Nigeria, Niger and Algeria are advancing a 4,128-kilometre gas pipeline that could supply Europe with up to 30 billion cubic metres of natural gas annually as it seeks alternatives to Russian energy
Hydrogen is famously hard to contain - so famously that it even was a major plot point in the second Knives Out movie. Piplines of that magnitued are probably really hard to do.
Natural gas pipelines of proper quality are not that hard to adapt to H₂. There’s a German study suggesting that the country’s rediculously extensive transport and distribution network for natural gas of 550000 km could be converted completely for the comparably low investments of 30billion €. (Calculated by distance this would by ~200million for the whole 4000km+ pipeline…)
Hydrogen is famously hard to contain - so famously that it even was a major plot point in the second Knives Out movie. Piplines of that magnitued are probably really hard to do.
Natural gas pipelines of proper quality are not that hard to adapt to H₂. There’s a German study suggesting that the country’s rediculously extensive transport and distribution network for natural gas of 550000 km could be converted completely for the comparably low investments of 30billion €. (Calculated by distance this would by ~200million for the whole 4000km+ pipeline…)
I came across this meta study done one year later which suggests there are still research gaps on vital points such as leakage. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360319924014137 - however, I think that’s outdated too.
H2 molecules are super tiny and leak everywhere. They cannot be mixed with stinky gas while being highly flammable. Transport is hard. Really.