There’s a growing belief that hydrogen will play a key role in lowering CO2 emissions. However, there are several caveats in realizing that vision, and in some cases, hydrogen may not be the right choice.
To many, hydrogen’s CO2-free combustion characteristics make it an attractive replacement for the portion of fossil fuels that are currently burned to release energy, including applications in power generation, transportation fuels, industrial processes, and central heating. However, there are some problems with using hydrogen on a large scale to replace fossil fuels—the biggest among these is how to make enough of it without actually increasing CO2 emissions, even if it is so-called “green” hydrogen.
The amount of hydrogen needed to supply even a fraction of our future energy requirements is massive. Just 10% of global primary energy consumption in 2050 would…
Should We Really Use Renewable Electricity to Make Green Hydrogen? Not Always
