Aoife O’Leary
Founder and Director of the SASHA Coalition
International Energy Agency (IEA) research says that bioenergy, hydrogen and hydrogen-based fuel production must ramp up from less than 1% of energy consumed today in shipping and aviation to almost 15% in 2030 and 80% by 2050 for the industries to meet their net zero targets. It calls for large amounts of green hydrogen at scale to make it possible to convert to green methanol, green ammonia and e-kerosene.
A key advocate for green hydrogen adoption is Aoife O’Leary. She is the Founder and CEO of the SASHA Coalition, a non-profit membership organisation formed of leaders from the aviation and shipping industries such as the SAF+ International Group and ZeroAvia.
The coalition works to ensure their sectors are present in hydrogen policy conversations and that their voices are heard at what is an increasingly important time.
With shipping and aviation operating at sea and in the air, other more environmentally-conscious energy options — like accessing grid electrification — are not possible for the maritime and aviation sectors. The extra-territorial and international industries equally have no cohesive unilateral or national political representation as a major green hydrogen offtaker.
Lawyer and economist Aoife and the coalition work to bring together shipping and aviation to ensure an adequate supply of green hydrogen goes to the sectors. She believes that if these sectors are going to transition to a global net zero economy by 2050, the limited capacity for green hydrogen production and direct air capture of CO2 must be targeted towards the two industries to provide the fastest, most efficient route to decarbonisation.
Q. Why is it imperative that policymakers look at prioritising green hydrogen supply to ensure it gets to the industries that need it most?
Demand for green hydrogen and its derived fuels will understandably be high across a variety of industries and use cases. It will be hard for supply levels to meet such high demand, even if hard-to-abate sectors are prioritised. As a result of this, coupled with the inefficiencies and expense of producing green hydrogen, its supply should be limited to sectors with no other feasible alternative to decarbonise.
When it comes to the need for green hydrogen, shipping and aviation currently sit alongside other hard-to-abate industries such as the steel, chemicals and concrete sectors. While recognising the use of green hydrogen for other sectors such as steel, chemicals and concrete is currently critical, both shipping and aviation are truly international sectors. Operating at sea and in the air, other energy options such as accessing grid electrification are simply not possible for the maritime and aviation sectors. As such, the two industries should be placed at the top of the ladder as they have no real alternative option when it comes to decarbonisation.
Q. Why is there such a focus on green hydrogen currently and how can it play a role in tomorrow’s energy mix? Can you talk about its positives over other energy sources?
Pressure is rising to significantly reduce our global emissions if we are to reach the targets set out in the Paris Agreement. Following the further commitment made at COP28 to move away from fossil fuels, green hydrogen is playing a prominent role in conversations about how we can achieve net zero emissions in the years and decades to come. Political attention and policy are increasingly being turned towards ‘e-fuels’ — in particular green hydrogen — and the critical role they can play in transitioning hard to abate sectors from fossil fuels. The reason there is such a keen focus on green hydrogen as a decarbonisation solution is because it does not emit polluting gases either during combustion or during production.
Green hydrogen is produced through electrolysis, whereby an electrical current is used to split water molecules into oxygen and hydrogen. The electrolysis process is powered by renewable sources such as wind or solar. The oxygen by-product of this process can safely be released back into the atmosphere with no negative impact, while the hydrogen can then be stored, transported and used as a feedstock in industry, transportation, heating fuel or generating electricity in various applications. This makes green hydrogen one of the cleanest energy options as it is generated from renewable energy sources without CO2 as a by-product. As well as being used directly, green hydrogen can be converted into green methanol, green ammonia and e-kerosene making it easier to transport and use as a fuel.
Q. How do you and the coalition aim to further unify aviation and shipping to raise awareness of the vital role of green hydrogen moving forward?
The SASHA Coalition brings together leaders from the aviation and shipping industries to ensure their voices are heard and causes are considered for prioritisation of green hydrogen supply. Collaborating in this way is crucial for both shipping and aviation to send a clear demand signal for policy and market action on green hydrogen and DAC in the two sectors.
As a coalition, we facilitate policy discussions and enable the shipping and aviation industries to form one powerful, unified voice on the issue of green hydrogen availability and distribution for their sectors, giving them greater influence as a collective. SASHA provides our members with the knowledge, tools, assets and materials they need to make an impact. The coalition also provides the platform for members to publicly demonstrate their company’s commitment to transitioning to sustainable fuels, granting access to share this intention in spaces where the future use of green hydrogen and DAC are being addressed.
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