As the world works towards deploying a cleaner energy future, governments and industry are investing in building a hydrogen economy to replace high greenhouse gas emitting energy sources in critical hard to decarbonize sectors. But as we prepare to deploy hydrogen at scale, we must ensure that our standards and policies are rooted in the latest science. Otherwise, we risk undermining the very climate benefits we seek.
As the world seeks to drastically reduce carbon dioxide emissions, clean hydrogen shows real potential to be part of the solution, particularly for those 20-30% of emissions that may be unmanageable through direct electrification. While hydrogen made from renewable energy can be the cleanest form, many in industry and government are shifting their focus towards blue hydrogen, made from natural gas. This shift presents opportunities for hydrogen’s growth, but also fundamental challenges that could determine whether the fuel provides meaningful decarbonization progress or quickly takes us in the wrong direction.
By Ilissa Ocko, Senior Climate Scientist, Spark Climate Solutions; and Sofia Esquivel Elizondo, Low Carbon Energy Scientist, EDF
It’s no secret that there are big ambitions for hydrogen as a climate solution. Many champions of proposed hydrogen infrastructure argue that it’s a viable swap to move hydrogen through vast networks of existing natural gas systems. But although there are possibilities to reuse some of the existing natural gas infrastructure for hydrogen, these roles are limited by safety and energetic considerations to a small fraction of the current energy we derive from fossil natural gas; and there are serious engineering concerns around repurposing a system that wasn’t designed for hydrogen.
by Ritesh Gautam and James Williams
Efforts to locate, measure and reduce the planet-warming methane emissions from global oil and gas operations often focus on large, concentrated sources. But a growing body of research suggests that by not tracking smaller, dispersed sources, regulators, operators and scientists are missing a significant share of the emissions problem.
