Hydrogen Isn’t The Answer: 0.7-1.5 Billion Tons CO2e Would Make It A Climate Liability - CleanTechnica

The article challenges the widespread perception of hydrogen as a clean-energy solution for decarbonizing difficult sectors such as heavy industry, aviation, maritime shipping, and long-haul trucking. It highlights findings from the EU-funded HYDRA project, which investigates hydrogen leakage throughout its production, transport, storage, and use. The project’s analysis, particularly a study by Politecnico di Torino, reveals that hydrogen leaks could result in 726 million to nearly 1.5 billion tons of CO2-equivalent emissions annually by 2050 when measured by the Global Warming Potential over 20 years (GWP20). This significant climate impact largely undermines the presumed environmental benefits of scaling up hydrogen use. The study also points out that electrolysis, often promoted as the cleanest method for green hydrogen production, has notably high leakage rates averaging around 4%, with some real-world cases reaching over 9%. In contrast, conventional steam methane reforming (SMR) and SMR with carbon capture