Can hydrogen usage as fuel cause more global warming than CO2?

– Dr. Aparna Deshpande

Hydrogen is proposed to be an effective alternate fuel with low greenhouse gas emissions. The calorific value of hydrogen makes it more energy efficient as compared to lithium-ion batteries. But when it is released in air it has a warming effect in the atmosphere. A new study done by UK government revealed that hydrogen has  11 times more  global warming potential than CO2. The chemical dynamics for hydrogen acting as a green-house gas is by its interaction to form methane. The hydroxyl radicals present in the atmosphere manage to clean up methane but in the presence of hydrogen they will react with it leaving the bare methane pollutant in the air which is the most potent green-house gas. Also, hydrogen tends to increase the concentration of both tropospheric ozone and stratospheric water vapor, boosting a “radiative forcing” effect that also pushes temperatures higher.

The source of hydrogen release in the atmosphere are leakages during electrolysis, compression, refuelling, and during the process of conversion back into electricity through a fuel cell. Store hydrogen stored in a compressed gas cylinder has a leak proportion of  between 0.12 – 0.24 percent of it every day. It’ll leak out of pipes and valves if you distribute it that way, losing some 20 percent more volume than the methane gas that’s now running through municipal pipelines – although since hydrogen is so much lighter than methane, this larger volume equates to just 15 percent of the weight. Where hydrogen is transported as a cryogenic liquid, boil-off is unavoidable, and you can expect to lose an average of about 1 percent of it per day. Currently, this is vented to the atmosphere leakages as venting and purging operations are currently common across the hydrogen life cycle. So overall around 1-1.5 percent of all hydrogen will be emitted into the atmosphere, with transport emissions playing the major part followed by production and consumption end. But with these numbers one must not jump to a conclusion and restart the traditional outmoded fuel option usage. The paybacks from  CO2 emission reductions significantly outnumber the disbenefits arising from H2 leakage but  controlling H2 leakage will be the  parting shot.

Please see the following news Source(s) and original reference(s) therein:

(Source: https://newatlas.com/environment/hydrogen-greenhouse-gas)

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Dr Smita Chaturvedi
Smita is an experimental condensed matter physicist. The quest for multifunctional materials motivates her. Smita finished her PhD from RDVV Jabalpur and BARC Mumbai in the year 2002 and worked as a research associate in IIT Mumbai and Oakland University, Michigan. Smita was awarded as a Fulbright Nehru Academic and Professional excellence fellow in 2018-19. Smita holds more than a decade of research and teaching experience. She possesses good knowledge about education system and research opportunities in India as well as abroad. Music and gardening are her mindful meditations.
Dr. Priyadarshini Karve
Dr Priyadarshini Karve has worked in the areas of household energy, decentralised waste-to-fuel technologies, climate change mitigation and adaptation, sustainable and climate-ready urbanisation, etc. She runs her own social green enterprise Samuchit Enviro Tech in Pune, focused on enabling access to sustainable products and services. She is also a co-founder of OrjaBox, a startup promoting solar thermal technologies. Dr Karve is a Founder Member of Clean Energy Access Network (CLEAN - a multi-state society of decentralised renewable energy practitioners and entrepreneurs) and Cleaner Cooking Coalition (CCC - an international organisation focused on promoting user-centric cooking energy technologies that are good for health as well as climate). She is also the National Convener of Indian Network on Ethics and Climate Change (INECC - focused on climate justice issues and working to bring people's voices in policy choices). Her work has been recognised by several national and international awards and honours.
Sanjay Khare
Sanjay Khare ,after his graduation in Electrical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, in 1986 has been associated with major Japanese & European Automotive OEMs in Indian Subcontinent for 35 years . Widely travelled across Europe & Asia , he has held positions across diverse functions of Automotive Corporations.
In his current role as Board Member and Vice President at Skoda Auto Volkswagen India , he is Chief Sustainability Catalyst to guide actions at Skoda Auto Volkswagen India along with the sister brands Audi, Porsche & Lamborghini.
He leads an active Climate Resilience program where the automotive major in India has already achieved Zero Waste to Landfill, Water Positive & Zero liquid Discharge Certification, Zero Accidents , targeting an 18.5 MW of installed Roof Top Solar plant at a single Automotive site in India in 2021 and fully Carbon Neutral Production by 2025.
Sanjay has done his Executive MBA from Management development Institute ,Gurgaon specialising in Strategy & Marketing . He has active interests in driving Cultural Change, Competency building , Human Motivation topics while adopting/ innovating the technological advancements and total quality revolution.He is also a Qualified Independent Director registered with Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Govt. of India. An active speaker on Automotive & Sustainability topics on National & International forums.
In personal life, he is an Endurance Cyclist having participated in many adventure ride expeditions . He also spends his time in developing mastery on Indian Classical Music instrument Sitar.