Lifetime greenhouse gas emissions from offshore hydrogen production

Abigail J. Davies; Astley Hastings

doi:10.1016/j.egyr.2023.08.021

Lifetime greenhouse gas emissions from offshore hydrogen production

Abigail J. Davies^*, Astley Hastings

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

With a limited global carbon budget, it is imperative that decarbonisation decisions are based on accurate, holistic accounts of all greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions produced to assess their validity. Here the upstream GHG emissions of potential UK offshore Green and Blue hydrogen production are compared to GHG emissions from hydrogen produced through electrolysis using UK national grid electricity and the ‘business-as-usual’ case of continuing to combust methane. Based on an operational life of 25 years and producing 0.5MtH₂ per year for each hydrogen process, the results show that Blue hydrogen will emit between 200-262MtCO₂e of GHG emissions depending on the carbon capture rates achieved (39%–90%), Green hydrogen produced, via electrolysis using 100% renewable electricity from offshore wind will emit 20MtCO₂e, and hydrogen produced via electrolysis powered by the National Grid will emit between 103-168MtCO₂e, depending of the success of its NetZero strategy. The ‘business-as-usual’ case of continuing to combust methane releases 250MtCO₂e over the same lifetime. This study finds that Blue hydrogen at scale is not compatible with the Paris Agreement, reduces energy security and will require a substantial GHG emissions investment which excludes it from being a ‘low carbon technology’ and should not be considered for any decarbonisation strategies going forward.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1538-1554
Number of pages	17
Journal	Energy Reports
Volume	10
Early online date	21 Aug 2023
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.egyr.2023.08.021
Publication status	Published - Nov 2023

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This research is funded by Net Zero Technology Centre and the University of Aberdeen , through their partnership in the UK National Decommissioning Centre.

Astley Hastings is funded by the UK Research and Innovation Energy Programme under grant number EP/S029575/1 .

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Author(s)

Data Availability Statement

Data will be made available on request.

Keywords

Decarbonising
Energy system modelling
Greenhouse gas emissions
Hydrogen production

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.1016/j.egyr.2023.08.021

Davies_etal_ER_Lifetime_Greenhouse_Gas_VOR
Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC-BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/_
Final published version, 4.27 MBLicence: CC BY-NC-ND

Cite this

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abstract = "With a limited global carbon budget, it is imperative that decarbonisation decisions are based on accurate, holistic accounts of all greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions produced to assess their validity. Here the upstream GHG emissions of potential UK offshore Green and Blue hydrogen production are compared to GHG emissions from hydrogen produced through electrolysis using UK national grid electricity and the {\textquoteleft}business-as-usual{\textquoteright} case of continuing to combust methane. Based on an operational life of 25 years and producing 0.5MtH2 per year for each hydrogen process, the results show that Blue hydrogen will emit between 200-262MtCO2e of GHG emissions depending on the carbon capture rates achieved (39%–90%), Green hydrogen produced, via electrolysis using 100% renewable electricity from offshore wind will emit 20MtCO2e, and hydrogen produced via electrolysis powered by the National Grid will emit between 103-168MtCO2e, depending of the success of its NetZero strategy. The {\textquoteleft}business-as-usual{\textquoteright} case of continuing to combust methane releases 250MtCO2e over the same lifetime. This study finds that Blue hydrogen at scale is not compatible with the Paris Agreement, reduces energy security and will require a substantial GHG emissions investment which excludes it from being a {\textquoteleft}low carbon technology{\textquoteright} and should not be considered for any decarbonisation strategies going forward.",

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author = "Davies, {Abigail J.} and Astley Hastings",

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AB - With a limited global carbon budget, it is imperative that decarbonisation decisions are based on accurate, holistic accounts of all greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions produced to assess their validity. Here the upstream GHG emissions of potential UK offshore Green and Blue hydrogen production are compared to GHG emissions from hydrogen produced through electrolysis using UK national grid electricity and the ‘business-as-usual’ case of continuing to combust methane. Based on an operational life of 25 years and producing 0.5MtH2 per year for each hydrogen process, the results show that Blue hydrogen will emit between 200-262MtCO2e of GHG emissions depending on the carbon capture rates achieved (39%–90%), Green hydrogen produced, via electrolysis using 100% renewable electricity from offshore wind will emit 20MtCO2e, and hydrogen produced via electrolysis powered by the National Grid will emit between 103-168MtCO2e, depending of the success of its NetZero strategy. The ‘business-as-usual’ case of continuing to combust methane releases 250MtCO2e over the same lifetime. This study finds that Blue hydrogen at scale is not compatible with the Paris Agreement, reduces energy security and will require a substantial GHG emissions investment which excludes it from being a ‘low carbon technology’ and should not be considered for any decarbonisation strategies going forward.

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Lifetime greenhouse gas emissions from offshore hydrogen production

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Data Availability Statement

Keywords

UN SDGs

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

National Decommissioning Centre

Cite this

Lifetime greenhouse gas emissions from offshore hydrogen production

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Data Availability Statement

Keywords

UN SDGs

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Equipment

National Decommissioning Centre

Cite this