Speaking at the African Green Hydrogen Forum in late-November Shamini Harrington, Sasol’s Vice-president for climate change, announced that the Sasolburg plant should start producing as much as 6 tons of green hydrogen a day, according to Engineering News.
The innovative use of hydrogen energy in the field of the Fischer-Tropsch technology has been at the forefront of Sasol’s innovation since the 1950s. There is now a growing global demand for green hydrogen in the post-COP26 era.
Especially Western European countries and the United States of America are eager to move away from carbon-based fuels.
The latest news implies that Sasolburg is bound to have a new photovoltaic solar panel energy complex for producing green energy to split water (H2O) into Hydrogen and oxygen without CO2 emissions.
Carbon-based energy becomes sustainable aviation fuel when it is produced with renewable energy like solar. Already in 2010 Sasol was the first in the world to register a fully approved high-quality synthetic aviation fuel for consumption in the commercial aviation sector.
However, the product was ostensibly classified as ‘grey energy’, produced from coal. In the new process hydrogen energy is produced without any greenhouse gas emissions.
Commercial airlines are eager to buy into the new ‘green energy’ commitment of Sasol. At present the global airline industry is responsible for 5% of the annual global carbon emissions.
It is uncertain if the Sasol Sasolburg operations will be producing aviation fuel, but the plant will certainly be in the field of hydrogen energy.
Green hydrogen is well-suited for large industries and transportation systems, like ships, aircraft, buses, trains and heavy-duty trucking.
Southern Africa’s sunshine, and the Vaal River’s water resources appear to favour the generation of a carbon-free hydrogen energy production plant at Sasolburg.
There is at present evidence of a Southern African rush for hydrogen production. In early November this year, the Namibian government announced plans for a hydrogen production plant, at an estimated cost of US$9.4 billion in the Tsau//Khaeb National Park, near Lüderitz.
By 2026 the plant should produce up to 300 000 tonnes of hydrogen a year, for export to global markets. Sasol’s proposed $10bn Boegoebaai hydrogen project in the Northern Cape, is 200km south of the Namibian project, situated in what experts describe as the Southern African Sunbelt.
Sasol’s green hydrogen production at Sasolburg, according to hydrogen technologists, can potentially provide Arcelor Mittal, Africa’s largest steel producer (5 million tons a year), with cost effective and environmentally friendly energy resources at its Vanderbijlpark operations on the northern side of the Vaal Barrage.
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