Episode 2：Carlor Zygier

Mr. Zygier, across your long career you have been an active supporter of global decarbonization efforts and the SDGs. Why did you embrace this challenge and what is your personal goal?

Sustainability is a good reason and is also a good business and regarding global warming, needs transition. Transition is not binary is multidimensionally analysis. There will be less problems regarding global warming going towards and reduction of number of people affected by disasters. Today, more than half the world's population live in cities. By 2050, an estimated 7 out of 10 people will likely live in urban areas. Cities contribute more than 80% of global GDP. However, they also account for more than 70% of global greenhouse gas emissions. By 2030, we should ensure access for all to adequate, inclusive, resilient, safe, and affordable housing, protection of the natural heritage, Indigenous Knowledge, air quality, waste management, improving human settlements management, promote smart links between urban and rural, integrating green infrastructure, adaptation and mitigation actions jointly. The interlinkages and integrated nature of the SDGs are crucial. Being a voluntary local review reporter, developed by your city/region/province to dsdg@un.org.

I am still blessing receiving tons of satisfactions, goals achieved, projects running, gold feedback from my teams, seeing them progressing in their jobs, positions and always contributing to the SDGs from different industries. During the transition, with my teams, we create a new disruptive model, to evaluate social-private energy projects, the name is a Win-Win-Win Model, key concept: an apparently unlimited energy, zero-sum game. Ahead the link (https://www.linkedin.com/in/carlos-zygier/) to see the full text, but in simple words, from now onwards, from my point of view, each next contract should be based on the W-W-W Model where the third party is the Biosphere with the same rights and obligations than the other two. This is my motto and my personal goal.

The Renewable Energy for Latin America and the Caribbean Initiative (RELAC) aims to achieve a share of at least 70% of renewable energy in the region's electricity mix by 2030. How important will energy storage be in achieving this ambitious target? And which storage technologies do you think are likely to play a crucial role in the context of South America's energy system?

Effectively the aim is to achieve a share of at least 70% of renewable energy in the region's electricity mix by 2030. However, this energy is intermittent with potential lack of dispatching. Energy storage can act as a generation, transmission, or distribution asset, creating flexibility to the system and increasing the capacity factor of existing resources avoiding the emissions of peak power plants. They improve reliability and resilience, integrate generation sources, and help reduce environmental impacts. They are powering the grid, saving operational costs and customers consumer money who own homes and businesses batteries. Storage regulates frequency along with the chance to be self-efficiently planned and provide to communities’ potential energy autonomy being part of a harmonic autonomous micro grid, open to provide energy to the main grid either. Businesses can avoid disruptions during outages, cloud center could maintain the life of internet and households could save the loose of medicines and food, while the health system stains alive. Resident also have an option to participate in the energy generation business when there are available.

With respect the technology, my opinion we should mix all of them while they became more affordable and commercially accessible. Today, the most accessible Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) technology is lithium and sodium sulfur from my eyes, are the most popular and reliable asset.

Nevertheless, in my opinion, the cost of the raw materials, especially in the case of lithium, that also use cobalt, along with the high global geographic concentration of the quarries, will create a strategic room, mostly in South America, for the clean energy carrier evolution for storage very soon.

As highlighted in IEA's Global Hydrogen Review 2022, Chile and Western Argentina have a unique potential for expanding the production very low-cost green hydrogen from solar and wind sources by 2030. What is the current status of the hydrogen energy industry in these two countries? And how optimistic are you that this strong potential will be used to transform South America into a major global green hydrogen production hub in the near future?

With respect the status of hydrogen industries in our Region, I would like to stand a reflection first and then go to status situation. How much is the true final cost to Society of a ton of hydrogen today? According to the Roadmap Government Advisers, the hydrogen cost could go down to levels below 2 U$D/KG in the next future, from around 2030 and I in general agree. Moreover, actions like the Inflation Reduction Act in the USA, and several other promotions, tax credits, etc; in other regions in the world, that bolsters the down pathway of the clean energy carrier. Today, in my analysis from our projects the cost of producing hydrogen molecule is still around 4 to 6 USD/KG. But why?

Climate mitigation actions request disruptive technologies and, more important, disruptive models and ecosystems. It is extremely difficult to achieve the goals leaving along the market forces. We need the traditional valuable market models along new ones throughout a conceptual approach to the Social and Environmental Financial new Calculation of Hydrogen, outside of Plato's Cave.

Costs of hydrogen are different for 4 fictional characters for an analysis from different social conditions, for example someone climate migration struggling for his subsistence. Ahead some links for full text of the model (https://www.linkedin.com/in/carlos-zygier/).

Also recognizing weak support to the creation of clean energy carrier regional ecosystem and discoordination as region. This region is a promise of renewable energy potential to convert this power to clean fuel, not only for external demand, but also for internal demand to also decarbonize our region. I am fully optimistic and working tirelessly pushing all the local players to transform South America into a major global green hydrogen production hub soon.

Hydrogen carriers, such as ammonia, methanol and liquid organic hydrogen carriers (LOHC), are one of the most promising renewable energy storage technologies, particularly for medium or long-time scale applications. Which do you think will be the preferred chemical state for green hydrogen storage and transport in the context of Latin America, and what factors will determine this?

An introduction about the Integration of clean hydrogen with CO2 capture and recycle systems: there are production of methane in the reaction of the captured CO2 with clean hydrogen. However, the CO2 storage capacity is limited. Hence is not sustainable. We should recycle the CO2 capture by a combination using of natural gas, storage CO2 and clean hydrogen produced by renewables.

I find the clean methanol as the first potential virtuous hydrogen carriers, for medium-time scale applications in the energy transition and decarbonization. It is a significant player at the transition as a liquid transport biofuel especially in haulage and heavy commercial vehicles. It has a large scale production from biogas economically competitive with grey methanol from natural gas. It creates a circular economy using of wastes by anaerobic digestion, using of the curtailed electricity for hydrogen. There is a virtuous combination CO2 sequestration, conversion in biogas + clean hydrogen production by electrolysis and production of clean methanol from biogas. The smart proposal could be a blender: 85% of methanol + 15% gasoline. Today used in motor sport, with minimal technical changes would be required.

I find ammonia as the second significant player as a hydrogen carrier at the medium or long-time scale applications. Due to its low volumetric density in gaseous form under atmospheric conditions, hydrogen is not virtuous for being transported long distances. Among the available technologies, ammonia shows superiorities. Ammonia can be stored as a liquid under mild conditions like propane, therefore there is experience and infrastructure. The conversion of renewable energy into renewable ammonia would be the one option in the transition.

Liquid organic hydrogen carriers represent another high hydrogen absorption capacities for transportation and storage, by toluene, which is converted to methylcyclohexane by hydrogenation and ready for transporting. But the preferred, in my opinion are clean methanol and ammonia.

I also think about the potential blender between hydrogen and natural gas in the correct way having figure out the embrittlement problems.

Are there any energy storage-related projects that you have been working on recently that you would like to briefly introduce to us?

Yes, there are several BESS projects in Chile over 400MW, and potential projects in North America, Colombia and Brazil over an additional 500MW. Moreover, we are developing a confidential large PV Solar project, power to grid and power to ammonia in our Region, where we are going to use, applicate and try, last modern technology. The ammonia for exportation.

I am also working onto the prospect of a multy-located hydrogen refueling station with a 1,3MW electrolizer with a 130 ton/year hydrogen production, a small capital inversion of around 15 to 20 million U$D, for domestic district demand, in several locations. The district hydrogen refueling station is going to concentrate the domestic hydrogen production not only for electromobility, but also for a green infrastructure project, especially when infrastructure projects will involve stormwater management. A sustainable urban energy provision among smart energy autonomous districts, producing clean hydrogen, biogas and clean methanol from stormwater, water recovery. A non-controllable renewable energy generation. Ranging from household levels to district levels, the main idea is the shifting towards a more distributed energy generation model. The communities can entirely self-consume its production within the district as heating, cooling, storage, electricity. The idea behind is the balance between demand and supply, the self determination to get local goals efficiently.