Is Blue hydrogen taking Australia to the green side?

The USA, UK and Australian governments are planning to replace fossil fuels with “blue” hydrogen. But is it really going to help them meet their climate change targets? According to a new report by Cornell and Stanford university researchers in the USA, emissions produced from blue hydrogen are far greater than emissions produced from burning natural fuels like gas or coal. IEA highlights, Supplying hydrogen to industrial users is now a major business around the world. Demand for hydrogen, which has grown more than threefold since 1975, continues to rise – almost entirely supplied from fossil fuels, with 6% of global natural gas and 2% of global coal going to hydrogen production. As a consequence, production of hydrogen is responsible for CO2 emissions of around 830 million tonnes of carbon dioxide per year, equivalent to the CO2 emissions of the United Kingdom and Indonesia combined.

“Blue” hydrogen is produced from coal and gas releasing carbon dioxide in the process, thus trapping the goals of decarbonization. Whereas “green” hydrogen is produced using renewable energy sources like solar panels and wind turbines through the process of electrolysis. Switching to solar has never been so easy. Get in touch with Solar Miner today and learn more about your savings.

Earlier this year in August minister of energy and emissions reduction Angus Taylor said “ARENA will now play a major role in driving investments in the next generation of technologies, including energy efficiency, carbon capture technologies, including CCUS and negative emissions technologies, blue hydrogen, energy storage technologies to back up renewable energy and soil carbon.” But is this going to help Australia reach climate targets?

Damian Dywer, deputy chief executive of oil and gas industry association APPEA says “CCS and hydrogen development are just two examples of the work our industry is doing to reduce emissions.” However there have been talks about how investing in solar technology and electric vehicles can generate more clean energy than hydrogen based developments. However, Green hydrogen is the solution. Producing more green hydrogen can help achieve carbon targets.

Why choose Solar over Hydrogen?

Solar Energy is by far the cheapest and efficient renewable energy source. There have been confusions over the use of other renewable energy sources, but the clean energy generated by solar has proved to be sustainable and efficient over the long period of time. The financial incentives and rewards associated with solar are also better than other sources. Speak to our team today and get your solar investment analysis. Join the green side with Solar Miner.