PA Governor Josh Shapiro announced on October 13, 2023, an investment in two “hydrogen production facilities from renewable and nuclear electricity.” Many environmental activists reacted negatively. 

The Green Party Platform says, “Greens support research into advanced fuels when the purpose of the research is to develop a fuel that in its full cycle does not create more problems than it solves. We support the use of hydrogen as an energy storage medium; however we oppose the use of nuclear technologies or carbon-based feedstocks for hydrogen production.” The Green Party Communication Team asked a member of the Green Party of Montgomery County to explain why the Green Party does not support the use of hydrogen as a transportation fuel.

Green Party of Pennsylvania
www.gpofpa.org

For Immediate Release
February 26, 2024

Contact:
Chris Robinson, Communication Team Co-Leader, [email protected]

By Rick Denzien (Montgomery County)

The notion that hydrogen (H) can be produced for “clean” transportation is greenwashing pushed to the ridiculous. Hydrogen is the first element on the periodic table of elements and readily combines with many other elements including oxygen (O) in the air we breathe.

The combination form of H is water, a life giving compound (H₂O), which we all drink and even float upon. With more that 76% of the Earth’s surface covered with water (coming from crashing ice comets), it is natural to assume that if we could unglue the massive star power that created water and get free H and O, but like many things, free isn’t really free.

95+% of all hydrogen produced today does not come from splitting water, but from splitting CH₄ (aka “methane” or “natural gas”). The fossil fuel companies are happy to promote this idea at every opportunity. After all, methane is one of the main products of hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) -- the promise of cheap energy, along with free negative externalities like radioactive wastewater filled with hundreds of known cancer-causing chemicals.

CH₄ is a powerful climate heating gas, 80 times more powerful than CO₂ (carbon dioxide) as a gas that holds the sun’s heat in. In 2014, NASA discovered that there was a bubble of methane the size of the state of Delaware floating over the U.S. NASA scientists thought that there must be a huge mistake in instrumentation, but the instruments from space were correct. The evidence was vindicated on the ground.

It turns out that every oil and gas well ever drilled is leaking methane into the atmosphere -- some a little, most quite a bit, and a few are out of control. Millions of these wells are leaking methane, not just one or two. They all leak. The pipes leak, the consolidators leak, and at home we spray open methane into our furnaces. We turn on our gas stoves to cook. All are leaking methane.

The Dark Side of Hydrogen

Hydrogen has long been hailed as a clean and sustainable energy source with the potential to revolutionize the energy landscape. However, a closer examination reveals a darker side to this seemingly eco-friendly element. In fact, hydrogen -- when produced from methane, coal or ammonia -- poses significant human and environmental risk.

Hydrogen production from methane is one of the most common methods, a process called steam methane reforming (SMR). This process involves reacting methane (CH₄) with steam (H₂O) to produce hydrogen (H₂) and carbon dioxide (CO₂). Unfortunately, this also results in the release of CO₂, a very potent greenhouse gas contributing to global warming and climate change. In addition, when hydrogen is burned it forms warm water vapor, which is itself a greenhouse gas known to intensify storm weather systems. Particulate matter (PM 2.5) is also a concern under study.

Greenwashing by Fossil Fuel Companies