Wow, you're making hydrogen from wind and water?

Do you know what the most abundant element in the universe is? It's hydrogen (H). The intense energy of the sun, like that of all the stars that shine in the night sky, comes almost entirely from hydrogen. So, where would you find hydrogen on Earth? Well, hydrogen is a colorless, odorless gas, practically non-existent in its molecular form. However, as a compound, it exists in virtually endless supply. Among hydrogen compounds found above ground, by far the most common is… water (H2O). Isn't it fascinating to consider that the hydrogen that exists in such vast quantities in outer space takes on the form of water here on Earth?

Have you heard about a unique project that's happening right now in Yokohama? There, in the outskirts of the Minato Mirai district, the harbor gusts affectionately referred to as the "Hama Winds" are being used to generate hydrogen, which is stored and then transported to be utilized as fuel for forklifts. Shall we take a closer look at how this project works?

Here we are at the Mizuho pier in northern Minato Mirai. After passing through the warehouse district right down to end of the pier, we see an area as extensive as a schoolyard. The first thing to catch our eye is a broad pillar. As our gaze travels up its heights, we see a large, white windmill churning the air. It turns out this windmill belongs to a wind power plant called the Hama Wing. The tower is 78 m high and the windmill's massive blades extend across an 80-meter span! Apparently, this allows it to generate roughly 2.2GW of electricity a year, enough to annually power about 500 homes―and all that electricity is now being put to work generating hydrogen!

Let's head to the site. Up close, we hear the hum of the windmill driven by the Hama Winds. Upon approaching the pillar, it almost seems as though we're looking into the boarding bay of a rocket, but it's actually just the entrance to Hama Wing. So why don't we climb the stairs and peek inside? Looking up from within, we see that the tower is hollow right to the top and a ladder clings to the inner wall, rising all the way up. It would seem that maintenance workers are required to climb up to the top decked out in safety gear. Incredible! You need great strength and courage to perform such an arduous task. It makes you wonder if they ever wish for an elevator.

Let's delve a little deeper. There's just enough room for one person to squeeze through at a time but once we make our way through the passage, we come out behind the Electrolyzer. We can't see into the unit but asking buys us the answer to the question, "From where does the hydrogen come out of?" The answer is that it passes through the silver-colored pipes emerging upward from the Electrolyzer. Light as it is, hydrogen floats up from below. Those are some surprisingly thin pipes.