{"id":23793,"date":"2025-05-16T09:00:51","date_gmt":"2025-05-16T13:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/?p=23793"},"modified":"2025-05-16T16:29:29","modified_gmt":"2025-05-16T20:29:29","slug":"getting-to-clean-the-carbon-capture-imperative-for-blue-hydrogen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2025\/05\/16\/getting-to-clean-the-carbon-capture-imperative-for-blue-hydrogen\/","title":{"rendered":"Getting to clean: The carbon capture imperative for blue hydrogen"},"content":{"rendered":"

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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.<\/span> 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\u2019s growth, but also fundamental challenges that could determine whether the fuel provides meaningful decarbonization progress or quickly takes us in the wrong direction.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Despite its potential, hydrogen produced from natural gas poses a significant climate challenge. In fact, if today\u2019s hydrogen industry were a country, it would rank as the sixth-largest emitter of greenhouse gases. To ensure blue hydrogen can be a viable climate solution, the industry will need to overcome several emissions reduction hurdles \u2014 including addressing<\/span> upstream methane emissions<\/span><\/a> , better<\/span> understanding and mitigating hydrogen emissions<\/span><\/a> and, crucially, delivering effective carbon management, which we\u2019ll dive into here.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Getting to clean: The carbon capture imperative for blue hydrogen <\/a><\/span>Share on X<\/a><\/span>\n

While there are numerous important variables at play to get <\/span>projects<\/span><\/i> right from a particular local perspective, there are three key factors to getting <\/span>carbon management<\/span><\/i> right from a technical perspective:consistently high carbon capture and storage rates, safely operated and responsibly sited carbon dioxide pipelines and demonstrated permanent storage with high environmental integrity.<\/span><\/p>\n

Consistently high carbon capture rates<\/b><\/p>\n

Across the board, global clean hydrogen standards and guidelines broadly agree that blue hydrogen will need to capture around 90-95% of its CO2<\/span> emissions in order to hit target carbon intensities.<\/span> \u00a0Industry\u2019s own estimates, commitments and technical studies represent that this is achievable, but it hasn\u2019t yet been demonstrated in practice on operating facilities (where rates typically hover around 60%).\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This is a high bar for carbon capture efficiency, and one that industry needs to be held accountable for meeting in practice consistently, not just in engineering specs or occasional tests. Not getting this piece right alone drastically cuts the climate benefit of blue hydrogen in the short and long term.<\/span><\/p>\n

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