Blue Hydrogen Not Really Green

Blue Hydrogen Not Really Green

Subject: Environment

Section: Sustainable development

Context- Reliance Industries on February 12 announced an intent to become “the world’s top blue hydrogen producer” by repurposing a Rs 30,000 crore synthetic gas plant to manufacture the fuel. Globally, there is an increased interest in blue hydrogen.

Concept-

Hydrogen Fuel:

• Hydrogen is a nontoxic, nonmetallic, odorless, tasteless, colorless, and highly combustible diatomic gas.
• Hydrogen fuel is a zero-emission fuel burned with oxygen.
• It can be used in fuel cells or internal combustion engines. It is also used as a fuel for spacecraft propulsion.
• But hydrogen does not exist on its own. It is mostly present in water in the oceans and needs to be extracted to be used as a fuel.
• Most commonly, this is done by electrolysis wherein current is passed through water to split hydrogen and oxygen.

Types of Hydrogen:

• Grey Hydrogen: Constitutes India’s bulk Production.
  • Extracted from hydrocarbons (fossil fuels, natural gas).
  • By product: CO2
• Blue Hydrogen: Sourced from fossil fuels.
  • By product: CO, CO2
  • By products are Captured and Stored, so better than gey hydrogen.
  • However it is not considered to be clean since extraction of natural gas invariably results in atmospheric leakage of methane, a gas with 25 times the warming potential of carbon dioxide.
• Green Hydrogen: Generated from renewable energy (like Solar, Wind).
  • Electricity splits water into hydrogen and oxygen.
  • By Products : Water, Water Vapor
• Electric current from fossil fuel gets yellow hydrogen and from nuclear power gets pink hydrogen.

Read More:

National Hydrogen Energy Mission