In our rush for hydrogen solutions, we’ve made one of the biggest mistakes in human history: we’ve turned hydrogen black.
Although hydrogen has been classified as the fuel of the future, the rainbow of hydrogen colors and the different technology used to produce hydrogen are barely ever mentioned. Green hydrogen in particular has been produced using renewable energy sources like wind and solar and offers the promise of zero-carbon energy at no expense to the climate. The growing enthusiasm for hydrogen’s potential, has allowed the dirtiest form of hydrogen known as black hydrogen to persist and even expand. Green hydrogen is often sold as the hero of the clean energy market whilst the black hydrogen is the villain.
Why the animosity towards black hydrogen?
It must be noted that black hydrogen is created using black coal which is carbon-intensive fossil fuels still in widespread use. In many cases, brown coal or lignite is also included, especially when the production process involves coal gasification. While this method generates hydrogen, it releases an enormous amount of carbon dioxide and other pollutants. As such, black hydrogen is arguably the most environmentally damaging type of hydrogen on the, as it is called, “hydrogen spectrum.”
Although colorful labels are assigned to hydrogen such as green hydrogen, pink hydrogen, and blue hydrogen, none of these forms look much different from each other. All hydrogen are colorless gasses, so the colors are merely metaphors that represent the method of production along with the environmental impact. On the scale of hydrogen colors, black hydrogen causes the most pollution and is the least sustainable hydrogen that is very far off from the net-zero future that’s urgently needed.
Black hydrogen’s hijacking of green hydrogen
The premise of the hydrogen economy was that of decarbonization. Green hydrogen made through electrolysis powered by renewables, emits zero CO₂ during production and use. Nevertheless, within green hydrogen projects, researchers suggest that “embedded emissions” released during the production of renewable energy infrastructure simply can’t be ignored.
Green hydrogen struggles with scale and affordability; causing some nations and corporations to double down on the dirtiest option: black hydrogen. The reasoning for moving towards black hydrogen is that it’s cheaper, established, and far easier to produce. Countries like Japan and Australia have taken on a project of late that uses brown coal in Australia to create hydrogen, which is then liquefied and shipped to Japan. Marketed as a low emission solution, this approach obscures the vast emissions generated during the production stage.
The move towards black hydrogen is a full-scale detour away from the sustainability that citizens crave. The shift towards black hydrogen also undermines the credibility of hydrogen as a climate solution and diverts resources from cleaner and long-term alternatives. The progress is thus disguised as energy greenwashing.
Continual use of black hydrogen and a call for change
The continual use of black hydrogen is a policy failure. It must be known that energy systems are molded by both political and economic choices, and current choices would possibly lead to short-term gains only. Black hydrogen is a convenient fallback since green hydrogen is far too expensive, and countries remain unwilling to invest heavily in these renewables.
The use of black hydrogen is not solving the problem of replacing a fossil-fueled system, it is creating a crisis.
To undo the crisis, countries need to consider:
- Banning the use of coal in hydrogen production or phasing it out with a clear deadline.
- Moving subsidies and incentives towards truly green hydrogen acquisition.
- Ensuring transparency in hydrogen labeling where international certification systems identify and even penalize carbon-intensive hydrogen production.
Taking heed of the warning
By allowing black hydrogen to dominate the narrative, we are creating a bleak future. The problem with turning hydrogen black buys into the illusion of progress without any real change. Perhaps the discovery of solar hydrogen will lead to a sufficient supply of non-renewable energy sources.
