Hydrogen hype

Welcome to The Strawman, the daily climate newsletter that’s like the family member who remembers to buy balloons for your birthday. We bring the party to the party.

Today, we’re diving into the world of hydrogen to see if it’s all it’s cracked up to be.

Catching the Hydrogen Wave

You can't throw a barrel of oil these days without hitting a headline about hydrogen.

It's the cool kid on the energy block, hailed as the potential savior for decarbonizing sectors like transportation, power generation, and industrial processes.

Major players like Shell and Hyundai are pulling out their checkbooks and cannonballing into the hydrogen pool, gambling big on its potential to create new markets and kick fossil fuels to the curb.

From ambitious projects like turning water into clean energy to dreams of hydrogen-powered vehicles zipping down the streets, hydrogen has everyone in the energy world on the edge of their seats.

Painting the town (and hydrogen) green

When it comes to hydrogen, it's not all about green. In fact, it's a veritable rainbow of colours, each with its own unique method of production and impact on our planet. Grab your paintbrush and let's explore this colourful world:

Green hydrogen: Our eco-friendly hero, produced using clean electricity from renewable energy technologies to electrolyse water. Currently, it's as rare and pricey as a unicorn steak.

Blue hydrogen: Not quite as green as its sibling, but not too shabby. It's made using natural gas, with carbon emissions captured and stored. Still a niche market due to a lack of carbon capture projects that work well (one for another day).

Grey hydrogen: The most common form, but not winning any environmental awards. Produced from natural gas via steam methane reformation, but without any carbon capture meaning it ends up being a pretty big polutant.

Brown hydrogen: Cheap and dirty, just like the thermal coal used in its production process. The environment's worst nightmare.

Turquoise hydrogen: An underdog contender, created through methane pyrolysis (fancy way of saying methane breakdown). Not yet proven at scale and comes with methane leakage concerns which would be horrible for the climate.

Lobbying shenanigans

Behind the scenes, a darker side of the hydrogen story unfolds. It's no secret that powerful fossil fuel companies have a vested interest in prolonging the lifespan of their existing gas assets.

Lobby groups like Hydrogen Europe (backed by oil giants BP, Total, and Shell) are accused of spending almost €60m annually to influence Brussels' policies.

The European Commission's strategy supports green hydrogen over blue, but lobbying efforts may tip the scales in favor of fossil fuels.

Meanwhile, critics argue that producing green hydrogen via electrolysis is a highly inefficient use of renewable electricity. With roughly half the energy lost in the process, are we just wasting our precious green resources?

Hydrogen's future remains uncertain. It's a wild ride, with plenty of twists, turns, and lobbying dollars flying around. Yet the momentum behind hydrogen is undeniable, and it could very well be the best answer we have for a cleaner future.

So, whether you're a die-hard hydrogen believer or a skeptical onlooker, one thing's for sure: The Strawman’s keeping an eye on the front lines for you.