South Africa dreams of the future major global producer of hydrogen

Audio 01:40

A coal-fired power station in the mining town of Witbank, east of Pretoria, the administrative capital of South Africa, on October 11, 2021. © AP / Themba Hadebe

By: Claire Bargelès Follow

2 min

A few days before the opening of COP26, the Raw Materials Chronicle is focusing this week on climate issues.

Focus on green hydrogen, which in this period of energy transition, is of great interest to many countries around the world, and in particular South Africa, which does not want to miss the bandwagon.

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The great advantage of hydrogen, which allows energy to be stored and transported, is that its combustion does not emit a gram of CO2, only water vapor.

This is a sizeable asset as several sectors, such as transport or heavy industries, are seeking to reduce their carbon footprint.

However, so far, over 90% of the world's hydrogen production is produced from fossil fuels, resulting in unclean, “ 

 ”.

But its cousin, " 

 ", produced by electrolysis of water from renewable energy sources, is an alternative that is increasingly being talked about.

Ideal conditions

The European Union, Japan and even China have already embarked on the race, and on the African continent, South Africa dreams of a future world producer thanks to several advantages: the country benefits from ideal climatic conditions for developing green hydrogen from solar and wind power.

Not to mention that its mines produce the largest amounts in the world of platinum, a metal used in machines to separate oxygen from hydrogen.

The South African petrochemical giant Sasol, regularly singled out for its emissions, has already shown interest and has launched feasibility studies for the construction of production and export units.

The company has also signed an agreement with Toyota to develop the use of green hydrogen in truck transport in the country.

These prospects could also encourage the development of renewable energies, while coal remains ubiquitous for the moment and South Africa ranks 12th among the largest emitters of greenhouse gases.

Even if the road is still long, and that the prices of green hydrogen remain too high for the time being, the South African government is also committed to supporting this sector which is currently in its infancy.

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