Is ‘blue hydrogen’ our fuel panacea?

Mario du Preez wonders about the suitability of hydrogen in energy strategy

YEARS ago, a conspiracy theory about the deliberate suppression, by the oil majors, of hydrogen as a viable fuel alternative was doing the rounds. What drove this thesis was hydrogen’s reputation as a ‘clean’ fuel, and that its use delivered water as a by-product – an alchemist’s dream.

The irony is that oil producers, sensing the end of oil, have now embraced hydrogen. What has driven this foreboding perception of oil’s future? Could it be the largescale divestment by asset managers, hedge funds, bankers and universities? Could it be the rise of cheaper renewable energy alternatives and electric vehicles? Or, could it be Britain’s desire to fortify its reputation on climate change? (The imminent halting of support for “dirty” oil and gas ventures was signalled by Boris Johnson’s directive for a re-appraisal of the use of government export finance guarantees, which helped finance multibillion-pound, global oil and gas projects.)

So, is the warm embrace of hydrogen by the oil majors to be welcomed? I am not so sure. Two decades ago, BP announced plans to go green with its “Beyond Petroleum” campaign, which part entailed investing $8 billion in renewable energy. Many of those investments, never came to profit, ending in expensive write-downs. What further drives my incredulity is that several energy suppliers, including Shell and BP, recently, jointly lobbied the government to commit to hydrogen as the most prominent element of the UK’s 2050 carbon neutral target. And it seems they have been somewhat successful – our PM has punted hydrogen as the key feature of the UK’s “green revolution”, heating homes and powering transport; more than 60 MPs and peers appear to support the lobbyists’ position; and, the government appointed Shell UK’s boss as co-chairman of its hydrogen advisory council. But in the end, hydrogen does not occur naturally and must be manufactured.

For hydrogen to be truly ‘green’ it must be produced from water using preferably, surplus renewable power, in a process called electrolysis – an electrolyzer splits the hydrogen from water molecules. Currently, and although the cost of renewable energy (solar and wind) is falling, the world’s electrolysis capacity is severely limited and very expensive. Moreover, to store and transport hydrogen, it must be liquified via compression, and refrigerated to below its boiling point of –250°C. What is also worrying is that hydrogen is 4.5 times more explosive than petrol.

Due to the challenges of producing green hydrogen efficiently, fossil fuel lobbyists are urging the government to use “blue hydrogen” instead. Sounds quite benign, right?

But blue hydrogen is manufactured by the reforming of natural gas into hydrogen and CO2, a process known as steam methane reforming (SMR). This reveals the real reason why fossil fuel companies favour blue hydrogen: it would lead to increased consumption of natural gas, which they supply. The manufacturing of blue hydrogen produces CO2. Their solution? Well, we’ll simply capture and store the carbon emissions. This only becomes environmentally viable if low-cost and effective carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology exists, which it does not.

I prefer to trust the scientists and not the fossil fuel lobbyists. So, I take David Cebon, professor of engineering at Cambridge University, very seriously when he contends that hydrogen is very remote from being a panacea. In a letter to The Times, Professor Cebon wrote: “Much scientific evidence shows that widespread adoption of hydrogen (instead of electricity) for heating and heavy vehicles would be detrimental to the UK’s economy, its energy security and its decarbonisation commitments.”

In other words, you and I, as electricity consumers, will probably end up subsidising the hydrogen ambitions of the fossil fuel firms. What’s more, the government’s support for hydrogen may end up corrupting the very thing they are trying to rectify, their standing as a climate change leader.

But there is good news. Faced with the climate change onslaught, BP did concede that its exploration and drilling rights for newly discovered oil and gas fields, may become ‘stranded assets’ as the fields will never be developed. Let’s hope the other oil majors also keep some of their assets ‘stranded’.

Mario du Preez is an environmental writer from Exeter

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For hydrogen to be truly ‘green’ it must be produced from water using preferably, surplus renewable power