THREAD: Where to use hydrogen and where not - new research by @PIK_Climate led by @FalkoUeckerdt just published in @NatureClimate provides merit order for hydrogen use.

Headline finding: Hydrogen is not recommended for use in cars and space heating. 1/n

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-021-01032-7.epdf?sharing_token=WNMrraktjyxydmZ37t5XrtRgN0jAjWel9jnR3ZoTv0NvvcjgkZX46JlO7Nfw7zfyvoADBvTOq9WIfhdmgV2dg_Zm-ooRIvDUajySVOgslfK-wkOrhQeaskxdoHd9CQkDKrEyWaG7Nek-etV6-wjBn0LukVZpsV7ZIbuxiMdSO6Q%3D

It all comes down to efficiency. Overall electricity-to-useful-energy efficiencies of hydrogen range from roughly 10% (light trucks) to 35% (boilers), which translates into electricity requirements that are 2–14 times higher than for direct electrification alternatives. 2/n

E-fuel mitigation costs are estimated to be €800–1,200 per tCO2. Large-scale deployment could reduce costs to €20–270 per tCO2 until 2050, yet it is unlikely that e-fuels will become cheap and abundant early enough. 3/n

Important finding is that overlooking or neglecting demand-side solutions threatens to lock in fossil-fuel dependency if hydrogen falls short of expectations. 4/n

The authors conclude that "sensible climate policy supports e-fuel deployment while hedging against the risk of their unavailability at large scale" and that "Policies should [...] prioritize hydrogen and e-fuels for sectors that are inaccessible to direct electrification." 5/n

@MLiebreich makes similar points in his recent post following a merit order approach. 6/n https://twitter.com/mliebreich/status/1390543628691456002

The research tallies quite well with this @fraunhofer_iee study from last year which also did not see a role for hydrogen for heating buildings and in cars. 7/n

https://www.iee.fraunhofer.de/content/dam/iee/energiesystemtechnik/en/documents/Studies-Reports/FraunhoferIEE_Study_H2_Heat_in_Buildings_final_EN_20200619.pdf

The idea that heating with hydrogen will make it easier to decarbonise buildings because little insulation is required is also false as I point out in this new article for @EnergyMonitorAI. https://twitter.com/janrosenow/status/1390583763197992961?s=20