ST Explains Are plans to use hydrogen as a climate solution viable?

For years, there has been growing interest in hydrogen, or H2, in Singapore and other nations as a cleaner energy source for power plants, industry and shipping.

- David Fogarty Deputy Foreign Editor

It has long been used in oil refining and the production of fertilisers and chemicals. Long eyed as a clean-burning fuel, governments and companies see the gas as a key tool to decarbonise the global economy.

Singapore has approved the mixing of hydrogen with natural gas in next-generation power plants and has been exploring the use of hydrogen-based fuels in the maritime sector to lower the nation’s carbon footprint.

Globally, there are investment plans to produce green hydrogen via renewable energy, instead of fossil fuels. But there’s a catch: Hydrogen production is also fuelling climate change. Just how much has been revealed in a global study published on Dec 18.

So, can hydrogen still be a climate solution or are the risks too great?

HOW DOES H2 FUEL CLIMATE CHANGE?

Naturally occurring hydrogen is not a greenhouse gas. But it does influence the chemistry of the atmosphere by prolonging the lifespan of methane — a potent greenhouse gas — and triggering the production of ozone and water vapour, both of which also trap heat.

Methane, the main component of natural gas, is produced by fossil fuel production and extraction, wetlands and livestock - for example, burping cows and sheep. It is responsible for about a third of global warming to date.

Hydrogen levels have been steadily growing in recent decades, and this is causing more methane to remain in the atmosphere for longer, further driving global warming. This is because hydrogen is disrupting the natural mechanisms responsible for removing methane from the atmosphere.