A report released by Columbia University, in the City of New York, has highlighted the risks of hydrogen leakage and the adverse effects that this can have on the hydrogen economy.
Hydrogen will play a key role in the decarbonisation of the energy system. As of June last year, more than 30 hydrogen strategies and roadmaps have been published by governments around the world. Hydrogen has been identified as a potential safety issue based on the fact that it is the smallest molecule that exists and can easily pass through materials. To date, however, very little attention has been paid to the potential contribution of hydrogen leakage to climate change, driven by hydrogen’s indirect global warming effect through mechanisms that extend the lifetime of methane and other greenhouse gases (GHG) in the atmosphere (Paulot et al. 2012; Derwent et al. 2020).
Columbia University is one of the world’s most important centres of research and at the same time a distinctive and distinguished learning environment for undergraduates and graduate students in many scholarly and professional fields. The University recognizes the importance of its location in New York City and seeks to link its research and teaching to the vast resources of a great metropolis. It seeks to attract a diverse and international faculty, staff, and student body, to support research and teaching on global issues, and to create academic relationships with many countries and regions. It expects all areas of the University to advance knowledge and learning at the highest level and to convey the products of its efforts to the world.
The report was authored by: Zhiyuan Fan, Hadia Sheerazi, Amar Bhardwaj, Anne-Sophie Corbeau, Kathryn Longobardi, Adalberto Castañeda, Ann-Kathrin Merz, Dr. Caleb M. Woodall, Mahak Agrawal, Sebastian Orozco-Sanchez and Dr. Julio Friedmann.
Please click here to read the full report.