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Michael Liebreich Profile picture
@MLiebreich
Aug 15, 2021 • 10 tweets • 6 min read • Read on X
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So, my lovelies, I just dropped Version 4 of the Clean Hydrogen Ladder! For anyone new to all this, the ladder is my attempt to put use cases for clean hydrogen into some sort of merit order, because not all use cases are equally likely to succeed. 1/10
By way of background, the ladder is intended to debunk the naive view of clean hydrogen as the Swiss Army Knife of the future net zero economy. Just because you could *technically* do something with clean hydrogen, it doesn't mean you will. Thanks for the image idea, Paul! 2/10
This time round, I have written up the Clean Hydrogen Ladder on LinkedIn, so you can see some of my thinking. In the piece I go through the various types of sector where hydrogen might, or might not, play a role. 3/10
linkedin.com/pulse/clean-hy…
And here are the potential use cases for clean hydrogen in the power system - long-term storage is convincing, other uses less so.
4/10

linkedin.com/pulse/clean-hy…
Next up, aviation and shipping. Not bad, H2-heads, lots of opportunities! Note that shipping is about ammonia, and medium and long-haul aviation is about e-fuels, not hydrogen per se.
5/10

linkedin.com/pulse/clean-hy…
OK, this is the controversial one: if you love fuel cell cars, look away! But I have now upgraded off-road vehicles to a B, and there are some decent niches like remote trains and vintage vehicles. Long distance trucks? Maybe. Other sectors? Nah.
6/10

linkedin.com/pulse/clean-hy…
On fuel cell cars, I just can't resist tweeting these two charts. #H2FC cars are just worse vehicles than BEVs. And the market knows it. It's over.
7/10

linkedin.com/pulse/clean-hy…
There is a huge lobbying push in the UK right now to claim space heating for hydrogen. There might be some niche cases, but in general I'm not feeling it. It's just such an inefficient use of green hydrogen. If blue hydrogen can be zero carbon, maybe.
8/10
linkedin.com/pulse/clean-hy…
Here's a nice summary of what stands in the way of the hydrogen economy (thanks again Paul!). At the top of the ladder, hydrogen has no competition. Below that, a bunch of sectors it will slug it out with biofuels. Then batteries and electricity.
9/10

linkedin.com/pulse/clean-hy…
So. Thanks to everyone who helped refine the Clean Hydrogen Ladder. Keep your comments, critiques and suggestions coming: I will try to reflect them in Version 5.0, which will no doubt be needed. Here's a high-res version for you to download and use! 10/10
drive.google.com/file/d/1lK0dOH…

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More from @MLiebreich

Michael Liebreich Profile picture
Jul 17
European Court of Auditors @EUauditors says "The EU’s industrial policy on renewable hydrogen needs a reality check" because its targets "were not based on a robust analysis". We know the targets came from @H2Europe becuase @JorgoChatzimarkakis said so. Would he care to comment? Image
For those interested in the detail, here is my @CleaningUpPod conversation with @Chatzimarkakis, in which he explains how Hydrogen Europe's 2x 40 targets were inserted into the EU Hydrogen Strategy.
cleaningup.live/ep115-jorgo-ch…
@CleaningUpPod @Chatzimarkakis Here is an extremely watchable (and absolutely withering) look at the EU Hydrogen Strategy by @dwnews, Germany's state-owned overseas broadcaster (equivalent to BBC WorldWide). dw.com/en/the-eus-amb…
Read 6 tweets
Michael Liebreich Profile picture
Feb 22, 2023
It will take until 2030 to reign in the current bout of hydrogen mania, embark on a real plan to eliminate the 2.3% of emissions currently caused by 94 Mt/year of grey & black hydrogen, and target its use on a few otherwise hard-to-decarbonise sectors. We are in the foothills. 1/
Let me be quite clear - we will need clean hydrogen. But fantasies of a hydrogen economy, hydrogen society and globally traded hydrogen market need to be abandoned. There will be a global market in ammonia, but mainly for fertilisers, chemicals, shipping fuel and some storage. 2/
Again, to be clear. The issue is not production cost. Learning curves mean green hydrogen will end up cheaper than grey. But nothing will change the physics and thermodynamics of hydrogen: low density; escapey; explodey; embrittley; NOx-producey if burnt; greenhouse gasey. 3/
Read 18 tweets
Michael Liebreich Profile picture
Feb 11, 2023
Looking for something to read or listen to this weekend? I've been busy, released a whole load of stuff you won't want to miss. So much, in fact, that I've listed it all in a🧵. So pour yourself that cup of 🫖 or a glass of 🍷🍺🍸 and let's get started...
First up, my piece for @TheEconomist. It's a response to Vinod Khosla, who believes we should stop deploying wind and solar because they can't deliver "baseload" (🤣), and in a few decades something better might come along. We need research AND deployment. economist.com/by-invitation/…
Next, there were so many loose ends after my @MLCleaningUp conversation with Jorgo @Chatzimarkakis, CEO of @H2Europe, that I just had to write a piece summarising my key takeaways and debunking some of his wild claims. One for hydrogen realists everywhere!
linkedin.com/pulse/jorgo-ch…
Read 9 tweets
Michael Liebreich Profile picture
Dec 10, 2022
What bollox. Which other "heating alternatives" require you to change your oven, hob, gas meter and fireplaces, bring all old pipework up to standard, repair all micro-leaks, add Excess Flow Valves and ventilation, and still leave you buying more expensive fuel and breathing NOx?
If you really want to know what safety measures are required to make hydrogen as safe as gas in your home (though still less safe than eliminating gas altogether), read the report by @Arup on behalf of the government. Particularly section 14 on p101.
hy4heat.info/s/conclusions-…
Fuel cost will also be 2-4 times as high. If it's blue hydrogen, you have to start with 47% more 'natural' gas for the same heat - simply chemistry - plus you have the cost of CO2 capture and storage. If it's green hydrogen, you're talking 4-6 times the electricity of heap pumps.
Read 4 tweets
Michael Liebreich Profile picture
Nov 28, 2022
Only Secretary of State for @beisgovuk, explaining how to turn down boiler flow temperatures. Nothing to see. Congrats @betateach @heatpolicyrich @theheatinghub @_heatgeek @GreenAlbionLtd @AbigailDombey @janrosenow @mikefosterEUA @ClemCowton @nesta_uk @EarthOrgUK and many more!
How it started (at least for me: lots of others had already been trying to address the UK heating industry's scandalous mis-selling, mis-installing and mis-maintanance of condensing boilers for years).
Hundreds of tweets later...
Read 4 tweets
Michael Liebreich Profile picture
Nov 26, 2022
A thread for those who think we're going to be importing lots of hydrogen over vast distances.

1. Shipping liquid hydrogen is not going to be a thing. To understand why, you need to understand that hydrogen is basically liquid, -253C escapey, explodey expanded polystyrene. Image
2. What this means is that any comparison with LNG is, ahem, bollox. We cracked LNG shipping, but it's the most expensive gas on the market. And shipping the same BTUs as liquid hydrogen would require 3-4 times as many ships. Because of physics, not lack of learning, scale, etc. Image
3. Liquifying hydrogen is also a complete bear. It currently consumes 35% to 45% of the Lower Heating Value of the input. If you don't know about LHV and HHV, or about ortho-para isomer conversion, please read more and tweet less about liquid hydrogen!
pubs.rsc.org/en/content/art…
Read 16 tweets

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