ASSESSING THE VIABILITY OF HYDROGEN PROPOSALS

The report argues that blending green hydrogen into existing natural gas infrastructure for buildings and power generation is inefficient, costly, and risky. It finds that electrification is a superior alternative for the building sector due to higher energy efficiency and lower costs. In the power sector, hydrogen-fired turbines face significant NOx pollution challenges and risk becoming stranded assets. The authors recommend that green hydrogen be reserved for 'hard-to-decarbonize' sectors like industrial feedstocks, aviation, and marine shipping, while urging regulators to maintain a high burden of proof for any ratepayer-funded hydrogen projects.

• Blending green hydrogen into existing natural gas distribution pipelines is limited by safety risks and provides minimal greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions. The upper limit for existing infrastructure is approximately 20 percent hydrogen by volume, which results in only a 6 to 7 percent reduction in GHG emissions.
• Hydrogen poses significant safety and health risks when used in residential appliances. It is more flammable than methane, increases the risk of flame flashback, and lacks compatible odorants for leak detection. Additionally, hydrogen combustion can increase nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions, which are linked to higher asthma risks in children.
• Electrification is fundamentally more economic and efficient than a transition to green hydrogen for the building sector. Heating a home with green hydrogen requires approximately five times more wind or solar electricity than using an efficient electric heat pump.
• Green hydrogen is currently prohibitively expensive for residential use, costing 6 to 14 times more than natural gas. To reach price parity for building use by 2030, the cost would need to drop to approximately $0.50 per kilogram.
• Transitioning natural gas power plants to run on hydrogen risks creating stranded assets for ratepayers. Hydrogen-fired turbines are not yet commercially available, and a 50-50 blend with natural gas would increase NOx emissions by 35 percent compared to 100 percent natural gas.
• Green hydrogen has limited value in the power sector until the grid requires long-duration energy storage to decarbonize the final 10 percent of electricity generation. Even then, emerging technologies like iron-air batteries or gravity energy storage may be more efficient or less polluting.
• Green hydrogen is best suited for 'hard-to-decarbonize' sectors where no viable alternatives exist, such as marine shipping, aviation, and the production of ammonia for chemical fertilizers.

APA

BALDWIN, S., ESPOSITO, D., & TALLACKSON, H. (2022). ASSESSING THE VIABILITY OF HYDROGEN PROPOSALS. Energy Innovation. https://energyinnovation.org/wp-content/uploads/Assessing-the-Viability-of-Hydrogen-Proposals.pdf

Chicago

BALDWIN, SARA, DAN ESPOSITO, and HADLEY TALLACKSON. ASSESSING THE VIABILITY OF HYDROGEN PROPOSALS. Energy Innovation, 2022. https://energyinnovation.org/wp-content/uploads/Assessing-the-Viability-of-Hydrogen-Proposals.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=BALDWIN |first1=SARA |last2=ESPOSITO |first2=DAN |last3=TALLACKSON |first3=HADLEY |title=ASSESSING THE VIABILITY OF HYDROGEN PROPOSALS |publisher=Energy Innovation |date=March 2022 |url=https://energyinnovation.org/wp-content/uploads/Assessing-the-Viability-of-Hydrogen-Proposals.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{baldwin2022assessing, author = {BALDWIN, SARA and ESPOSITO, DAN and TALLACKSON, HADLEY}, title = {{ASSESSING THE VIABILITY OF HYDROGEN PROPOSALS}}, institution = {Energy Innovation}, year = {2022}, month = mar, url = {https://energyinnovation.org/wp-content/uploads/Assessing-the-Viability-of-Hydrogen-Proposals.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }