Researchers: Finland lacks an overall vision of clean hydrogen
The Finnish Academy of Science and Letters’ science discussion paper compiles hydrogen-related issues and trends.
Finland aims to be a pioneer in the production of clean hydrogen. According to the Government's decision in principle, Finland has the potential to produce at least 10% of the European Union's emission-free hydrogen by 2030. Several hydrogen production projects are planned in Finland, some of which have already been the subject of investment decisions.
So far, however, Finland has not developed a strategic vision of the role of clean hydrogen as part of the green transition, according to a recent Finnish Academy of Sciences science briefing Hydrogen in the green transition.
Rapid changes are needed to achieve the hydrogen targets
The falling cost of producing renewable electricity and the need to move away from fossil fuels to mitigate climate change have increased global interest in using clean hydrogen. In Europe, hydrogen is also seen as a solution for decoupling from Russian fossil fuels and strengthening energy independence.
Achieving Finland's hydrogen targets will require a rapid increase in renewable electricity generation. The Government's decision, in principle, requires 50 terawatt hours of renewable electricity production, compared to 69.2 terawatt hours of total electricity production in Finland in 2022. When fossil fuels are replaced by renewable electricity as the energy system becomes more electrified, the demand for electricity, in general, will increase.
Clean hydrogen produced from water has an efficiency of over 65%. This figure describes the amount of usable energy produced compared to the energy used to produce the hydrogen. This contrasts energy efficiency efforts, such as those required by EU targets.
"To address the challenges, key players should come together to discuss the direction of the hydrogen strategy and joint actions," says Professor Riitta Keiski of the University of Oulu.
Keiski acted as scientific advisor to the Finnish Academy of Sciences in a science paper that compiles a snapshot of the importance of hydrogen for Finland based on the views of 13 Finnish researchers.
Including ecological and social sustainability in hydrogen solutions
According to the researchers, hydrogen should be considered a partial solution in the green transition. In hydrogen production, the environmental impact is concentrated at the upstream end of the supply chain, probably geographically distant from the end-use. It would therefore be essential to assess hydrogen solutions from the perspective of natural resources and ecological and social sustainability.
"Building the future on hydrogen may create new interdependencies, for example, related to the ever-increasing need for renewable electricity generation and access to critical raw materials," says Riitta Keiski.
From a social sustainability perspective, the rapid expansion of wind turbines under a fast-track priority procedure to speed up the permitting process could undermine residents' access to justice.
Finland also has clear strengths. According to the researchers, Finland's strengths in the production of clean hydrogen are, in particular, the excellent availability of renewable energy, the strong expertise of the research sector and companies in the production and use of hydrogen, and the potential for further processing of hydrogen.
