Low Carbon Emissions What’s All the Buzz Around Blue Hydrogen?

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Time is running out and we are still struggling to achieve the net zero emissions deadline by 2050 but there’s still hope. The industrial sector, one of the most carbon-intensive industries, is consciously making an effort to decarbonize itself and one of the methods which the sector is adopting is by switching to the production of clean green hydrogen as well as low carbon hydrogen i.e. blue hydrogen.

The industrial sector has a heavy responsibility on its shoulders. In a bid to save our planet against climate change, it must ensure a sustainable energy transition for the future and the production of clean hydrogen will play a vital role in this. Hydrogen (H2) is vital for oil refining, ammonia production and methanol production, and is majorly produced from natural gas via the steam reforming process which leads to significant carbon emissions but the industry is now working towards the concept of clean hydrogen and low-carbon hydrogen. So, how does this work?

Green v/s blue hydrogen

Hydrogen is tagged under different colors in the industry including green, blue, grey, and so on. From this, green hydrogen is the most sustainable option to produce clean hydrogen while blue hydrogen claims to lower carbon emissions through the carbon capture and storage (CCS) process. Green hydrogen is produced from water electrolysis which is completely powered by renewable sources. Thus, numerous countries are rooting for it to achieve the goal of 2050 as no carbon emissions will be produced in the overall production process.

However, in the case of blue hydrogen, natural gas which mainly comprises of methane undergoes a steam-methane reforming process to produce hydrogen and carbon-dioxide. The CCS technology is then applied which helps to capture CO2 and store it permanently underground, hence, leaving low-carbon hydrogen for industrial use.

The cost factors

With the above scenario, it is clear that the industry must focus on producing only green hydrogen if we want to achieve net-zero emissions in the near future but cost is the vital factor here. Green hydrogen is 2-3 times more expensive than blue hydrogen, states a 2020 press release from the International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena). This is due to numerous factors including high costs of electrolyzers and renewable energy. In the meantime, low-carbon hydrogen with CCS (blue hydrogen) is considered to be the transition solution to a cleaner energy future by industry players.

According to a 2022 report by Irena, titled ‘Global hydrogen trade to meet the 1.5°C climate goal: Part I – Trade outlook for 2050 and way forward’, in the coming years, the gap between blue and green hydrogen can be closed by the ongoing decline in the cost of renewable electricity (which is the main cost driver), strategies to reduce the cost of the electrolyzer, and policy support. These fundamental drivers will lead green hydrogen to outcompete blue hydrogen in the coming five to ten years.

Although this may seem to be the ideal plan to transition from the current fossil-based hydrogen production to low-carbon hydrogen production and then to a clean hydrogen one. Experts think otherwise.

Problem with blue hydrogen

A research paper by Cornell and Stanford University has revealed that the total carbon dioxide equivalent emissions for blue hydrogen are only 9 %-12 % less than for grey hydrogen (hydrogen formed from natural gas or methane with the assistance of steam methane reforming). Recent studies and experts also warn that if blue hydrogen is widely adopted across the globe, the problem of fugitive emissions from the gas extraction process will arise resulting in high emissions of methane, a greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere which is more hazardous than CO2. The paper adds that the greenhouse gas footprint of blue hydrogen is more than 20 % greater than burning natural gas or coal for heat and some 60 % greater than burning diesel oil for heat. While these studies can be debated on multiple platforms, the fact of today is that blue hydrogen projects are being developed across the globe.

Blue H2 projects from around the world

One of the world’s largest blue hydrogen energy complexes – The U.S. will be home to one of the world’s largest blue hydrogen energy complexes. Located in Louisiana, the 4.5-billion-dollar complex will produce over 750 million standard cubic feet per day of blue hydrogen and will be built, owned and operated by Air Products. The produced low-carbon hydrogen will be supplied to the company’s customers via its pipeline in the U.S. Gulf Coast as well as be used to produce blue ammonia for the purpose of transportation to other countries and regions. The project will capture 95 percent of the CO2 generated at the plant and then store it at numerous inland sequestration sites. The mega project is scheduled to be operational in 2026.

UK’s largest blue hydrogen production facility – The multinational oil and gas firm BP is in the process of developing UK’s largest blue hydrogen production facility – H2Teesside. Expected to produce up to 1 GW of blue hydrogen on completion, the project will also capture and store up to two million tonnes of CO2 annually. The company is also looking for innovative technologies that have the capacity to capture up to 98 % of carbon emissions from the overall production process. Initially, 500 MW of blue H2 will produced by 2027 and the remaining capacity will be added by 2030. The project has the potential to supply low carbon hydrogen to the industry, heavy transport and sustainable fuels sectors. The H2Teesside project will also play a vital role in supporting the UK Government’s ambition of developing 5 GW of hydrogen production by the year 2030.

Blue hydrogen facility in Canada – Shell and Mitsubishi Corporation (MC) have also partnered to produce blue hydrogen. Under a MOU signed between both the parties, MC will establish a low-carbon hydrogen facility near the Shell Energy and Chemicals Park Scotford in Canada. To be built in phases, the project will initially produce approximately 165,000 tons per annum of blue hydrogen and as the new phase is added, production will increase. For this project, the CO2 will be captured and stored by Shell’s planned Polaris CCS project in Alberta whereas, the produced blue hydrogen will be converted to low-carbon ammonia and then be supplied or exported to Japan. The project is located near the Edmonton region which champions itself as Canada’s first hydrogen hub.

With these projects, it is clear that blue hydrogen or low carbon hydrogen despite its red flags will still occupy a share in the global production of hydrogen.

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