The discussion about whether hydrogen should be blended into the existing gas grid is very instructive for understanding the debate about hydrogen & gas infrastructure more widely. We @e3g released a new factsheet on this today - here's a thread on some key points 👇 
@EleonoraNMoro and I argue that there are three big questions decisionmakers must answer that are related to the debate on blending, as per the screenshot above, which are the result of a number of technical, political and economic facts, including:
📈 There are relatively low limits for how much hydrogen can be blended into the existing grid without damages to the infrastructure - any increases beyond that require costly retrofits, meaning that blending doesn't enable a smoother transition to a hydrogen-only infrastructure.
⚡️ Hydrogen's energy density is lower than that of a natural gas by a factor of >3. This further decreases the effects of blending on overall emissions from gas use while meaning that blending would likely lead to significant increases to consumer gas prices.
🏭 Many gas users, for example certain factories, rely on specific gas qualities the current grid is delivering. If hydrogen would be widely mixed into the grid, this would pose a serious risk to their operations. That's why many industry associations groups oppose blending.
💸 Blending makes it hard to allocate the costs of developing hydrogen infrastructure justly and effectively. If H2 demand is focussed on large-scale demand centers, costs and benefits can be allocated clearly. That changes if all present gas consumers become H2 consumers.
🌤️ And this wouldn't be a thread about hydrogen if I wouldn't mention that, at least in the next years, the supply of sustainable H2 will be very limited. But a scarce good should be used where it's most needed, not blended into the grid where it cannot play out its strengths.
You can access the full factsheet, alongside last week's factsheet on hydrogen supply, on our website. Next week, our factsheet series will focus on the crucial topic of the role of hydrogen for heating buildings, so stay tuned! e3g.org/publications/h…
It's clear that, for these reasons (and more - do read the full factsheet!), we think that blending H2 should not be part of hydrogen strategies.
In the interest of an open debate, here's a link to a tweet in which @anunezjimenez asks for other views:
In the interest of an open debate, here's a link to a tweet in which @anunezjimenez asks for other views:
https://twitter.com/anunezjimenez/status/1382250290628411395
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
