THE HYDROGEN ‘RAINBOW ’

The document examines the technical, environmental, and economic drawbacks of using hydrogen as a primary energy carrier. It highlights extreme energy losses across the value chain, where total system efficiency is only 20-30%, and notes that over 98% of current hydrogen is produced from fossil fuels. The text warns that 'hydrogen-ready' infrastructure risks locking in fossil fuel dependence and diverting resources from more efficient direct electrification. Environmental concerns include high water and land footprints for green hydrogen, as well as the indirect warming effect of hydrogen leaks. The author concludes that low-carbon hydrogen should be reserved for chemical feedstocks and niche industrial applications where direct electricity is not feasible.

• The vast majority of global hydrogen production is carbon-intensive, with more than 98% derived from fossil fuels and only about 1% produced using low-carbon energy sources like pink and green hydrogen.
• Hydrogen is an inefficient energy carrier due to significant energy losses during production, compression, transport, and end-use, resulting in a total system efficiency of approximately 20-30%.
• Hydrogen presents substantial infrastructure and safety challenges, including the tendency to leak through microscopic gaps and cause 'embrittlement' by infiltrating steel pipelines and weakening their structure.
• The pursuit of 'hydrogen-ready' infrastructure may lead to 'carbon lock-in' by committing to long-term fossil gas use and diverting investment from cheaper, more effective decarbonisation solutions like direct electrification.
• Green hydrogen production has significant environmental trade-offs, including high water consumption and a large land footprint; for example, meeting 2050 demand could require land the size of Ukraine if powered by solar.
• Hydrogen leaks contribute to global warming by indirectly extending the atmospheric lifetime of potent greenhouse gases such as methane and ozone.
• Low-carbon hydrogen is only recommended for use as a chemical feedstock or in niche sectors where direct electrification is not feasible, such as virgin steelmaking or long-haul shipping.

APA

Lang, J. (n.d.). THE HYDROGEN ‘RAINBOW ’. ClientEarth. https://www.clientearth.org/media/vyub5hgk/hydrogen-infographic-dec-25.pdf

Chicago

Lang, John. THE HYDROGEN ‘RAINBOW ’. ClientEarth, n.d. https://www.clientearth.org/media/vyub5hgk/hydrogen-infographic-dec-25.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Lang |first1=John |title=THE HYDROGEN ‘RAINBOW ’ |publisher=ClientEarth |url=https://www.clientearth.org/media/vyub5hgk/hydrogen-infographic-dec-25.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{langndhydrogen, author = {Lang, John}, title = {{THE HYDROGEN ‘RAINBOW ’}}, institution = {ClientEarth}, url = {https://www.clientearth.org/media/vyub5hgk/hydrogen-infographic-dec-25.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }