The Executive Power seeks that all institutions linked to the energy and environment sectors have a plan ready to investigate, produce, and market hydrogen as fuel in six months.
One of the first decrees of this administration was signed by the president, who took office on Tuesday, along with Carlos Manuel Rodríguez, head of the Ministry of Environment and Energy (MINAE).
Alvarado repeatedly expressed his desire to lead Costa Rica towards the de-carbonization of the economy and in this context he will give priority to projects that focus on clean energy. He already had meetings with Franklin Chang, president of the company Ad Astra Rocket, to soak up on the projects they are developing in that area.
The president seeks that Costa Rica is placed as a benchmark for the de-carbonization of the economy in the Conference on Climate Change of the United Nations (UN) in 2020. Within the same context, Alvarado’s government plan aims to expand the capabilities of the Costa Rican Petroleum Refinery (RECOPE) to venture into the development and research of renewable energies.
In 2015, an attempt was made to streamline a change in the organic law of RECOPE. However, it did not prosper within the Legislative Assembly. Another option, less viable, is the development of a specific law on biofuels and its use by State institutions.
Hydrogen is produced from electricity by the electrolysis of water (decomposition into hydrogen and oxygen). When used in transport, stored in a tank, it is combined with oxygen to generate electricity, power the engine, and produce movement. Its only by-product is water vapor, that’s why it’s totally clean.
That tank supplies hydrogen to a fuel cell. This, like a small battery, sucks the hydrogen from the tank, uses oxygen from the air, mixes it (hydrogen and oxygen), produces water and generates electricity. The hydrogen vehicle produces its own electricity and supplies it to the electric motor of the bus,”
explained Franklin Chang, president of Ad Astra, in an interview offered in August.
According to Chang, hydrogen vehicles have a greater autonomy and last a short time in loading (take 3 minutes). Therefore, they believe that Costa Rica is fertile ground for this industry.