Green Hydrogen Is Not A Silver Bullet Solution
Contrary to much decarbonization hype, jumping on the green hydrogen bandwagon is not a silver bullet solution to climate change. In fact, it’s a double-edged sword. A versatile energy carrier, hydrogen is projected to play a major part in decarbonization of global manufacturing and industrial supply chains, but its production, transport, and conversion require major inversions of energy and investment that could slow down the rest of the green energy transition if mismanaged. Hydrogen is touted as a key element in any decarbonization trajectory because unlike solar and wind energy, hydrogen can be used as a combustible fuel source. This means that it can replace fossil fuels in industrial furnaces, but instead of emitting carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses when burned, it leaves behind nothing but water vapor. The implications of a wide-scale replacement in high-heat industrial applications are enormous. “Replacing the fossil fuels now used in furnaces that reach 1,500 degrees Celsius (2,732 degrees Fahrenheit) with hydrogen gas could make a big dent in the 20% of global carbon dioxide emissions that now come from industry,” Bloomberg Green wrote last year in report titled “Why Hydrogen Is the Hottest Thing in Green Energy.”
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