Hydrogen is an extremely common chemical element, but it exists mostly in the form of bonds with other elements, for instance in water. In its pure form, hydrogen can be used as an energy source in the transport sector and industry, but also to store and transport energy. This characteristic makes hydrogen the fuel of the future.
The production of hydrogen requires electricity and water. An electrolysis system is used to extract hydrogen from the two components, but around 40% of the energy of the input electricity is lost. The process also requires a lot of water: it takes 9 litres of water to produce 1 kg of hydrogen. If electricity from regenerative sources is used for hydrogen production, it is called green hydrogen, as this is the only process that is genuinely emissions-free. This is why enormous quantities of wind and solar power are needed to produce green hydrogen.