On Hydrogen Forklifts, Bitcoin Mining and Green Fertilizer

From forklifts, cryptocurrency to green fertilizer, the unifying factor here is hydrogen; green, gray or pitch black. Just how do these diverse elements intersect with hydrogen? Keep reading to learn more, starting with forklifts.

Recent news reports highlighted Amazon's installation of a hydrogen electrolyzer from Plug Power at one of its Colorado distribution centers, designed to fuel 225 hydrogen forklifts. Such a move may leave you wondering if hydrogen forklifts are a thing. The answer requires a bit of analysis. Globally, approximately 50,000 have been operating since the first one's invention 64 years ago. This translates to about eight per year, a negligible amount when compared to the 1.2 million battery electric forklifts purchased in 2021 alone. The majority of these hydrogen forklifts are largely found in the USA, with a few in Europe, Japan, and South Korea.

Why is it that the USA hosts nearly all of them, despite being a dead-end technology? This can be traced back to Ballard's history of losing around $55 million annually since 2000 on its various hydrogen vehicle trials, heavily funded by the US Department of Energy (DOE). This program led to a number of warehouse operators, including Amazon, receiving substantial funding to install hydrogen refueling stations and purchase hydrogen forklifts. Yet most of these hydrogen vehicles, including the forklifts, are powered by gray or even black hydrogen, emitting 11 to 35 kg of CO2e per kg of hydrogen fuel - a far cry from eco-friendly.

And what about Amazon's Colorado case? It’s not green hydrogen either. The warehouse's electrolyzer will be powered by Colorado's grid electricity with a carbon intensity of 512 grams of CO2e per kWh, resulting in 23 kilograms of CO2e per kilogram of hydrogen. Also, hydrogen forklifts do not signal a direct transition to hydrogen freight trucks, as some headlines suggest. This is because hydrogen forklifts use tanks pressurized to 350 atmospheres, unlike the 700 to 800 required for large trucks.

Next, we move on to Bitcoin and fertilizer. In Shawinigan, Quebec, a green hydrogen play backed by First Hydrogen, a hydrogen van company, stirred controversy last year. While investigations pegged the cost of manufacturing hydrogen at scarcely above US$3 per kilogram, it didn't solve a prominent dilemma: just how could it serve a useful purpose in Quebec? The answer might lie in creating green ammonia for use in fertilizers. Even though it's more expensive than gray hydrogen currently manufactured elsewhere in Canada, the pricing gap closes with Canada's 2030 carbon tariff added to the gray hydrogen.

Even so, Quebec faced a shortage of electricity to meet green ammonia's demands due to the surge of Bitcoin miners draining the province's power resources. This led to the suggestion that the province could redistribute electricity rights from Bitcoin miners to green ammonia production, transforming Quebec into an ammonia export hub.

Overall, this extensive dive into hydrogen's role in forklifts, cryptocurrency, and green fertilizer adds another layer to the complex debate surrounding. the use of alternative sources of energy.