longer term, the industry would move towards hydrogen propulsion aircraft.
- For Mobility – H2 tech for transport remains nascent, and findings do not foresee a global shift towards H2 fuel cell EVs in the near-term (with the exception of heavy vehicle segments). Battery EVs are projected to remain the more viable cleaner-energy option.
- Some CCUS pathways are at/near tech-ready levels for deployment (mineralisation for carbonate-based building materials, using captured CO2 feedstock for kerosene and methane), but most tech are not commercially viable (yet). For example, the majority of CO2 emissions from power plants are too diluted (3-15%) and manufacturing fuel/chemicals from carbon dioxide often needs low-carbon H2 which is more energy-intensive than conventional processes.
CCUS and H2 are key to Singapore’s aspirations to become a “Bright Green Spark” 🌏🇸🇬📄
As Singapore moves towards a cleaner, more reliable & affordable energy future, I see the studies as an open letter to the world on our resolve to partner global companies and countries to advance emerging and competitive low-carbon tech solutions!
My LinkedIn post here.
About Zhilin SIM
Having worked and lived in Singapore, the Nordics, China, Spain, UK, I’m now based in Paris.
I’m fluent in English, French and Mandarin, and I’m learning Arabic because it’s a beautiful and fascinating language.
My team creates and supports one-many initiatives connecting Corporate and Startup ecosystems in Europe to business and innovation opportunities in Singapore and Southeast Asia.
I’m passionate about horticulture, watercolour, startups/tech as well as French cuisine, Peranakan kueh techniques and other global cuisines.
Feel free to connect with me if you think my network in Europe and Asia could be of benefit to your business and innovation activities.
