not many people know
Paul Homewood
h/t Patsy Lacey
A new peer-reviewed study shows that existing fossil natural gas infrastructure, such as pipelines and equipment, is “mostly unusable” by hydrogen and would significantly reduce the amount of energy delivered to customers without major investments or operational changes.
The paper “Challenges in Producing Hydrogen from Natural Gas Systems” published yesterday (Monday) in the journal Energy Science and Engineering examines the risks and potential solutions for using hydrogen in existing long-distance and distribution pipelines, storage and ultimately equipment, and reiterates the risk of explosion, fire and asphyxiation due to leakage of hydrogen due to inadequate infrastructure.
https://www.Hydrogeninsight.com/policy/mostly-unusable-existing-gas-pipes-would-need-massive-retrofit-or-crippling-de-rating-to-carry-Hydrogen-study/2-1- 1694727
Here is the paper itself:
abstract
Hydrogen as an energy carrier is attractive to many stakeholders because of the assumption that the extensive global gas infrastructure network could be repurposed to transport hydrogen as part of a zero-carbon energy future. As a result, utilities and governments are rapidly advancing efforts to pilot blending low-carbon hydrogen into existing natural gas systems, with many aiming to eventually move to pure hydrogen. However, hydrogen has fundamentally different physical and chemical properties than natural gas, with significant implications for security, energy supply, climate and costs. We evaluate the suitability of using existing natural gas infrastructure to distribute hydrogen. We summarize the differences between hydrogen and natural gas, evaluate the latest science and engineering for each component of the natural gas value chain for hydrogen distribution, and discuss suggested solutions for building an efficient hydrogen value chain. We found that every value chain component faces reuse challenges. Hydrogen blending can overcome many challenges but only modestly reduces greenhouse gas emissions due to hydrogen's low volumetric energy density. Furthermore, the transition to pure hydrogen is impossible without major modifications and replacements. Even if technical and economic barriers are overcome, serious safety and environmental risks remain.
https://scijournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ese3.1861
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