3 ms·
Blue hydrogen is worse for the climate than coal
- iamthemonster 5y agoThe devil is in the detail here. This conclusion is highly sensitive to two assumptions in the study: 1. The 3.5% methane leakage 2. The 85% CO2 emissions avoidance for CCS The 3.5% methane leakage is really quite well supported. But it looks at the hydrocarbon industry as a whole, with the majority of emissions coming from natural-gas-fed pneumatic actuators and liquid hydrocarbon storage tank venting. Both of those are huge issues for mature legacy designs, but we've been using instrument air for pneumatic actuators for decades, and likewise hooking up liquid storage tank vents to the flare. So the 3.5% is dominated by the oldest minority of natural gas plant, and today's natural gas developments would have less leakage. But I won't overegg that, I think 1.5-2% is pretty realistic. The 85% efficiency of carbon capture is also way off for new developments which would expect to capture 95% of CO2 emissions. So that 15% of CO2 emissions going to atmosphere is slashed to 5%. This is a fantastic study, but we shouldn't kid ourselves that it's answered questions for once and for all about blue hydrogen GHG emissions, it's just one method of estimating. As per the cliché... "more research is needed in this area".
- hoppyhoppy2 5y agoRecently on HN: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28158605 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28158605 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28161281 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28161281
- ohgreatwtf 5y agoWhy don't we use neopentane or another intermediary hydrocarbon with different properties which is safer for the environment and find a way to convert methane to that gas and use it as a fuel