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Dec. 20 (UPI) — Hydrogen as a source of alternative energy will likely have only a limited role in efforts to decarbonize the economy, a report from the British House of Commons found.
Hydrogen has become something of a poster child for the so-called energy transition, the pivot away from fossil fuels that became even more important after the Russian war on Ukraine exposed deep energy security concerns. Russia is a major oil and natural gas producer and the sanctioning of those products created supply-side concerns that alternative resources from wind power to hydrogen could alleviate.
Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe, as well as a potent energy carrier. Advocates have lauded the prospects for so-called green hydrogen, which uses renewable energy to power an electrolyzer that can split water into its elemental components — hydrogen and oxygen — with no carbon emissions.
But a report from the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee found hydrogen is not yet ready for prime time. Hydrogen is not the solution and it will only be useful in certain niche applications, the committee’s report found.
Substituting hydrogen for natural gas for domestic heating, for example, would require massive investments to overhaul boilers and other infrastructure.
“It seems likely that any future use of hydrogen will be limited rather than universal,” lawmakers said.
That follows comments from European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who said from the COP27 environmental summit in Egypt last month that “every kilowatt-hour of electricity that we generate from renewable sources — like solar and wind, and green hydrogen — is not only good for our climate but also good for our independence and our security of supply.”
The House of Commons, however, said Monday that hydrogen applications would be limited to hard-to-electrify sectors such as rail, small-service refueling networks and niche users located near industrial hubs.
The government added that multiple changes in obtaining, using and storing energy are necessary to usher in a net-zero future.
“Hydrogen will have its place in this portfolio,” Commons said. “But we do not believe that it will be the panacea.”
Critics of green hydrogen in particular note the renewable energy resources deployed would be better used elsewhere in the economy. Hydrogen production is categorized according to a color spectrum. So-called grey hydrogen is the most prevalent process today. Methane — comprised of carbon and hydrogen atoms — is split apart using a steam reformation process that does yield carbon emissions.
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