'Serious threat' of fugitive emissions with hydrogen plan

Australia's plans to nutrient hydrogen utilizing fossil fuels carries important risks and could make an manufacture that leads to an summation successful greenhouse state emissions, researchers from The Australian National University (ANU) warn.

"Australia's hydrogen strategy doesn't marque a favoritism betwixt greenish and bluish hydrogen; what the strategy discusses is clean hydrogen," Dr. Thomas Longden, from the ANU Crawford School of Public Policy, said.

Green hydrogen refers to hydrogen made by renewable energy-driven electrolysis, portion bluish hydrogen is made from natural gas with c seizure and retention (CCS) technologies.

"By utilizing the word 'clean' hydrogen for some renewable-based and earthy gas-based hydrogen, the information is that we could found a hydrogen manufacture that really leads to an summation successful emissions," Dr. Longden said.

"Mature CCS technologies could debar betwixt 50 and 90 percent of the emissions, but they are expensive, and go much costly arsenic the seizure complaint increases."

New ANU research, published successful Applied Energy, suggests emissions from fossil fuel-based hydrogen accumulation could beryllium "substantial" adjacent with CCS technology.

"Our enactment highlights that ample concern successful fossil fuel-based hydrogen with CCS could beryllium risky, locking successful a caller fossil substance manufacture with important emissions, and 1 that is apt to beryllium out-competed by renewable technologies successful the future," survey co-author Dr. Fiona Beck, from the ANU School of Engineering, said.

In the probe paper, Dr. Beck and her co-authors item the request for countries to see the impacts of fugitive emissions, which is simply a potent greenhouse gas.

"Hydrogen made from earthy state leads to much fugitive emissions—methane that is leaked into the situation during the extraction and processing of earthy gas—compared to conscionable burning earthy state directly," she said.

"Including CCS successful the process really increases fugitive emissions further, arsenic much earthy state is needed to substance the process."

More than 100 countries person signed up to the Global Methane Pledge to chopped methane emissions by 30 percent connected 2020 levels by 2030, a program outlined astatine COP26. Australia is not 1 of them.

"We request to rapidly trim methane emissions to person a accidental of limiting planetary warming to beneath 1.5 degrees Celsius," Dr. Beck said.

"Fugitive emissions are the 2nd largest root of methane contamination and rates are rising owed to the enlargement of unconventional earthy state accumulation that uses fracking.

"Developing a new, large-scale, low-emissions hydrogen manufacture based connected earthy state undermines these efforts and ignores the dangers that fugitive emissions airs to our environment."

According to Dr. Longden, fugitive emissions are seldom discussed successful nationalist and planetary hydrogen plans and are absent successful Australia's National Hydrogen Strategy.

"High seizure rates supra 90 percent are needed for earthy gas-based hydrogen to beryllium considered low-carbon," Dr. Longden said.

"But c seizure technologies can't forestall fugitive methane emissions from being released into the atmosphere, truthful adjacent if CCS becomes a feasible option, the usage of earthy state volition inactive merchandise a potent greenhouse gas.

"In addition, electrolysis with renewable energy could go cheaper than fossil fuels with CCS.

"CCS is an costly enactment for emissions simplification with astir estimates for the outgo of carbon capture being supra $82 per ton of c dioxide (CO₂). These estimates summation to astir $109 per ton of CO₂ for precocious seizure rates." 

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More information: Thomas Longden et al, 'Clean' hydrogen? – Comparing the emissions and costs of fossil substance versus renewable electricity-based hydrogen, Applied Energy (2021). DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2021.118145