While the high price of electricity makes electrolysis and therefore the price of hydrogen more expensive, other players are trying to draw attention to alternative and less expensive processes.

Jean Foyer, the founder of Qairos Energies, was present at the ‘Hydrogène au Centre’ forum in Bourges on 29 September and he followed with great interest the round table on the energy crisis and the impact expected on deployment (bringing together Engie, Hynamics, Lhyfe and McPhy). In fact, he would have liked to take the floor to explain that other ways exist.

Qairos, which is located in Trangé in the Sarthe, is preparing the world’s first hemp gas production unit by pyrogasification. This process produces a synthetic gas that can be converted into hydrogen. Jean Foyer wants to involve about a hundred farmers in his project. “Today, the production of hydrogen by pyrogasification costs €9.00 per kg, which is the equivalent of a litre of diesel at €1.4 at the pump,” explains Jean Foyer on WikiAgri. “But when it will be possible to produce this gas on a large scale, a production cost of less than €4.00/kg cannot be ruled out, which would make possible to distribute hydrogen at the equivalent of less than one euro per litre of diesel at the pump, i.e. the equivalent of non-road diesel,” he continues. According to the same article, the production potential in France is between 80 and 100 terawatt hours, this is the equivalent of half the gas imported from Russia.

Haffner Energy is a little bit forward regarding the development process. Indeed, the company, which is listed on the stock exchange, has developed the Hynoca process. The principle is to obtain a synthetic gas from biomass, in this case wood chips, from which renewable hydrogen is also obtained. One of the company’s representatives, Didier Le Goïc, spoke at the Bourges forum to draw the attention of decision-makers. The process is protected by patents and make it possible to set up modular stations that are easy to install and can produce between 250kg and over 1000kg of hydrogen per day, depending on the size. A first prototype is underway in Strasbourg. Other projects will follow, led by Haffner, or under the name of the Carbon Loop company (founded by the Kouros fund and which uses this process).

Haffner claims a negative carbon footprint and a competitive price for renewable hydrogen.

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Article written by Laurent Meillaud, translated by Logan King and reviewed by Marina Leite.