Case for ‘blue’ hydrogen suffers in Europe as war rages on

High gas prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have widened a split over how best to produce low-carbon hydrogen — the cleaner alternative to methane considered by many governments to be a potential game-changer in cutting emissions from the world’s dirtiest industries.A debate over “blue” hydrogen, produced from natural gas but with the carbon dioxide captured and stored, versus “green”, which involves the electrolysis of water using renewable power, was raging even before the war. But opinions are now even more polarised following the resultant volatility in commodity markets.For some, high prices and the rush in Europe to secure alternatives to Russian natural gas have extinguished any argument that may have underpinned the case for blue hydrogen.“We are not going to see natural gas prices for a very, very long time as [low as] we saw one or two…

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