Biden administration adds exemptions into new climate rules for hydrogen energy

[NickB79]

17. And hydrogen leaks twice as much as methane, by it's very nature as the smallest element

To back up my previous claim of hydrogen being 10x as powerful as CO2:

https://newatlas.com/environment/hydrogen-greenhouse-gas/

I was wrong; it's 11X as powerful.

So, if we theoretically replaced the world's natural gas infrastructure with a green hydrogen infrastructure, on paper we're just treading water as far as climate impacts go. Half the CO2 potential as methane, but twice of it entering the atmosphere.

But, the kicker is that the primary source of the current spike in atmospheric methane is actually microbes consuming biomass from warming wetlands currently, and thawing permafrost in the future:

https://www.carbonbrief.org/exceptional-surge-in-methane-emissions-from-wetlands-worries-scientists/

Why is that relevant? Because hydrogen isn't a direct greenhouse gas. Rather, it acts to prolong the lifespan of methane in the atmosphere, amplifying it's greenhouse gas potential. We've already kicked off so many positive feedback loops that we've guaranteed that biological methane emissions will keep rising for the rest of the 21st century. And if the primary source of atmospheric methane isn't from our natural gas infrastructure, that means that there will still be plenty of methane naturally venting for leaking green hydrogen to interact with, even if we drastically reduced our fossil fuel emissions.

The only way hydrogen doesn't have a massive, negative impact on the climate is if it remains a niche tool for energy storage. If it were ever ramped up to be a major energy player, the losses from manufacturing, transport, storage and distribution would be as bad as the current natural gas infrastructure we're trying to replace.

And that ignores the worst-case scenario: a future where there's a prolonged overlap, with green hydrogen ramping up, BUT natural gas still consumed (and leaked) in massive quantities for decades. During this time, natural gas is still a valuable feedstock for chemical and plastics production, and a cheaper alternative for poorer nations to turn to before they can afford domestically produced green hydrogen. And currently, the planet is building out massive amounts of LNG shipping ports to satisfy this future demand. That one-two punch would be absolutely devastating to the climate.