Future is our duty! – Possibilities of hydrogen transportation studied in joint project by FGSZ and the University of Miskolc

2022. 03. 25.

Hydrogen produced from carbon-free electricity will receive an important role in the climate neutrality of Hungary, which is set out by the climate protection law for 2050. Hence, the joint project of the University of Miskolc and FGSZ Ltd., launching during the springtime, is of great importance. Hydrogen, mixed in natural gas offers energy storage possibility while reducing the greenhouse gas emission of natural gas usage.

“Climate change is not an abstract concept concerning exclusively the next generations but a challenge we need to handle through specific actions. Hence, to put it shortly, future is our duty,” Judit Varga, Chairman of Universitas Miskolcinensis Foundation said at the ceremonial press conference. She added: oil and natural gas exploitation and natural gas transportation is a field of expertise at the University among those with the largest history, so the institute has already had a close relationship with FGSZ. Beside the well-tried educational cooperation and industrial issues, the institute and the company also collaborate in innovation and R&D areas.

“Climate political goals of our time, switching to new, green energy resources pose significant challenges on both the infrastructure and the industry which are built on traditional energy carriers. The goal of the University of Miskolc, however, is to throw all knowledge into the scale and participate in answering these challenges, and to fulfil the role of a real cross-company knowledge centre,” Judit Varga highlighted.

FLUMEN project set out to map the possibilities of transporting hydrogen-natural gas blends on the whole domestic natural gas system. Within the framework of a pilot, the aim of the two-phase project is to build, examine, and test system elements, with which transporting natural gas with a maximum 10% hydrogen becomes locally possible. In case both phases of the cooperation are realised, data on blending hydrogen and safely carrying out transport duties will become available.

FGSZ and the University of Miskolc has won significant support by favour of the Ministry of Innovation and Technology on the first phase of the project. The first phase basically serves research and developmental goals: it enables to measure, account, and track blended hydrogen, supplemented by building local infrastructure and purchasing special measuring equipment.

“Based on the outstanding gas industry knowledge of the University of Miskolc, we will accumulate an immensely valuable pool of knowledge on hydrogen during the upcoming years, together with the university. As a result, our company may establish its ability to perform its future duties, while the University of Miskolc may become the most important research base of the hydrogen economy,” said Szabolcs Ferencz I., CEO of FGSZ Ltd. “if hydrogen production becomes economically viable, according to our calculation, reaching the 10% blending ratio inspected within the framework of FLUMEN may reduce the carbon-dioxide emission of the country by 607 thousand tons, if the blended hydrogen arrives from a carbon-free source,” the CEO explained.