Abstract
Hydrogen may play a major role as an energy source to support net zero but combustion leads to emissions of NOx, a key air pollutant. Delivering optimal air quality co-benefits may need more ambitious hydrogen-specific emission standards developing.
Highlights
A very rapid increase in the use of hydrogen as a fuel is anticipated in the 2020s and the associated industries given signi cant political support (UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Financial Times 18th Nov 2020).[3]
The simplicity and relatively modest technical adaptations needed to burn hydrogen as a direct fossil fuel replacement means that this route will almost certainly be followed in many industries, alongside other approaches such as fuel cells
Use of hydrogen combustion appliances within existing frameworks for air quality emissions control will certainly mean that NOx emissions will not get worse with widespread adoption, but it may mean they do not improve either
Summary
The use of hydrogen as a replacement for fossil fuels is a signi cant component of many national decarbonisation strategies and is a major technical component of most Net Zero plans (e.g. UK Committee on Climate Change, 2019; A European Green Deal, 2020).[1,2] A very rapid increase in the use of hydrogen as a fuel is anticipated in the 2020s and the associated industries given signi cant political support (UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Financial Times 18th Nov 2020).[3]. Hydrogen offers many very valuable features as a fuel; it is energy-dense when in its liqui ed form, has a wide ammability range, and can be manufactured via a variety of routes. In some applications it can be substituted relatively straightforwardly as an alternative fuel, displacing natural gas, gasoline, kerosene and diesel in combustion applications.[4] Hydrogen has potential to ll certain energy supply requirements that may not be met using battery electric storage, for example for gas boilers in the home, as a fuel for heavy-duty/ long-distance vehicles, off-road machinery, back-up capacity for grid electrical supply and as a fuel for global shipping and aviation.[5] The pre-eminent argument in favour of the use of hydrogen as a fuel is that the major waste product formed from its use is water vapour
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