Back to Blog
Hydrogen energy6/3/2023 In their recent study, EDF scientists compared the climate impact of blue and green hydrogen under high- and low-leakage scenarios. But if too much hydrogen escapes, those emissions could decrease the near-term warming benefits relative to fossil energy. Handled properly, they could bring real climate benefits. Both are more expensive than conventional fossil fuels, but massive investments now flowing into the sector will likely improve the picture. Neither blue nor green hydrogen is yet available at commercial scale. But it can also be made using renewable energy to peel away oxygen molecules from water (“green” hydrogen) or by extracting it from natural gas with the residual carbon captured and stored (“blue” hydrogen). Typical hydrogen production is energy-intensive and generates a lot of climate pollution. And as the smallest molecule, hydrogen is particularly difficult to contain. That means that it will be critical to keep hydrogen from escaping. But climate impacts are nearly always calculated over a 100-year timeframe - masking damage caused by escaped hydrogen in the near term.Īpplying the latest atmospheric science and measuring over a 20-year timeframe to better reflect its near-term warming impact, EDF climate scientists calculate that hydrogen has six times more warming power than is generally recognized today. That's because hydrogen doesn’t remain in the atmosphere long, and its warming effects disappear after about two decades. What’s more, standard scientific accounting used in treaties and reporting requirements systematically understate hydrogen’s powerful near-term warming effects. Based on the latest understanding of those effects, researchers at EDF and elsewhere say its warming power is much greater than previously recognized. Scientists have long known that hydrogen triggers indirect warming effects in the atmosphere. Sign up for our Climate Tech Brief newsletter
0 Comments
Read More
Leave a Reply. |