Could there be a world where electric power flows as abundantly as water? The hydrogen found in the H2O of our oceans, rains, and pipes may very well be the key to solving global clean energy problems. Hydrogen is the most abundant molecule in the universe and has previously taken us to great heights as a major component of rocket fuel. Today, hydrogen fuel has the potential to power our everyday lives.
Hydrogen fuel cells only produce water and oxygen when used, making them an attractive clean alternative to fossil fuels and biofuels that emit carbon dioxide. But although hydrogen is a clean fuel, it is not necessarily produced cleanly. Some fuels use hydrogen molecules separated from the hydrocarbons in fossil fuels and gasses, using a process that still emits large amounts of CO2. Currently, 96% of the world’s hydrogen fuel is made up of brown hydrogen and gray hydrogen, which come from coal and fossil gasses respectively.
The remaining 4% of hydrogen fuel is produced from cleaner sources. Green hydrogen is directly extracted from water through electrolysis processes run with renewable electricity, outputting only oxygen into the air. Meanwhile, blue hydrogen is extracted from gas with additional steps taken to capture and store the output CO2.
Graphic from The Guardian
At the moment, 90% of the world’s hydrogen is used in industry, mainly to lower sulfur content in diesel fuels or to produce industrial chemicals like methanol for fuel blenders or ammonia for fertilizers. The majority of the fuel used for this is brown and gray hydrogen, which means a huge decrease in carbon emissions from the industrial sector is possible if companies switch over to green hydrogen.
Additionally, hydrogen fuel has potential within the transport sector, as hydrogen fuel cell cars are already being developed and tested. Based on its previous success as a rocket fuel, hydrogen could also present a carbon-neutral fuel option for airplanes and ships, which currently account for much of the world’s transportation pollution.
Hydrogen is a fuel that offers versatility as well as convenience due to its ability to be transported as a gas and a liquid, much like natural gas. As such, hydrogen could be worked into existing pipeline networks and easily used for heating buildings, generating power, and storing energy from renewable sources. Unlike solar panels and wind farms, hydrogen is much more reliable, much easier to store, and doesn’t rely on weather conditions.
These advantages have all led to large demonstrations of political and public support for hydrogen projects. By 2023, almost $26 billion of US government money had been dedicated towards hydrogen investment as part of the Inflation Reduction Act, Bipartisan Infrastructure Act, and Chips Act. These hefty investments are promising, considering that the demand for hydrogen has tripled since 1975 and has continued to climb in recent years.
Despite its potential as a useful clean fuel, hydrogen today is still far from a truly green energy source. The overwhelming majority of hydrogen fuel used in our world comes from carbon-intensive sources, causing hydrogen production to account for 830 million tonnes of CO2 emissions each year.
Oil companies and other members of the fossil fuel industry have also been accused of lobbying for hydrogen support in efforts to get more funding for their brown and gray hydrogen production. In particular, this can be used as an excuse by companies to continue building more pipelines, as well as further greenwash corporate images by promoting companies’ involvements with a fuel that appears totally “clean” at first glance. Hydrogen has a long way to go before it truly matches its “clean and green” marketing, and that path starts with cutting down the usage of brown and gray hydrogen.
But keep in mind, although swapping to green hydrogen will be a huge step forward for industry and aviation, hydrogen’s usefulness in smaller modes of transport is still contested. Low-emission electric vehicles like cars, bikes, and trains have been running reliably on cheaper battery power for a while, and it may be inefficient to replace these systems with more expensive hydrogen fuel.
Furthermore, while Europe and the US can easily swap the natural gas in their pipelines for hydrogen, cities and factories in Asia that currently only have coal infrastructure won’t be able to make the transition as easily. This reflects a global divide between nations that can afford to make the leap to hydrogen and nations that cannot, meaning more development within the hydrogen industry is needed before the fuel can be deployed on a worldwide scale.
Like any energy innovation, hydrogen has its benefits and its drawbacks. The lack of hydrogen infrastructure in our everyday lives currently hinges on the fuel’s need to transition away from carbon-intensive production processes and the public’s need for cheaper electricity. But the future still holds promise.
With the declining costs of renewable energy from solar and wind sources, electrolysers used to generate green hydrogen are projected to become cheaper. In fact, the International Energy Agency estimates that the price of green hydrogen production could drop 30% by 2030. Additionally, just replacing 5% of countries’ natural gas supplies with clean hydrogen would drive down costs by a significant amount.
A clean, hydrogen-powered future is possible, but what we need now are policies that mandate green hydrogen swaps in industry and funding for research and development to make hydrogen deployment more affordable than before. When this is achieved, who knows what will be possible? Maybe the water you drink on your flight to New York will be the same water that powers the airplane engines, and maybe the rainwater sliding down your kitchen window will be the same water keeping the lights on in the living room.
