Clean hydrogen is the “Swiss army knife of zero-carbon technologies,” US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm told reporters Monday. “If we get it right, it can do just about everything.”
But hydrogen has its critics – namely, those who are concerned about a potential over-reliance on hydrogen that is derived from fossil fuels like methane gas, versus hydrogen that can be created from water. “When you’re creating an entirely new sector, which is really what this hydrogen clean economy will be, you have to do everything everywhere all at once,” Granholm said.The electricity sector is already seeing a shift to renewable energy like solar and wind, which are steadily replacing fossil fuels like coal and natural gas. But solar and wind energy aren’t going to be helpful for the largest, most polluting vehicles and industries where batteries are not an option.
Hydrogen is one of the technologies that could help. The Environmental Protection Agency is factoring it into their proposed rule to cut power plant emissions – suggesting that natural gas plants could co-fire with clean hydrogen.“Clean” hydrogen is a fraught term because hydrogen can be derived from several different sources – some cleaner than others.
Blue hydrogen is also derived from fossil fuels like methane gas, but unlike gray hydrogen, its emissions are captured – making it a potentially cleaner source of fuel. But Jacobson said capturing hydrogen emissions can be an expensive boondoggle; blue hydrogen needs to capture both hydrogen and carbon dioxide emissions – and carbon capture doesn’t also get at methane emissions from upstream gas operations.
Energy Energy Latest News, Energy Energy Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Source: dcexaminer - 🏆 6. / 94 Read more »