Open AccessComment on “How green is blue hydrogen?”
Author(s) -
Romano Matteo C.,
Antonini Cristina,
Bardow André,
Bertsch Valentin,
Brandon Nigel P.,
Brouwer Jack,
Campanari Stefano,
Crema Luigi,
Dodds Paul E.,
Gardarsdottir Stefania,
Gazzani Matteo,
Jan Kramer Gert,
Lund Peter D.,
Mac Dowell Niall,
Martelli Emanuele,
Mastropasqua Luca,
McKenna Russell C.,
Monteiro Juliana Garcia MoretzSohn,
Paltrinieri Nicola,
Pollet Bruno G.,
Reed Jeffrey G.,
Schmidt Thomas J.,
Vente Jaap,
Wiley Dianne
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
energy science and engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.638
H-Index - 29
ISSN - 2050-0505
DOI - 10.1002/ese3.1126
Subject(s) - hydrogen , leakage (economics) , methane , hydrogen production , environmental science , natural gas , hydrogen fuel , computer science , chemistry , economics , organic chemistry , macroeconomics
This paper is written in response to the paper “How green is blue hydrogen?” by R. W. Howarth and M. Z. Jacobson. It aims at highlighting and discussing the method and assumptions of that paper, and thereby providing a more balanced perspective on blue hydrogen, which is in line with current best available practices and future plant specifications aiming at low CO 2 emissions. More specifically, in this paper, we show that: (i) the simplified method that Howarth and Jacobson used to compute the energy balance of blue hydrogen plants leads to significant overestimation of CO 2 emissions and natural gas (NG) consumption and (ii) the assumed methane leakage rate is at the high end of the estimated emissions from current NG production in the United States and cannot be considered representative of all‐NG and blue hydrogen value chains globally. By starting from the detailed and rigorously calculated mass and energy balances of two blue hydrogen plants in the literature, we show the impact that methane leakage rate has on the equivalent CO 2 emissions of blue hydrogen. On the basis of our analysis, we show that it is possible for blue hydrogen to have significantly lower equivalent CO 2 emissions than the direct use of NG, provided that hydrogen production processes and CO 2 capture technologies are implemented that ensure a high CO 2 capture rate, preferably above 90%, and a low‐emission NG supply chain.