Japan is known for its heavy traditional culture landscape with a rich background in advanced technology, leading to this turquoise, strange discovery. The nation is also known for its daring projects that make other nations look lazy. In a bid to cement itself as a world leader when it comes to energy generation and utilisation, the nation has ventured into an unexplored world that is still leaving enthusiasts in jaw-dropping awe.
Beyond colours into the realm of chemical decomposition
When you hear the word “Turquoise”, what comes to mind? Pictures of a greenish-blue hue fill the minds of the enthusiast. But for the sake of context, Turquoise refers to something entirely different from the colour most people can think of.
It has been stipulated and conventionally agreed that the nation that controls the world’s iterative energy infrastructure automatically becomes the centre of world power. This is why for the longest time, various nations within several continents have continued to work towards the goal of discovering the next energy future poster.
One of such countries is Japan. Renowned for being the centre of a rich cultural heritage, Japan is known as the world’s hub of excellent engineering. It is home to some of the world’s greatest technological and financial behemoths.
While some of the world’s revolutionary behemoths take their origin from here, Japan’s appetite to dominate the world of energy has also increased over the years. This is what led the nation to explore one of the strangest power ideas of the decade, “Turquoise Hydrogen”. It is an entirely unique subject that most countries have not even heard of, let alone follow in the nation’s footsteps.
Which is better: Green hydrogen, Blue hydrogen or Turquoise hydrogen?
The topic of “better” is subject to national preference and encompasses the following:
Production methods: Green hydrogen is produced through the electrolysis of water, Blue hydrogen is produced from steam Methane reforming, and finally Turquoise hydrogen is produced from Methane pyrolysis
Energy source: Green hydrogen primarily uses renewable electricity, Blue hydrogen primarily utilises natural gas, while Turquoise hydrogen can use any of the two feedstocks from Green and Blue hydrogen.
Carbon emissions: Green hydrogen releases zero direct carbon emissions, Blue hydrogen releases reduced CO2 emissions, while Turquoise hydrogen also releases zero carbon emissions.
What makes Turquoise hydrogen irresistible for Japan?
As established in the first part of this piece, the benefits of utilising Turquoise hydrogen seem to overshadow its counterparts; this is especially seen in the area of carbon capture and storage (CCS). This is why Japan set its sights on its breakthrough innovation, “Turquoise hydrogen”, just like the newly invented Solar Ark.
Japan has gone out of its way to create policies to enforce its hydrogen goals. This effort is seen in its latest policy: JRBHS (Japan’s Revised Basic Hydrogen Strategy). This policy was set far back in June 2023 with the purpose of increasing investment in its goal of tapping into the power of methane pyrolysis.
Zooming out: Implications of tapping into the strangest power idea of the decade
The implications of tapping into the decomposition of methane include: Effective decarbonization, leading to zero pollution within the planet and an Improved level of international relations between several key global players. In fact, Japan currently has ongoing cooperation with the EU on clean hydrogen supply and demand.
Minor challenges are associated with the idea of utilising methane pyrolysis, which includes: problems with scaling setups and enlarging hydrogen systems put in place to handle the heavy demand that can hinder operations and progress.
The time has come for actualisation to take place after several attempts at hypothesising and iteration. While Japan is at the edge of technological innovation, just like the groundbreaking solar sphere discovery, it is imperative to know that there will be hurdles along the way of testing the strangest power idea of the decade, but there is an underlying fact: Innovation and creativity can never be stopped, only slowed.
AloJapan.com