A study in Nature Energy has found that hydrogen makes sense in a few industrial applications but little else, with most of today's hydrogen being used for fertilizer, refining, and methanol. The study examined about 2,000 existing and planned hydrogen projects and found that if all were built, they would produce about 110 million tons of hydrogen per year with significant emissions. The researchers suggest that hydrogen should replace dirty hydrogen in existing markets rather than creating new applications. Sectors like steel, biofuels, and ammonia have the best climate returns per kilogram of hydrogen used, but alternatives like electric arc furnaces and biomethane based DRI may be cheaper and easier to scale. Ammonia fertilizer produced with green hydrogen can support the generation of biofuel through increased crop yields, while carbon capture has a narrow role in low-carbon options, with the focus shifting towards more efficient use of renewable energy.
Hydrogen, Measured Properly: What 2,000 Projects Reveal About Its Climate Value
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