Green hydrogen beats blue on emissions and financial cost, Australian study finds

Hydrogen produced by fossil fuels is more expensive, will release more greenhouse gas emissions and comes with a greater risk of creating stranded assets, according to new research from the Australian National University.

In the paper, published in the peer-reviewed engineering journal Applied Energy, researchers compared the emissions and financial cost of producing hydrogen using fossil fuels or renewable energy.

As the rate of extraction grows to supply export markets, so will these emissions.

The researchers also found the financial cost of creating blue hydrogen using CCS becomes more expensive as a plant gets closer to capturing 90% of emissions. This is because it becomes harder to capture CO2 as concentrations begin to fall.

With high capture rates the researchers put the cost of producing blue hydrogen at $2.87 (US$2.09), while the cost of producing green hydrogen is $4.99 (US$3.64) with projections that it may come down to $2.55 (US$1.86).

A CSIRO database tracking new hydrogen projects that have been announced or are under development records at least 65 new green hydrogen projects in Australia, compared to just three trying to create hydrogen from fossil fuels and CCS.

The ANU research report is supported by other worldwide studies such as one published in September by researchers working for French energy giant Engie who found that it was already possible to produce green hydrogen for similar prices to blue hydrogen.

That study found the cost of producing hydrogen from fossil fuels was between $1.34 and $2.40 a kilogram, while it was already possible in some operations to produce hydrogen made from solar power at $2.36 a kilogram.