Clean Hydrogen & Negative CO2 Emissions focuses on designs and strategies for modular gasification-based systems enabling negative lifecycle emissions of greenhouse gases. Methane is a more potent greenhouse gas than CO2, but breaks down in the atmosphere over time, with a half-life of around 12 years. For both methods of production, it is crucial to account for all emissions in the . . Combined total GHG emissions are still more than those from using either coal or natural gas directly for energy. A cleaner version is "blue" hydrogen, for which the carbon emissions are captured and stored, or reused. The infrastructure bill signed into law by President Biden in November includes $9.5 billion dollars to support the creation of a clean hydrogen industry but much of the money is going to support the U.S. fracked gas industry under the guise of "clean" blue hydrogen. Grey hydrogen is a common product derived from natural gas through a process called steam methane reforming (SMR). Reexamining Blue Hydrogen's Carbon Footprint. Blue Hydrogen. However, the captured CO2 can be reused or is stored in geological formations. This report explores the potential contribution of blue hydrogen, which has very low life-cycle CO 2 emissions, to climate mitigation. Half the hydrogen produced comes from the water and the other half from the . Howarth and Jacobson state: "Perhaps surprisingly, the greenhouse gas footprint of blue hydrogen is more than 20 per cent greater than burning natural gas or coal for heat." If Alberta becomes a global leader in the production of blue hydrogen, the province's emissions - already the highest in Canada - will continue to increase. By targeting fugitive emissions, or by using power sources, blue . Industry groups say blue hydrogen will be critical to meeting the world's climate goals, and can be part of a broad strategy to reduce the world's greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Gray hydrogen emissions (represented in Column 1) consist predominantly of the CO generated on-site and the methane that has leaked along the natural gas supply chain. by Robert Howarth & Mark Jacobson ("H&J") asks whether "blue" hydrogen (that is, hydrogen . In a sensitivity analysis in which the methane emission rate from natural gas is reduced to a low value of 1.54%, greenhouse gas emissions from blue hydrogen are still greater than from simply . "Hydrogen derived from fossil fuels is not zero emissions, due to methane leakages along the value chain," it says. This clean-burning fuel produces zero CO 2 when combusted, meaning it can play a vital role in a lower-emission future. Biomass can have an important role in reducing carbon intensity of coal-based systems, as can application of advanced technologies . Blue hydrogen and IGCC with CCS technology are ways to cut America's emissions now, improve air quality for those suffering the most from NOx, SOx, and particulate emissions. In addition, GHG emissions associated with grey hydrogen are often subject to carbon taxes and other costs, which are increasing as governments seek to reduce emissions. "Blue" hydrogenproduced through steam methane reforming (SMR) of natural gas or coal gasification, but with CO 2 capture and storageis being described as having low or zero carbon emissions.. While being presented as a clean hydrogen plan for decarbonizing the energy system, the main focus of the hydrogen . Opponents claim that blue hydrogen isn't climate-friendly at all, but would in fact increase global warming. Blue hydrogen is also obtained from fossil fuels, but with techniques capable of capturing and storing CO emissions produced. They state that current "blue" hydrogen test sites are only capturing 50-60% of plant-wide emissions, yet use 93% CO2 capture at hydrogen steam reformation plants in their modeling, and . Blue hydrogen is created from fossil sources, where the carbon emissions are captured and stored. But hydrogen produces 'substantial' emissions, study shows. Blue refers to hydrogen that has been made using natural gas, but with the CO 2 emissions captured and stored. Column 2 shows the GHG emissions from an illustrative blue hydrogen facility that captures CO from both the reforming process and the combustion exhaust. Decarbonization and the Potential Greenhouse Gas Emissions Performance of "Blue" Hydrogen . RED President Steve Hendrickson examines a recent report that raises questions about the effectiveness of "blue" hydrogen in reducing CO emissions. Blue Hydrogen is focused on taking out over 80% of the CO2 emissions. Blue hydrogen is a low-carbon fuel produced from natural gas in combination with carbon capture and storage (CCS). "The small reduction in carbon dioxide emissions for blue hydrogen compared with natural gas are more than made up for by the larger emissions of fugitive methane." "To call it a zero-emissions fuel is totally wrong," said Howarth. The nation is the first in the region to commit to an economy-wide reduction in emissions, he said. Green hydrogen is more expensive to produce, but it can be . That raises . Grey hydrogen can turn "blue" when most of these carbon emissions are captured and, for example, sequestered underground. Blue H2 worse than grey In their new study, the authors consider blue H2's lifecycle emissions including those associated with the mining, transport, storage, and burning of the fossil gas needed to produce hydrogen. Emissions of blue hydrogen are less than for grey hydrogen by nine per cent to 12 per cent. What is Blue hydrogen and is it really better than fossil fuel? This is partly because additional electricity is needed to run carbon-capture equipment, which, if derived from natural gas, leads to greater methane leakages and increased carbon emissions. It prevents CO2 from entering the earth's atmosphere or only doing so in very small quantities. A . Decarbonized sources or "blue H2" is also sourced from hydrocarbonsmost commonly clean natural gasbut has the advantage of carbon capture, which prevents emissions from reaching the . With blue hydrogen exported and combusted as ammonia for electric power generation, we could deliver an 84% reduction in emissions (59 gCO 2eq /KWh e, compared to 369 gCO 2eq /KWh e using natural gas today). Blue hydrogen. The researchers wrote: "Blue hydrogen is hardly emissions free. Even under a lower methane emission rate of 1.54%, greenhouse gas emissions from blue hydrogen were still higher than from burning natural gas, and 18%-25% less than for grey hydrogen. Grey hydrogen obtained by reforming is associated with significant emissions both from the heat required to produce it (approximately 8 kilowatt-hours per kilogram of hydrogen) and from the chemical reaction of oxygen in water with the hydrocarbon. "It does beg the question who's going to invest in blue hydrogen?" With high capture rates the researchers put the cost of producing blue hydrogen at $2.87 (US$2.09) a kilogram per tonne of CO2, while the cost of producing green hydrogen is $4.99 (US$3.64) with projections that it may come down to $2.55 (US$1.86). It has previously been touted as a better alternative because the production emissions are captured and stored deep underground. The cleanest one of all is "green" hydrogen, which is generated by renewable energy sources without producing carbon emissions in the first place. (GHG) impact for blue hydrogen of 132 grams CO2-equivalent per million Joules of gross fuel heat delivered (which we write as 132 . Blue Hydrogen has been hailed as the fuel for the era and help in the fight to reach net-zero emissions. Blue hydrogen is the same as grey hydrogen, but with integrated carbon capture and storage (CCS), thus considered to be a low-emission alternative. Blue hydrogen production process Blue hydrogen will lock-in continued fossil fuel use that . Toyota Motor Corp.'s hydrogen engine racing car. To further support our ambitions for net zero Scopes 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions across major operated assets by 2050, we are planning a world-scale blue hydrogen plant at . Read . (Tim Kelly/Reuters) Hydrogen has been billed as the clean energy of the future by . Grey, blue, green and more - the many colours of hydrogen. However, a new lifecycle study by a team from Stanford University and Cornell University has concluded that total greenhouse gas emissions from the production of blue hydrogen are quite high . (Longden et al 2021) with a 56% capture rate, the emissions from blue hydrogen are still . Blue hydrogen production is believed to have a slightly higher risk of leakage due to the added complexities of its production system, including an additional separation process. Green hydrogen, blue hydrogen, brown hydrogen and even yellow hydrogen, turquoise hydrogen and pink hydrogen. Grey, blue, green? They also include the emissions generated by powering blue H2's associated carbon capture (CCS) systems. The use of CCS as a tool to reduce GHG emissions from polluting industrial processed is receiving substantial interest from markets and regulators. "'Blue' fossil-based hydrogen is not zero emissions and risks a lock-in of high carbon infrastructure and jobs," says the study, adding that continued reliance on fossil gas could cause the UK to exceed its carbon budget. In the first study of its kind to consider blue hydrogen's environmental impact over its entire lifecycle, the US researchers found that methane emissions released when the fossil natural gas is . The big difference, however, is the management of CO2. Emissions of blue hydrogen are less than for gray hydrogen, but not greatly so: perhaps surprisingly, only by about 9% to 12%. Finally, green hydrogen is about fully eliminating CO2 emissions. "Blue hydrogen is hardly emissions free," wrote the researchers. 4 Whether for storing green electricity in the natural gas grid or as an energy supplier for generating electricity and heat - the hydrogen produced is . While so-called green hydrogen, derived from water, is produced with zero emissions, the production of 'blue' hydrogen results in sizable carbon emissions. Its leakage rate has been estimated to be approximately 1.5 percent based on a combination of natural gas leakage data and what is known about the correlation between . Hydrogen has the potential to create limitless, emission-free, efficient energy. "Blue" hydrogenproduced through steam methane reforming (SMR) of natural gas or coal gasification, but with CO 2 capture and storageis being described as having low or zero carbon emissions.. An overview of blue hydrogen. Furthermore, the greenhouse footprint of blue hydrogen is " more than 20% greater than burning . With blue hydrogen, the amount of carbon captured and stored from the production process is a key factor in the carbon intensity of the hydrogen produced. In this photo taken Nov. 17, 2014, a Toyota Motor Corp.'s new hydrogen fuel cell vehicle Mirai arrives at a charge station near Toyota's showroom in . For example, compared with SMR, it saves money by maximising carbon-capture efficiency and simplifying the process line-up, which offsets the oxygen production costs. Life cycle GHG emissions of blue hydrogen Figure 1. Green hydrogen produced with electricity from renewable sources is compatible with sustainable, climate safe energy use or net-zero emissions, and provides the best long-term alternative hydrogen source, in comparison with other options such as grey or hybrid blue hydrogen. Clean Hydrogen & Negative CO2 Emissions. Blue hydrogen is the same as grey hydrogen, but with integrated carbon capture and storage (CCS), thus considered to be a low-emission alternative. . The Shell Blue Hydrogen Process offers significant advantages over alternative technologies, which include steam methane reforming (SMR) and autothermal reforming (ATR). Blue hydrogen as a strategy only works to the extent it is possible to store carbon dioxide long-term indefinitely into the future without leakage back to the atmosphere." Emissions of blue hydrogen are less than for gray hydrogen, but only by about 9% to 12%. Blue hydrogen may one day be the lowest-cost option to help decarbonize industrial heating, residential heating in extremely cold climates and heavy-duty vehicles. Finally, green hydrogen is obtained by splitting water atoms with electricity from renewable sources only, making it very expensive, though very "clean". The emissions from blue hydrogen are still staggeringly high. However, some argue that "low carbon" would be a more accurate description, as 10-20% of the generated carbon cannot be captured. Even in a sensitivity analysis in which the methane emission rate from natural gas is reduced to a low value of 1.54%, the study found greenhouse gas emissions from blue hydrogen were still higher . The term "Blue Hydrogen" refers to hydrogen generation processes that minimize CO 2 emissions. "Not even a low-emissions fuel," blue hydrogen, they conclude has "no role in a carbon-free future . The CO 2 emissions are reduced via absorption from the hydrogen rich process gas (pre-combustion CO 2 Capture) or the reformer flue gas (post-combustion CO 2 Capture). The CO2 emissions resulting from the production of blue hydrogen range from 23 to 150 grams per kilowatt hour. Blue hydrogen, promoted by the fossil. They're essentially colour codes, or nicknames, used within the energy industry to differentiate between the types of hydrogen. Finally, green hydrogen is obtained by splitting water atoms with electricity from renewable sources only, making it very expensive, though very "clean". CCUS is discussed in greater detail below. "This is equivalent to gas priced at $6/MMBtu to $12/MMBtu . Combining hydrogen with carbon capture and storage in places like Baytown supports ExxonMobil's larger 2050 . This rate drops to only 39% when including other greenhouse gas emissions from Shell's project. The IREA predicts that green hydrogen could be produced for between 8 cents/kg and $1.6/kg in most parts of the world before 2050. And emissions of leaked methane are rife throughout the process. Researchers in the U.S. found that blue hydrogen produces 20% more carbon emissions in heat generation than using natural gas. So called "blue hydrogen", made using fossil fuels and capturing and storing the associated greenhouse gas emissions, has long been touted as less expensive than renewable alternatives and necessary during a transition phase to a low carbon society. It is true that emissions for blue hydrogen are lower than gray hydrogen, but only by roughly nine to 12 percent. However, a new lifecycle study by a team from Stanford University and Cornell University has concluded that total greenhouse gas emissions from the production of blue hydrogen are quite high . Just 48% of the plant's carbon emissions are captured, we found, falling woefully short of the 90% carbon capture rate promised by industry for fossil hydrogen projects. The same chemical processing technique used to make gray hydrogen is also used to produce blue hydrogen. "Blue hydrogen is hardly emissions free," according to an article in academic journal Energy Science and Engineering that alludes to the broad support for the fuel in Washington and beyond. Unlike grey hydrogen, blue hydrogen has low emissions and doesn't contribute to the greenhouse effect. Decoding hydrogen types. But when such statements are made, the . Combined total GHG emissions are still more than those from using either coal or natural gas directly for energy. Wed, 08/18/2021 - 09:00 AM. "Blue hydrogen is hardly emissions free," the study reads. In fact, a peer-reviewed study published in August found that blue hydrogen might lead to even more greenhouse gas emissions over its life cycle than simply burning natural gas. For their default assumptions, total carbon dioxide equivalent emissions for blue hydrogen are " only 9%-12% less than for gray hydrogen ", lower carbon dioxide emissions being almost fully compensated by increased fugitive methane emissions. "Blue hydrogen is hardly emissions free," wrote the researchers. We are presently living in a deep decarbonization era where global economies are faced with the pressures of weighing energy market scenarios to meet the long-term temperature goals set in the Paris Climate Agreement.While many can debate over the nature of carbon emissions, climate change, and related matters and if it is necessary pay attention to doomsday . Blue hydrogen does appear to present short-to-medium term . CCS and blue hydrogen - production pathways and potential regulatory challenges. Gray hydrogen is abundant in use and technology right now but it releases much more CO2. And emissions of leaked methane are rife throughout the process. Blue hydrogen is derived from methane in natural gas. A big concern at this point is atmospheric carbon emissions. Blue hydrogen produced from natural gas with carbon capture and storage is often criticised because it is not inherently a zero-emission solution. Steve Hendrickson, Ralph E. Davis Associates. State releases 'roadmap' to hydrogen economy. Blue hydrogen is, therefore, sometimes referred to as carbon neutral as the emissions are not dispersed in the atmosphere. The Shell Blue Hydrogen Process offers significant advantages over alternative technologies, which include steam methane reforming (SMR) and autothermal reforming (ATR). It is somewhat less polluting than grey hydrogen, but blue hydrogen is only capable of reducing emissions during its production process, rather than eliminating them completely .