Hydrogen, Measured Properly: What 2,000 Projects Reveal About Its Climate Value - CleanTechnica

A comprehensive study published in Nature Energy by Terlouw et al analyzed around 2,000 hydrogen projects over 20 years, providing a rare life-cycle assessment of hydrogen’s climate impact. The study found that if all these projects were realized, hydrogen production would reach about 110 million tons annually, generating roughly 0.4 gigatons of emissions and offsetting between 0.2 and 1.1 gigatons of CO2. However, when compared to a future scenario focused on electrification, hydrogen’s climate benefits shrink by over 80%. The researchers conclude that hydrogen’s best use is replacing existing “dirty” hydrogen in industrial sectors like fertilizer, refining, and methanol production, rather than expanding into new applications where electrification is more efficient. The study highlights steel, biofuels, and ammonia as sectors where hydrogen offers the most significant climate returns, due to its unique role in chemical processes that electricity alone cannot replace. Yet even in steelmaking, hydrogen-based direct