Blue Vs. Green Hydrogen: Which Will The Market Choose?

Blue Vs. Green Hydrogen: Which Will The Market Choose?

As U.S regulators and industry leaders mull how to consider introducing hydrogen into the nation's energy supply mix, they're faced with a choice that sounds more like a decision pondered by the hosts of one of TV's many home fixer-upper shows - should they go with blue hydrogen or green hydrogen, and what combination of the two will create the right mix?

The answers to those questions will likely have a great impact on the speed with which the U.S. economy makes the transition to a zero-carbon future and the cost of getting there.

Today about 99% of the hydrogen produced for industrial use - in refineries and manufacturing plants - is so-called "gray“ hydrogen. Gray hydrogen principally is derived from natural gas, and its production results in the production of large volumes of COâ‚‚, nine parts COâ‚‚ for every one part hydrogen. Creating more environmentally friendly "blue“ hydrogen, requires capturing that COâ‚‚ and disposing of it in some manner, such as deep underground, or using it in some beneficial manner, such as in advanced oil recovery.

Green hydrogen on the other hand is produced via electrolysis, the process of separating water into hydrogen and oxygen. When the electricity used in the process