What does green hydrogen mean?

Green hydrogen is hydrogen produced by electrolysis after being generated by renewable energy (such as solar energy or wind energy), and its carbon emission can reach zero. Blue hydrogen is also produced by fossil fuels, and the main source is natural gas.

Compared with green hydrogen, blue hydrogen has lower power demand and carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology. Because CCS technology requires relatively rare geological conditions, it is more difficult to obtain blue hydrogen than green hydrogen on a global scale.

The production cost of green hydrogen is obviously higher than that of blue hydrogen, although the fixed cost of blue hydrogen is higher than that of green hydrogen. Hydrogen has similar energy efficiency, and the difference in production cost is caused by two factors:

1. First of all, the energy cost of electricity is much higher than that of natural gas. According to energy, the price of natural gas is $3.50 per million British thermal units, which is equivalent to $65,438+02 per megawatt hour of electricity. In contrast, the cost of wind and solar energy before subsidies is $ 30-40 per megawatt hour.

2. Secondly, because the production of green hydrogen is limited by the availability of zero-carbon energy, it can only run in a short time. Therefore, although the investment cost per megawatt capacity of green hydrogen is lower than that of blue hydrogen, the low utilization rate makes the capital cost per kilogram of green hydrogen higher than that of blue hydrogen.