Safely Transporting Green Hydrogen

H umanity consumes approximately 100 million tons of hydrogen each year. The overwhelming majority of this hydrogen is used in various industrial processes, such as the production of ammonia. And we’re poised to use even more, as hydrogen can power engines and other machines without producing greenhouse gases. Still, for any large-scale transition to a clean fuel source, the fuel itself needs to be easily and economically stored and transported. Researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory in NewMexico now analyze how to safely transport hydrogen in existing pipeline infrastructure [1]. Their study indicates possibilities to overcome challenges associated with introducing hydrogen gas into systems designed for natural gas transport (Fig. 1). The results show in particular that a hydrogen–natural gas mixture can bemanaged so as to avoid unwanted pressure spikes.