Wednesday 1 September 2021

‘Hydrogen not as green as people think’

A new report claims that hydrogen is not the ‘silver bullet for climate change’ it is being touted as and the global focus should shift to electrification.

The report from Earthjustice states that most hydrogen production pollutes communities and drives a climate breakdown, with it being responsible for more greenhouse gas emissions than the entirety of Germany.

It says that less than 1% of hydrogen produced today is made using renewable energy and that ‘green hydrogen’ is the only way to produce hydrogen without emitting pollution; using 100% renewable electricity to split hydrogen from water molecules.

The study reveals that the first priority must be the deployment of green hydrogen, to displace the millions of tonnes of hydrogen produced from fossil fuels each year by the US alone.

It claims to decarbonise sectors such as heating, electrification is a much more efficient and clean option – releasing less greenhouse gases and improving air quality.

Similarly, electric vehicles (EVs) are considered much more energy efficient and cheaper than hydrogen vehicles and states that green hydrogen would be wasted in the vast majority of cars, buses and trucks.

Sasan Saadat, Co-Author of the report, said: “Hydrogen is not the silver bullet it is marketed to be. Worse, the deluge of hydrogen hype from fossil fuel companies threatens to delay the clean energy transition by siphoning resources away from solutions like electric appliances and vehicles.

“In the future, green hydrogen may help us carry renewable energy into the toughest corners of the energy system but it is no substitute for rapidly electrifying the bulk of our economy today.”