Sasol Calls for Global Innovation to Slash Green Hydrogen Costs
The energy giant warns that power-to-liquids technology will remain trapped in labs without significant cost reductions.
Sasol is calling for a global scientific effort to slash the cost of green hydrogen to make sustainable fuel production commercially viable. The energy company warns that without a breakthrough in efficiency and pricing, critical decarbonization technologies will fail to scale beyond the laboratory.
Speaking at the 19th Pujiang Innovation Forum in Shanghai, where South Africa served as the Country of Honour, Dr. Theo Mudzunga, Sasol's VP for Fundamental Science Research, urged engineers and scientists to prioritize the reduction of hydrogen production costs. Mudzunga specifically highlighted power-to-liquids (PtL) technology, noting that the current high cost of green hydrogen acts as a primary barrier to its commercial application. He emphasized that the industry must achieve higher conversion efficiency and increased yields to make the transition feasible.
The Path to Decarbonization
Sasol, a major South African energy and chemical firm, has historically relied on coal-to-liquids technology. To address its carbon footprint, the company is now pivoting toward green hydrogen and synthetic e-fuels, aiming to enter the sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) market. However, the company is not relying on a single solution. According to confirmed company strategy, Sasol is deploying an integrated portfolio that combines renewable power, circular-economy initiatives, and carbon capture and storage, rather than searching for a single "silver bullet" technology.
Industrial Implications
This push for innovation is critical because green hydrogen is viewed as the primary tool for decarbonizing "hard-to-abate" industrial sectors. While the chemistry of PtL is proven at a small scale, the economic gap between research and industrial application remains wide. If industry leaders cannot bridge this gap, the global shift toward sustainable liquid fuels could be significantly delayed, leaving heavy industry dependent on high-emission processes.
The Role of Collaboration
To accelerate this transition, Mudzunga argued that traditional silos between academia and industry must be broken. He called for deeper collaboration between governments, universities, and industrial partners to move research into the commercial sphere more rapidly. "Partnerships are therefore not simply enablers of success – they are a precondition for success," Mudzunga stated during the forum.
Moving forward, the industry will be watching for specific breakthroughs in electrolyzer efficiency and renewable energy integration that could lower the per-kilogram cost of green hydrogen. Until these costs drop, the scalability of PtL remains the central question for Sasol's long-term sustainability goals.