DrMux

DrMux t1_je0x9x9 wrote

It depends on how it's generated. There are a few methods, each with its benefits and drawbacks. These are referred to as the "colors" of hydrogen generation.

  • Green Hydrogen is produced by electrolysis. Obviously for this to be eco-friendly it needs to be powered by renewable sources - currently, as renewables are a growing sector, some argue that those sources would be better used for directly powering the grid, or other uses like carbon capture, etc. I'm not here to say which is actually the best use of renewables, just what some of the arguments are.

  • Blue Hydrogen and Grey (or brown or black) Hydrogen are produced from fossil fuel sources like natural gas (grey) or coal (brown/black). This process produces CO2 as a byproduct and can either be captured and sequestered (blue) or not (grey, brown, black).

  • Other methods include "turquoise" hydrogen which uses pyrolysis, and produces solid carbon which can easily be sequestered, and "pink" hydrogen which uses a nuclear power source to perform electrolysis.

EDIT: It may also be considered a bad fuel source because it needs to be stored at high pressure, which presents engineering challenges and can be dangerous (obviously, hydrogen is highly combustible. The Hindenburg used hydrogen to stay afloat and look how that worked out). I think there are also concerns about its energy density vs other fuel sources but I don't know as much about that.

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