What is blue hydrogen?

What is blue hydrogen? Blue hydrogen is an industry term for hydrogen produced

hydrogen produced

Hydrogen production is the family of industrial methods for generating hydrogen gas. As of 2020, the majority of hydrogen (∼95%) is produced from fossil fuels by steam reforming of natural gas and other light hydrocarbons, partial oxidation of heavier hydrocarbons, and coal gasification.

https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Hydrogen_production

Hydrogen production - Wikipedia

from natural gas and supported by carbon capture and storage. The CO₂ generated during the manufacturing process is captured and stored permanently underground. The result is low-carbon hydrogen that produces no CO₂.

What is the difference between green and blue hydrogen?

Green hydrogen is when the energy used to power electrolysis comes from renewable sources like wind, water or solar. Blue hydrogen is hydrogen produced from natural gas with a process of steam methane reforming, where natural gas is mixed with very hot steam and a catalyst.

Where does blue hydrogen come from?

Blue hydrogen is produced mainly from natural gas, using a process called steam reforming, which brings together natural gas and heated water in the form of steam. The output is hydrogen – but also carbon dioxide as a by-product. That means carbon capture and storage (CCS) is essential to trap and store this carbon.

Is blue hydrogen a good idea?

Blue hydrogen produces no carbon emissions when burned or converted into electricity, but the main component in producing blue hydrogen is methane, the most potent greenhouse gas. It isn't currently possible to produce clean blue hydrogen on a commercial scale, and it is important to acknowledge the risks of trying.

Is blue hydrogen a fossil fuel?

'Blue' hydrogen is derived from natural gas through the process of steam methane reforming (SMR). Before now, the fossil fuel alternative had been deemed clean and produce near zero emissions.

Blue hydrogen in the industry

Is blue hydrogen worse than gas for the climate?

Blue hydrogen has “no role in a carbon-free future” – and is actually up to 20% worse for the planet than burning gas or coal to produce heat, according to what is claimed as a landmark academic study.

Why is blue hydrogen bad for the environment?

The carbon footprint to create blue hydrogen is more than 20% greater than using either natural gas or coal directly for heat, or about 60% greater than using diesel oil for heat, according to new research published Aug. 12 in Energy Science & Engineering.

What are the downsides of blue hydrogen?

Blue hydrogen is controversial because it can result in methane emitted from natural gas production. These are methane leaks from drilling, extraction, and transportation. Although methane doesn't last as long in the atmosphere as carbon dioxide, it is much more potent than CO2 as a greenhouse gas.

What is the major downside of hydrogen power?

Disadvantage: The Use of Fossil Fuels in Hydrogen Production

A common way to isolate hydrogen is to extract it from natural gas in a process called reforming. This process is costly and emits carbon dioxide, which is counterproductive to using an emission-free energy source.

Are hydrogen cars better than battery?

Hydrogen is significantly more energy dense than batteries, which means a fuel-cell pushed powertrain will weigh less. To illustrate, for a 800 kms range truck, the difference can be as much as 2 tons. Consequently, fuel cell technology allows for longer driving ranges and heavier payloads.

Will blue hydrogen lock us into fossil fuels forever?

The unavoidable residual emissions mean that even though blue hydrogen might achieve significant carbon reductions compared to existing fossil fuel use, it will still contribute to GHG emissions. Blue hydrogen will therefore likely never be an ultra-low- or zero-carbon technology.

Is blue hydrogen used for cars?

Blue hydrogen is often touted as a low-carbon fuel for generating electricity and storing energy, powering cars, trucks and trains and heating buildings.

Why do we need blue hydrogen?

It prevents CO₂ from entering the earth's atmosphere or only doing so in very small quantities. Unlike grey hydrogen, blue hydrogen has low emissions and doesn't contribute to the greenhouse effect. Opponents claim that blue hydrogen isn't climate-friendly at all, but would in fact increase global warming.

Can blue hydrogen replace natural gas?

Blue hydrogen is often touted as a low-carbon fuel for generating electricity. But according to a new report it may be no better for the climate than continuing to use fossil natural gas.

Can cars run on green hydrogen?

If the hydrogen is produced through electrolysis, using electricity from renewable energy sources such as wind power, then this 'green hydrogen' is perfectly clean and environmentally friendly. Compared to fossil fuel use, hydrogen cars using green hydrogen are certainly good for the environment.

What are the 3 types of hydrogen?

There are three isotopes of the element hydrogen: hydrogen, deuterium, and tritium. How do we distinguish between them? They each have one single proton (Z = 1), but differ in the number of their neutrons. Hydrogen has no neutron, deuterium has one, and tritium has two neutrons.

Will hydrogen cars replace electric?

Future of Hydrogen Vehicles

A recent study published in January 2022 by Nature Electronics suggests that fuel cell electric vehicle technology will not play a major role in sustainable road transport in the future.

Why should we not use hydrogen fuel?

Currently, most hydrogen is produced using coal or natural gas as feedstocks. Both emit harmful by-products into the atmosphere, including carbon dioxide. So, while hydrogen itself is eco-friendly the processes used to isolate the chemical element have a significant environmental footprint.

Why isn't hydrogen fuel used today?

We don't yet have a hydrogen economy because: Elemental hydrogen is scarce. The cheapest way to make hydrogen also makes lots of carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide emissions are not yet priced.

Are hydrogen cars safer than gasoline?

While no fuel is 100 percent safe, green hydrogen has been shown to be safer than conventional fuels in a multitude of aspects. Hydrogen is not toxic, unlike conventional fuels. On the other hand, many conventional fuels are toxic or contain toxic substances, including powerful carcinogens.

Are hydrogen cars worse for the environment?

As with electric cars, hydrogen cars produce zero harmful emissions on the road, but unlike electric cars, which take a fair amount of time to recharge, hydrogen cars can be refilled about as quickly as a petrol or diesel car.

Is blue hydrogen cheaper than green hydrogen?

Blue hydrogen can produce low-carbon hydrogen at scale to help decarbonize hard-to-abate sectors such as transportation. Currently, it is also significantly cheaper than green hydrogen.

Is hydrogen worse than CO2?

And when we look at the relative warming impact from continuous instead of pulse emissions — which are more representative of the real world — hydrogen is 100X more potent than CO2 emissions over a 10-year period.

Is hydrogen worse than methane?

Hydrogen provides 2.5 times more energy than methane per kilogram (120 MJ/kg and 50 MJ/kg, respectively), so methane's warming impact is up to seven times worse than that of hydrogen when considering the warming potential in terms of the energy contained in each molecule.

Is hydrogen worse than gas?

On a kilogram-to-kilogram basis, methane, the main component of natural gas, will contribute up to three times more warming than hydrogen over a 100-year time frame. Over a 20-year time frame, methane's warming effect is twice that of hydrogen.