据彭博社10月8日报道，挪威国家石油公司(Equinor ASA)是国际石油和天然气巨头，也是挪威的旗舰生产商，该公司正投资数十亿美元在蓝氢项目上，押注其能制造出比其他任何公司都更清洁的燃料。
随着应对气候变化的压力越来越大，投资发生了巨大变化，这家国有石油公司也是欧洲各国加快氢能源计划的能源公司其中之一。挪国油认为，它在该行业商业化的竞争中具有优势，因为它比竞争对手排放的甲烷更少。
该公司正专注于从天然气中提炼的蓝氢，这被吹捧为钢铁、水泥和航空等行业清洁的关键。然而，它也招致了批评，因为它的生产过程释放的二氧化碳必须被捕获和储存，而天然气提取和运输过程排放的是甲烷，这是一种更强的温室气体。
低碳技术副总裁亨里克·索尔加德·安德森(Henrik Solgaard Andersen)在接受采访时表示，“我们的工作目标是95%的二氧化碳捕获率。这是挪国油使用的技术，具有高效率和高捕获率的先决条件。相比之下，根据国际能源署(IEA)的数据，标准技术的最高效率为90%”。
该公司计划到2035年在氢领域投资约1000亿克朗(约合117亿美元)，其中包括公司自己的支出、合作伙伴的贡献和国家资金。挪威可以依靠丰富的天然气供应，它的产量比西欧任何其他国家都多，并且称其甲烷排放率低于0.03%。
这远远低于行业组织Oil & Gas Climate Initiative (挪国油是该组织的成员之一)的目标，该组织希望到2025年将上游作业的总甲烷浓度降低到0.2%以下。
安德森表示，“除非你有清洁的天然气，否则你不能出售用来生产蓝氢的天然气。所以说，那些排放水平不及挪威的国家，未来将难以销售天然气”。
这是个羽翼未丰的行业
可以肯定的是，氢还没有市场，要建立足够的产能对工业产生广泛的影响还需要时间。挪威咨询公司DNV GL AS今年年初预测，氢的大规模使用要到本世纪30年代末才会出现，但那已经太迟了。
与此同时，从运输、金属生产到家庭供暖，多个行业都在投资电气化。据挪国油称，尽管这将有助于实现经济多元化，减少对化石燃料的依赖，但仍不足以实现《巴黎协定》所要求的必要减排目标。
安德森指出，“一些部门可以使用电力，但在工业等其他部门，或者需要灵活使用能源的地方，电气化是不够的。氢的进入是因为可以在很长一段时间内大量制造氢，使它成为必要燃料的一部分”。
挪国油已经在英国有了活跃氢工业，开发了H2H Saltend项目，并改造了一个巨大的储气站来储存燃料。
该行业有政策方面的推动
安德森表示，挪国油的目标是在2035年占据全球氢市场10%的份额，即大约80亿瓦。目前的扩张更多是出于政策原因，而不是技术原因。
他指出:“我们今天看到的，在20年前也可以做到。技术是存在的，但围绕气候问题的政策和思维方式不像今天那么重要”。
由于许多国家的政府现在都支持氢的研发，挪国油一直在增加专业人员。安德森称，该公司目前有40人在其低碳解决方案部门从事蓝氢的研究，而18个月前只有几个人。
挪国油还计划开发由水和可再生能源制成的绿氢，但在所需的基础设施完善之前，其开发速度和规模都要比蓝氢慢。
安德森表示:“只要我们有天然气和储存二氧化碳的可能性，蓝氢就会存在。该行业的发展可能成为挪威勘探更多天然气的驱动力，这将使我们能够使石油和天然气行业保持更长时间的发展”。
王佳晶 摘译自 彭博社
原文如下：
Norway’s Top Oil Producer Has Multibillion-Dollar Hydrogen Plan
Equinor ASA, the flagship producer of oil and gas giant Norway, is investing billions of dollars in blue hydrogen align="justify"> The state-controlled oil firm is among energy companies across Europe stepping up plans for hydrogen as mounting pressure to fight climate change spurs massive shifts in investment. Equinor believes it has the edge in the race to commercialize the industry because it leaks less methane than its rivals.
The company is focusing align="justify"> “We work with catch rates of 95% CO2 capture,” Vice President of Low-Carbon Technology Henrik Solgaard Andersen said in an interview. It’s a “prerequisite” that the technology Equinor uses has “high efficiency and a high catch rate.” That compares with a maximum rate of 90% from “standard” technology, according to the International Energy Agency.
The company plans around 100 billion kroner ($11.7 billion) of investment in hydrogen -- comprising its own spending, partners’ contributions and state funding -- by 2035. It can count align="justify"> That’s far less than targeted by industry group Oil & Gas Climate Initiative -- of which Equinor is a member -- which seeks to cut the aggregate methane intensity of upstream operations to less than 0.2% by 2025.
“You can’t sell natural gas to be used for blue hydrogen unless you have clean natural gas,” Andersen said. “It goes without saying that those who do not have the same emission levels as align="justify"> Fledging Industry
To be sure, there is not yet a market for hydrogen, and it’ll take time to build up sufficient capacity to have widespread impact align="justify"> In the meantime, multiple sectors are investing in electrification, from transport to metals production to home heating. While that will help to diversify economies away from fossil fuels, it won’t be sufficient to achieve the necessary emission cuts required by the Paris Agreement, according to Equinor.
“Electricity can be used in some sectors, but in others such as industry, or where flexible use of energy is required, electrification is not enough,” Andersen said. “Hydrogen comes in here, because you can make hydrogen in large quantities over a long period of time,” making it “part of the toolbox.”
Equinor is already active in the U.K.’s hydrogen industry, developing the H2H Saltend project and converting a huge gas-storage site to hold the fuel.
Political Push
The company aims to have a 10% share of the global hydrogen market in 2035 -- translating to about 8 gigawatts -- according to Andersen, who said expansion is now more down to politics than technology.
“What we are looking at today we could have done 20 years ago,” he said. “The technology was there, but politics and the mindset around climate were not as high align="justify"> With many governments now backing hydrogen research and development, Equinor has been adding specialist staff. The company now has 40 people working align="justify"> Equinor also plans to develop green hydrogen -- made from water and renewable energy -- but at a slower pace and smaller scale than blue hydrogen until the infrastructure needed is well established.
“We will have blue hydrogen for as long as we’ve got natural gas and the possibility to store CO2,” Andersen said. Development of the industry “could be a driving force to explore for more gas in the Norwegian sector, which will enable us to keep the oil and gas industry going for a longer period of time.”