Clean until you use a bunch of equipment to get it captured. The hydrogen might be carbon free, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have a carbon footprint.
Convince me otherwise, but the only green hydrogen is from renewable energy powered electrolysis.
That’s a pretty daft conclusion, because JCB has been making Hydrogen machinery for quite some time now and power made for all the equipment on site can also easily be made with hydrogen.
Great. Is hydrogen powered construction and mining equipment common? No. So until it is, my statement stands. Concluding that all equipment is clean because it CAN be is daft.
Great. Is hydrogen powered construction and mining equipment common? No. So until it is, my statement stands.
It’s expected to be the cheapest form of electricity soon. It’s in the ballpark of natural gas pricing now and prices are falling fast… while natural gas prices are rising. The long term future has it cheaper than anything except solar/wind… but those two can’t easily be stored to be consumed later which is a big logistical win for hydrogen.
So no, it’s not common right now. But that’s changing. Hydrogen is arguably the most promising area of our efforts to mitigate climate change.
It’s expected to be the cheapest form of electricity soon
You’re going to need a big [citation needed] on that one. The cheapest form of hydrogen right now is produced from natural gas. Where is the gain coming from in using natural gas to make hydrogen to make electricity, as opposed to using natural gas to make electricity?
If it’s from expected improvements in making green hydrogen via electrolysis, then you’re using electricity to generate hydrogen to generate electricity. That can’t be the cheapest form of electricity. It could be the cheapest storage solution to combine with solar and wind (probably not, but it could be), but it makes no sense as a form of electricity in its own right.
but the only green hydrogen is from renewable energy powered electrolysis.
Clean until you use a bunch of equipment to get it. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
If you come at it from the angle of the equipment used to capture it having a carbon footprint, then that should also apply to equipment doing electrolysis.
That said, what is the level of environmental footprint we’re talking about in comparison to electrolysis? We don’t know yet, because it’s not clear this new source can be economically tapped, but we’ll see.
