Hydrogen Green Metrics Report WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS - Week 4
Series—Week Four
In today’s fourth installment of highlights from the SEP report, we analyze the wide range of hydrogen leak rates, from the current estimate of approximately 2% to a high-end scenario of 20% for comparison.
Hydrogen is an indirect greenhouse gas with a GWP100 of 12. Atmospheric concentration is relatively low and annual hydrogen production-related leaks are a small fraction of total hydrogen sources. Growth in clean hydrogen production as part of the energy transition to decarbonize many hard-to-abate industries necessitates low leak rates.
Peer-reviewed studies indicate that hydrogen leak rates vary between 0.01% and 13% across the supply chain.
A study from Columbia’s Center on Global Energy Policy estimated global hydrogen emissions based on a production volume of 90 MMT in 2020 and a projected 528 MMT in 2050. Assuming a 2.7% leak rate, hydrogen emissions in 2022 may have totaled 2.4 MMT. By 2050, leaks could range from 15.3 MMT per year (at a 2.9% leak rate) to 29.6 MMT per year (at a 5.6% leak rate).
The Hydrogen Green Metrics report explores an even broader range of scenarios, examining varying leak rates and hydrogen production levels.
The SEP report Hydrogen Green Metrics investigates this and other environmental features of hydrogen production, transportation, and use. For more information, the report may be accessed here: https://www.saoradh.com/marketplace-new
—SEP Hydrogen Innovation Report, Chapter 2: Green Metrics, January 2025
About Saoradh Enterprise Partners
Saoradh Enterprise Partners (SEP) is a cleantech venture capital and research firm based in Boulder, Colorado. SEP partners with innovators, entrepreneurs, and corporations to develop cleantech solutions at the magical intersection of science (what’s possible), finance (what’s bankable), industry (what’s needed), and planet (what matters). Learn more at www.saoradh.com.
Media contact:
Jackson Levin, Business Development & Communications, Hydrogen Data Consortium
+1 (303) 448-2115 (office main number)
+1 (414) 405-3743 (cell)