Hydrogen
A Useful but Over-Hyped Energy Source
Introduction
Hydrogen is a versatile and abundant element that can be used for various applications, such as fuel cells, ammonia production, steel making, and chemical synthesis. Hydrogen can also help reduce greenhouse gas emissions if it is produced from low-carbon sources, such as renewable electricity or biomass.
However, hydrogen is not a silver bullet for the energy transition. It faces several challenges that limit its widespread adoption and impact. Some of these challenges are:
Challenges
– Producing hydrogen from low-carbon sources is costly and inefficient compared to other options, such as batteries or heat pumps.
– Developing hydrogen infrastructure, such as pipelines, storage facilities, refuelling stations, and end-use equipment, is slow and expensive.
– Hydrogen is mostly produced from natural gas and coal today, which emits large amounts of carbon dioxide and methane. This type of hydrogen is often called “grey” or “blue” hydrogen if carbon capture and storage (CCS) is applied.
– Regulations and standards for hydrogen are still lacking or inconsistent across different regions and sectors.
Support
Despite these challenges, hydrogen has been receiving a lot of attention and support from policymakers, industry players, and media outlets. However, not all of this attention is driven by a genuine interest in clean energy solutions. Some of it is motivated by vested interests that seek to delay or undermine the electrification of transport and heating sectors.
The Role of the Oil and Gas Industry
One of the main actors behind this pro-hydrogen push is the oil and gas industry. The industry has been spending tens of millions of euros on lobbying for hydrogen in Europe and elsewhere. The industry claims that hydrogen made from natural gas with CCS (blue hydrogen) can provide a low-carbon alternative to electrification while utilizing existing gas infrastructure.
Misleading Claims
However, these claims are misleading. Blue hydrogen is neither low-carbon nor cost-effective compared to green hydrogen (made from renewable electricity) or direct electrification. Blue hydrogen still emits significant amounts of carbon dioxide and methane (80x worse than carbon dioxide as a climate change gas) during production and transportation. Moreover, blue hydrogen depends on the availability and reliability of CCS technology, which has not been proven at scale or widely deployed.
Lobbying
The oil and gas industry’s lobbying for blue hydrogen is a strategy to prolong its relevance in a decarbonizing world. By promoting blue hydrogen as a clean energy solution, the industry hopes to secure public subsidies for its fossil fuel assets while delaying the deployment of cheaper and cleaner alternatives.
You are probably seeing public lobbying via Facebook ads promoting hydrogen, which are funded behind the scenes by the oil and gas industry. While they engage in more direct lobbying of governments and policy makers.
Avoiding the Trap
To avoid falling into this trap, policymakers and consumers need to be aware of the different types of hydrogen applications and their relative merits. A useful framework for this purpose is the Clean Hydrogen Ladder developed by Michael Liebreich[1], an energy analyst who hosts the Cleaning Up podcast on leadership in an age of climate change [2][12].
Hydrogen Ladder
The Clean Hydrogen Ladder ranks various use cases for clean hydrogen according to their economic viability, environmental impact, and social value.
The ladder consists of four categories:
– Rungs: These are use cases where clean hydrogen makes sense today or in the near future because it offers clear advantages over other options in terms of cost, performance, or emissions reduction. Examples include ammonia production, steel making, and long-distance shipping.
– Rails: These are use cases where clean hydrogen could play a role in certain niches or regions where other options are not feasible or available. Examples include aviation, remote power generation, industrial heat, and some types and use cases of construction machinery such as JCB hydrogen engine diggers.
– Ropes: These are use cases where clean hydrogen faces strong competition from other options that are cheaper, more efficient, or more convenient. Examples include passenger cars, most forms of trucks, buses and trains [11], domestic heating, and grid balancing.
– Ramps: These are use cases where clean
hydrogen has no role to play because it offers no benefits over other options or creates new problems. Examples include blending with natural gas, exporting via liquified natural gas (LNG)
The Clean Hydrogen Ladder helps us understand where hydrogen can be useful and where it can be over-hyped or over-lobbied [11].
It also helps us prioritize our investments and policies to support the most promising and impactful applications of clean hydrogen [1].
Conclusion
In conclusion, hydrogen is a valuable energy source that can help us achieve our climate goals if used wisely and selectively [4][1].
However, hydrogen is not a panacea that can solve all our energy problems [5][4].
We need to be careful about who we listen to and what we believe about hydrogen [6][8] [9] [10].
We need to focus on the rungs and rails of the ladder where hydrogen really does make sense, not the ones that those with a hidden agenda are lobbying for.