‘Clean’ hydrogen? – Comparing the emissions and costs of fossil fuel versus renewable electricity based hydrogen

Longden, Thomas; Beck, Fiona J.; Jotzo, Frank; Andrews, R.S.; Prasad, Mousami

doi:10.1016/j.apenergy.2021.118145

Cited by 145 publications

(100 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…We only consider regulations to be stringent when they promote zero-carbon renewable hydrogen. This is because it is clear from climate science that emissions from fossil-fuel-based hydrogen production could be "substantial" even with CCS technology [10].…”

Section: Typology For Green Hydrogen Regulatory Stringencymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Scientific knowledge has shown that hydrogen does not automatically qualify as a game-changer to address the climate challenge. Hydrogen is considered the most promising energy source in the coming years, yet carbon emissions of different types of hydrogen vary dramatically depending on their production methods and different scopes for emission calculation [9,10]. Color-band terminologies are used to differentiate types of hydrogen on the basis of production methods enabled by current technology: gray hydrogen from coal gasification, blue hydrogen from steam methane reforming (SMR), and green hydrogen from electrolysis water using renewable energy [7] (Figure 1).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As shown in our analysis, many countries envisage blue hydrogen as an important steppingstone in their overall hydrogen deployment, now and here, in the hope that renewable energy-based green hydrogen would eventually be phased in, in the future. However, the techno-economic analysis of fossil-fuel hydrogen produced with CCS has revealed a dilemma: if carbon-capture rates are low, there is a risk of lock-in by scaled high-emissions fossil-fuel hydrogen; if capture rates are high, there is a risk of stranded assets as hydrogen production with CCS may never become competitive [10].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The literature indicates that high emission intensities are associated with clean [10] or blue hydrogen [13]. If countries are serious about decarbonization through hydrogen, they need to deviate from their existing pathways of depending on fossil fuels for hydrogen production of any kind, including investing in CCS technologies.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While the functionalist and future-oriented ap-proach does resonate with prospective hydrogen technology breakthroughs to produce hydrogen from various processes, the ways that national hydrogen strategies and lobbyists from the fossil-fuel industries interpret this principle [72] have always narrowly defined the objective, i.e., that a commodity could deliver its use-value, not a fuel that could achieve a certain level of emissions intensity. Therefore, the principle is reduced to mean that renewable hydrogen and fossil-fuel hydrogen should be equally treated, no matter how different their emissions intensities are, now that there is no international convergence around a single preferred technological approach [10]. This principle has been challenged; for instance, in California, a Low-Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) has fundamentally altered this conventional interpretation to reflect the climate implications of products [77].…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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How Green Are the National Hydrogen Strategies?

Cheng

Lee

2022

Sustainability

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Since Japan promulgated the world’s first national hydrogen strategy in 2017, 28 national (or regional, in the case of the EU) hydrogen strategies have been issued by major world economies. As carbon emissions vary with different types of hydrogen, and only green hydrogen produced from renewable energy can be zero-emissions fuel, this paper interrogates the commitment of the national hydrogen strategies to achieve decarbonization objectives, focusing on the question “how green are the national hydrogen strategies?” We create a typology of regulatory stringency for green hydrogen in national hydrogen strategies, analyzing the text of these strategies and their supporting policies, and evaluating their regulatory stringency toward decarbonization. Our typology includes four parameters, fossilfuel penalties, hydrogen certifications, innovation enablement, and the temporal dimension of coal phasing out. Following the typology, we categorize the national hydrogen strategies into three groups: zero regulatory stringency, scale first and clean later, and green hydrogen now. We find that most national strategies are of the type “scale first and clean later”, with one or more regulatory measures in place. This article identifies further challenges to enhancing regulatory stringency for green hydrogen at both national and international levels.

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Section: Typology For Green Hydrogen Regulatory Stringencymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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How Green Are the National Hydrogen Strategies?

Cheng

Lee

2022

Sustainability

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Iron‐group Metal Compound Electrocatalysts for Efficient Hydrogen Production: Recent Advances and Future Prospects

Wang,

Su,

Liu

et al. 2024

ChemCatChem

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Hydrogen production by electrochemical water splitting is a very potential technology in hydrogen production at present. In particular, iron‐group metal compound electrocatalysts are promising materials for electrochemical water splitting due to high catalytic activity, good electrical conductivity, low cost, and environmental friendliness. However, the practical application of such catalysts was hindered for a long time due to low efficiency and poor long‐term stability. The introduction of metal/non‐metal or the preparation of heterostructures in the catalyst can enhance conductivity, accelerate charge transfer, and improve the stability of the catalyst. In this paper, we summarise recent research progress about iron‐group metal compound electrocatalysts in the hydrogen evolution reaction, oxygen evolution reaction, and overall water‐splitting, briefly discuss the remaining challenges in this field of research, and make suggestions for the preparation of future electrocatalysts.

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The Minimum Cost and the Highest Energy Efficiency of Major PtX Products: A Potential Analysis under Ideal Conditions

Salem

2023

Energy Tech

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The transformation toward sustainable energy systems requires substantial amounts of H2 and PtX derivatives to mitigate severe consequences of climate change. Renewable energy will be the primary energy source in the future which will dictate the integration and energy efficiency of processes in various aspects of the industry. Herein, major PtX vectors are discussed, namely, methanol, ammonia, and sustainable aviation fuels. These products currently represent around 4% of the global anthropogenic CO2 emissions. The theoretical minimum feedstock of H2, CO2, and N2 required for these products is evaluated under ideal process conditions. Based on this simplified strategy, the lowest production costs and the highest theoretical energy efficiency achievable are evaluated. As a potential analysis, setting the boundaries can be technologically realized. A comparison with fossil‐based counterparts PtX is introduced, reflecting the need for a reasonable CO2 certification system and effective mechanisms to allow the successful market penetration of PtX vectors. The scale of production to cover the market demand of the addressed PtX vectors, in terms of electrolyzer capacity, is discussed. The verdict reflects the need to ramp up renewable power generation and electrolyzer capacities for a sustainable transition of the considered sectors based on PtX derivatives.

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‘Clean’ hydrogen? – Comparing the emissions and costs of fossil fuel versus renewable electricity based hydrogen

Cited by 145 publications

References 30 publications

How Green Are the National Hydrogen Strategies?

How Green Are the National Hydrogen Strategies?

Iron‐group Metal Compound Electrocatalysts for Efficient Hydrogen Production: Recent Advances and Future Prospects

The Minimum Cost and the Highest Energy Efficiency of Major PtX Products: A Potential Analysis under Ideal Conditions

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