> Aside from blending small amounts on hydrogen in existing methane feeds, no one will do this.
The province of Alberta, Canada has put hydrogen at the core of its energy development strategy. The idea is to use existing natural gas pipelines to transfer hydrogen.
It’s true that a small fraction of hydrogen will permeate the pipes and leak; however, that leakage is not economically significant:
“... this theoretical distribution main leakage rate (43 million ft3/yr) would be 0.0002% of the 24.13 trillion cubic feet of natural gas consumed in 2010.” [1]
Hydrogen can be blended with natural gas (the above calculation was made assuming a 20% blend) or it can be sent down the line exclusively. As for how the hydrogen is produced, there are several ways:
1. It can be cracked from natural gas, after which the carbon is captured and stored back underground. Or,
2. It can be produced from electrolysis of water using energy from a renewable source such as wind or solar, effectively storing the energy for later use.
Either way, the point is that hydrogen is a useful fuel that can be transported over existing infrastructure and then used in a variety of ways that may help with the transition to a zero carbon system. Just to give one example, hydrogen can be combined with carbon dioxide to create jet fuel. [2]
The province of Alberta, Canada has put hydrogen at the core of its energy development strategy. The idea is to use existing natural gas pipelines to transfer hydrogen.
It’s true that a small fraction of hydrogen will permeate the pipes and leak; however, that leakage is not economically significant:
“... this theoretical distribution main leakage rate (43 million ft3/yr) would be 0.0002% of the 24.13 trillion cubic feet of natural gas consumed in 2010.” [1]
Hydrogen can be blended with natural gas (the above calculation was made assuming a 20% blend) or it can be sent down the line exclusively. As for how the hydrogen is produced, there are several ways:
1. It can be cracked from natural gas, after which the carbon is captured and stored back underground. Or,
2. It can be produced from electrolysis of water using energy from a renewable source such as wind or solar, effectively storing the energy for later use.
Either way, the point is that hydrogen is a useful fuel that can be transported over existing infrastructure and then used in a variety of ways that may help with the transition to a zero carbon system. Just to give one example, hydrogen can be combined with carbon dioxide to create jet fuel. [2]
[1] https://www.energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2014/03/f11/blending...
[2] https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-20214-z