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Blue Hydrogen
Practical Law Glossary Item w-032-4453 (Approx. 3 pages)
Glossary
Blue Hydrogen
A fuel produced from natural gas using a process called steam methane reforming, where the natural gas reacts with high-temperature steam at medium pressure in the presence of a catalyst (usually nickel). This process also produces carbon dioxide (CO2) which is captured using carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) technology to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere. Blue hydrogen and green hydrogen are two fuels currently being developed to transition to a cleaner energy future because of the advantages hydrogen offers. These advantages include:
- Abundance. There is more hydrogen in the universe than any other element.
- Versality. It can be used where it is produced or transported elsewhere and stored in large amounts for a long time.
- Ease of production. Hydrogen can be produced wherever there is water and electricity to generate more electricity or heat.
- Flexibility. Hydrogen can be used to:
- generate electricity;
- power heavy duty vehicles, ships, and planes;
- make certain products (for example, fertilizer); and
- replace other fuels in energy intensive manufacturing and chemicals including steel, cement and petrochemicals.
Other types of hydrogen include:
- Gray hydrogen which is also produced from natural gas but without the use of CCS technology. This is the most common type of hydrogen currently being produced.
- Brown or black hydrogen which is produced from coal gasification. The color depends on the type of coal used with:
- brown hydrogen produced from lignite coal; and
- black hydrogen produced from bituminous coal.
- Pink hydrogen which is produced through electrolysis powered by nuclear energy. This is also referred to as purple or red hydrogen.