CNPEM study shows Brazil offers unique advantages for producing green hydrogen

Country can produce the fuel of the future with low carbon emissions using the national power grid

A study by CNPEM (the Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials) describes how Brazil can become one of the world’s global producers of green hydrogen with its singular environmental advantages. The research was published in the journal Applied Energy.

Green hydrogen is obtained through water electrolysis, a process that uses electricity to separate hydrogen from oxygen. When this electricity comes from renewable sources (like solar, wind, or hydroelectric), the resulting fuel is considered low-carbon and known as green hydrogen. It is one of the most promising prospects for energy transition, with potential applications in sectors that are difficult to decarbonize, such as long-distance transport, steel manufacturing and the chemical industry.

The study shows that Brazil, because of its power grid comprising roughly 90% renewable sources and significant energy storage capacity in hydroelectric plants, offers ideal conditions to ensure environmentally sound green hydrogen production. According to international regulations, green hydrogen must be produced at exactly the same time that new renewable energy is being generated. This requirement is known as time matching, and is intended to ensure that producing green hydrogen does not generate carbon emissions somewhere else in the power grid.

“The reality in Brazil is very different from countries that still rely heavily on fossil fuels to generate electricity. Here, renewable energy predominates and fossil fuels are residual. The National Interconnected System links Brazil from north to south, and takes advantage of the complementary nature of renewable sources. Hydroelectric reservoirs also serve as gigantic batteries for the system. This allows us to consider different timing rules without compromising environmental integrity,” explains researcher Carlos Driemeier, who led the study.

Another important point in the research is that even renewable sources like solar and wind power generate carbon emissions during their life cycles, due to the manufacture and installation of equipment and the electricity infrastructure. However, these emissions are much lower than those from fossil sources.

“Even taking into account emissions from building a wind turbine, the energy transmission infrastructure and the electrolysis plant, the hydrogen produced from wind-generated electricity emits roughly 1 kilogram of CO₂ equivalent for each kilogram of hydrogen, compared to around 11 kilograms of CO₂ equivalent for every kilogram of hydrogen generated in the traditional process using natural gas reforming,” says researcher Mateus Chagas, a co-author of the study.

The article also shows that the long distances that power is transmitted in Brazil do not have a negative impact on green hydrogen’s low-carbon credentials. The findings indicate that the impact on emissions is small, making it possible to produce low-carbon hydrogen even in industrial regions far from energy generating centers.

The next stage of the research will involve estimating the benefits of hydrogen production, considering these differentials offered by the national power grid. The expectation is that Brazil will offer low-carbon hydrogen at competitive prices on the domestic and international markets in the future.

About CNPEM

The Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials (CNPEM) is home to a state-of-the-art, multi-user and multidisciplinary scientific environment and works on different fronts within the Brazilian National System for Science, Technology and Innovation. A social organization overseen by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MCTI), CNPEM is driven by research that impacts the areas of health, energy, renewable materials, and sustainability. It is responsible for Sirius, the largest assembly of scientific equipment constructed in the country, and is currently constructing Project Orion, a laboratory complex for advanced pathogen research. Highly specialized science and engineering teams, sophisticated infrastructure open to the scientific community, strategic lines of investigation, innovative projects involving the productive sector, and training for researchers and students are the pillars of this institution that is unique in Brazil and able to serve as a bridge between knowledge and innovation. CNPEM’s research and development activities are carried out through its four National Laboratories: Synchrotron Light (LNLS), Biosciences (LNBio), Nanotechnology (LNNano), Biorenewables (LNBR), as well as its Technology Unit (DAT) and the Ilum School of Science — an undergraduate program in Science and Technology supported by the Ministry of Education (MEC).