Page 11 - FSUOGM Week 39 2021

FSUOGM COMMENTARY FSUOGM

Blue hydrogen on a par with green

in climate terms, study finds

Green hydrogen may not have such an edge over blue hydrogen as has been
claimed, according to a new study.

GLOBAL A new research paper has concluded that despite The latest study contrasts with the conclu-
a recent backlash against the use of natural sions from another research paper published by
WHAT: gas-derived blue hydrogen, it can be produced the universities of Cornell and Stanford, which
A new research paper as cleanly as green hydrogen. stated that blue hydrogen “had no place” in the
estimates that blue The study, entitled On the Climate Impacts energy transition, potentially resulting in more
hydrogen production of Blue Hydrogen Production, was undertaken emissions than would be released simply by
can result in similar by academics in the UK, the US, Canada, Swit- using natural gas or diesel as energy sources. It
low emissions to green zerland, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands. pointed to the methane intensity of the natural
hydrogen production. It concludes that, in the right conditions, blue gas that is used as a key factor.
hydrogen can potentially be a powerful emis- The latest study acknowledged the diffi-
WHY: sions-reducing tool. culty in quantifying methane emissions from
For this to be achieved, “Our analysis sheds light on the relevant the natural gas supply chain. But it said that
the methane intensity of issues and provides a balanced perspective on as long as there are methane emission rates
the gas feedstock needs the impacts of climate change associated with of only 1% global warming potential (GWP)
to be sufficiently low and blue hydrogen,” the study states. “We show that over 100 years, or 0.3% GWP over 20 years,
the carbon capture rate such impacts may indeed vary over large ranges and provided that 93% of CO2 emissions from
sufficiently high. and depend on only a few key parameters; the reforming are captured, blue hydrogen has a
methane emission rate of the natural gas supply lifecycle greenhouse gas (GHG) footprint of
WHAT NEXT: chain, the CO2 removal rate at the hydrogen no more than 2-4 kg of CO2 equivalent per kg.
The paper calls for production plant and the global warming met- This gives it the same climate footprint as green
policymakers to consider ric applied.” hydrogen.
lifecycle emissions when Provided that state-of-the-art methane steam The study noted that emissions rates as low
evaluating how clean reforming is used to produce the hydrogen, CO2 as 0.3-0.4% had been measured for US shale
hydrogen is, and sees capture rates are high and the feedstock gas has gas, and that several other countries, including
blue hydrogen as having a low methane intensity, blue hydrogen “is com- Norway, the UK and the Netherlands, had rates
a role in the energy patible with low-carbon economies and features typically below 0.5%. Furthermore, it said that
transition. climate impacts in line with green hydrogen current carbon capture technology could “allow
from electrolysis supplied with renewable removal rates at the hydrogen plant of above
electricity.” 90%,” adding that rates of “close to 100% are
The study adds that neither blue nor green technically feasible, slightly decreasing energy
hydrogen, as they are currently produced, can efficiencies and increasing costs, but have yet to
be considered “net zero” without additional CO2 be demonstrated at scale.”
emissions. “Our main conclusion is that, if the above
requirements are met, blue hydrogen can be
Green versus blue close to green hydrogen in terms of impacts on
Green hydrogen is often referred to as net zero, climate change and can thus play an important
and a number of countries in Europe and else- and complementary role in the transformation
where have embraced it as a vital tool for elimi- towards net-zero economies,” the study stated.
nating emissions from hard-to-abate industries. “It is important to reiterate that no single hydro-
However, while the process of extracting hydro- gen production technology, including electrol-
gen from water using renewable energy-pow- ysis with renewables, is completely net-zero in
ered electrolysis itself does not result in any terms of GHG emissions over its life cycle and
emissions, there are still emissions when the will therefore need additional GHG removal
entire value chain is considered, including from from the atmosphere to comply with strict net-
the manufacture of equipment. zero targets.”
Meanwhile, some countries are primarily It added that biomass-based hydrogen pro-
pursuing blue hydrogen, including Norway, the duction was the exception, as it can actually
UK and Russia. This is a rational move for coun- lead to net negative emissions under some
tries with significant domestic gas supply. What circumstances, although there are limits to its
is more, blue hydrogen is currently cheaper. availability.

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