Why is Spain betting on green hydrogen?
Business Daily
BBC
4.4 • 816 Ratings
🗓️ 27 November 2023
⏱️ 18 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Spain is trying to position itself as the centre of renewable energy production in Europe, particularly in green hydrogen.
The country already boasts one of the first centres worldwide where green hydrogen is produced.
But while it rushes headlong with several projects in the pipeline, we examine the economic viability and the impact of producing green hydrogen.
(Image: A green hydrogen manufacturing facility. Credit: Iberdrola)
Presented and produced by Ashish Sharma
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The Global Story, with smart takes and fresh perspectives on one big news story, every Monday to Friday from the BBC World Service. |
| 0:11.5 | Search for The Global Story, wherever you get your BBC podcasts, to find out more. |
| 0:39.3 | Hello, my name is Ashishama. Welcome to Spain and this edition of Business Daily. Today we'll look at the race to produce green hydrogen. Spain is the country that is dedicating itself to become a world leader in renewable energy, especially green hydrogen. But what are the obstacles facing companies keen to invest in this industry? |
| 0:43.3 | This facility is connected to a solar park, so it will not produce during the night. |
| 0:48.3 | Every night it will be dark, that's something that is certain. |
| 0:51.3 | If there's no sun, there's no electricity, and if there's no electricity, you cannot produce the hydrogen from the water. I'll also explore the concerns of |
| 0:59.5 | those who say that putting all your eggs in the green hydrogen basket is to overlook other |
| 1:04.6 | more efficient forms of renewable energy. I don't buy the position of the hydrogen industry because they seem to be wanting to maximize demand |
| 1:15.3 | when in reality what we need is to optimize demand |
| 1:21.2 | and understand who exactly needs what by when and where. |
| 1:27.4 | That's all coming up in Business Daily from the BBC World Service. |
| 1:36.1 | Well, it's as grey and wet day as you can imagine. |
| 1:39.4 | I'm literally standing here in the pouring rain just outside the Spanish city of Cidad Real. |
| 1:48.0 | No sun and a strong biting wind you can hear all around me. |
| 1:53.4 | This is not ideal for the production of green hydrogen, which relies largely on the sun to produce electricity that is needed. The landscape in front of me is a proper sprawling industrial site. |
| 2:00.0 | Dominated by two companies, the fertilizer giant, Fertiberia, and the energy company Ibadrullah. |
| 2:06.3 | Here we hear the sound of the bagging facility of Fertiberia, so here is where the fertilizers |
| 2:11.8 | come in. |
| 2:12.4 | This is ammonium nitrate in big bags. |
| 2:15.8 | Here you see the Impact Zero big bags. This is green ammonium nitrate, green bags. Here you see the impact zero big bags. |
| 2:18.3 | This is green ammonium nitrate, green fertilizer. |
| 2:21.3 | There is a market for this at this moment, yes, for sure. |
... |
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