Andrew Forrest vs Blue Hydrogen: Why are industry veterans against Hydrogen with fossil fuels?

Highlights

• Demand for hydrogen has witnessed unprecedented growth in the past few years.
• The production of blue hydrogen creates a significant amount of carbon dioxide, which is harmful to the environment.
• Fortescue’s Chairman Andrew Forrest has recently boosted its campaign against the production of hydrogen through fossil fuels.

Hydrogen is an energy-dense, light, and storable fuel that produces almost negligible greenhouse gas emissions on combustion.

The demand for hydrogen has witnessed unprecedented growth in the past few years due to its huge potential to become a significant source of clean energy.

Green Vs Blue Hydrogen

Ideally, there are two main types of hydrogen, green hydrogen and blue hydrogen. As the name suggests, green hydrogen is formed by breaking water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen, without affecting the environment or producing any greenhouse emissions.

Also Read: Green Vs Blue, which hydrogen can drive global energy transition?

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On the contrary, blue hydrogen is either produced by using Steam Methane Reforming or Auto Thermal Reforming to break natural gas to form carbon dioxide and hydrogen. Moreover, the production of blue hydrogen can create a significant amount of carbon dioxide, which is harmful to the environment.  

Western Australia’s plan

The Western Australian government plans to create hydrogen hubs and install solar panels across the 500km coastline of Pilbara by 2030. The overall objective is to manufacture hydrogen at numerous hubs near ports for export. The country has already designated five production hubs from Onslow to Port Hedland as strategic industrial areas that can be connected to each other and consumers through a hydrogen pipeline. In November, the government also applied for the approval of federal funds for an early contribution of AU$117 million.

Good Read: Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest takes legal action against Facebook, here’s why

Andrew Forrest Vs Blue Hydrogen

However, Fortescue (ASX:FMG) chairman Andrew Forrest is a supporter of green hydrogen, and he doesn't look happy with the plan of the Morrison government. The millionaire has recently boosted its campaign against blue hydrogen in Australia.

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Mr Forrest along with many other industry veterans believe that blue hydrogen is not a solution for eliminating greenhouse emissions from the environment. Several researchers have found that CCS fails to capture fugitive emissions into the atmosphere like the emission of methane as it leaks during natural gas extraction. In addition to that, researchers also say that this technology is not fully efficient to capture emissions. Even in some cases, it was found that the cost of production for blue hydrogen is higher as the production unit captures close to 90% of emissions.

Good Read: 5 ASX green hydrogen stocks for the next 5 years and beyond

Bottom Line

Hydrogen has huge potential to become a significant source of clean energy as the world aims to make a swift transition towards a low-carbon energy system. It shall be interesting to see if this move of the Morrison Government is welcomed or criticised by the people at large amid rising concerns for curbing emissions.