HYDROGEN'S HIDDEN EMISSIONS - January 2022 Shell's misleading climate claims for its Canadian fossil hydrogen project - Global Witness
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HYDROGEN’S HIDDEN EMISSIONS Shell’s misleading climate claims for its Canadian fossil hydrogen project January 2022 GLOBAL WITNESS BRIEFING JANUARY 2022 HYDROGEN’S HIDDEN EMISSIONS 1
> Shell says the carbon capture system at its ‘Quest’ fossil hydrogen plant in
Canada stopped five million tonnes of carbon dioxide from entering the
atmosphere in less than five years.
> This claim only tells one side of the story, as a Global Witness investigation
found the hydrogen plant released a further 7.5 million tonnes of greenhouse
gases into the atmosphere over the same period – emissions from the plant
that Shell does not publicise.
> Per year, the plant has the same carbon footprint as 1.2 million petrol cars.
> Industry lobbyists claim that 90% or more of the carbon dioxide produced
at fossil hydrogen plants will be captured. However, only 48% of the carbon
emissions produced at Shell’s plant are being captured – far less than
promised by the industry in general.
>When the plant’s overall greenhouse gas emissions are factored in, such as
methane pollution from the fossil gas supply chain, only 39% of its total
emissions are captured.
> Shell’s hydrogen plant is part of the company’s tar sands operations in
Alberta, where Indigenous and First Nations people are resisting the
industry’s severe environmental damage.
> The hydrogen plant’s low carbon capture rate comes despite its carbon
capture system costing a reported US$1 billion, with US$654 million of this
amount coming from government subsidies.
> Fossil hydrogen is part of the fossil gas industry’s strategy to prolong its
life, despite the urgent need for a rapid phaseout of fossil fuels in order to
meet the Paris Agreement goals.
> Policymakers, including in Canada, the US and EU, should not support new
fossil hydrogen projects, and instead work to phase out existing ones or
replace them with renewables-based alternatives.
Introduction: fossil-fuelled hydrogen hydrogen is commonly produced from fossil gas,
hype which causes high climate heating emissions.
A well-funded army of gas industry lobbyists is Fossil fuel companies say that to reduce these
pushing governments around the world to emissions, they will apply ‘carbon capture and
subsidise and deploy fossil hydrogen on a huge storage’ (CCS) systems to plants that produce
scale.1 hydrogen from fossil gas. Industry lobbyists claim
that CCS can reduce the carbon emissions from
The gas lobby is heavily promoting hydrogen as a
climate-friendly fuel that can replace fossil fuels fossil hydrogen by 90% or more.3
across the economy, from transport to home The fossil fuel industry calls hydrogen made with
heating to power generation. fossil gas and CCS ‘blue hydrogen’, and says it is a
Hydrogen’s main selling point is that it emits no ‘clean’ or ‘low carbon’ fuel.
greenhouse gases at the point of consumption.2
But this only tells part of the story, as at present
GLOBAL WITNESS BRIEFING JANUARY 2022 HYDROGEN’S HIDDEN EMISSIONS 2
Governments, which often have close ties to the existing plants that produce hydrogen from
gas industry, have taken up lobbyists’ call and are fossil gas, or by including CCS in new fossil
starting to champion fossil hydrogen. hydrogen plants.
Thirty-nine countries now have hydrogen > Renewable hydrogen (or ‘green hydrogen’)
4
strategies, from Australia to Chile to South can also be used instead of fossil fuels, and is
Korea. Many of them pave the way to regulatory made by passing a current of renewable
and financial support for fossil hydrogen,5 electricity through water. If the electricity used
including the EU and UK strategies, as well as the is 100% renewable, the resulting hydrogen is
US ‘Hydrogen Earthshot’ plan which promises virtually carbon free.
government funding for fossil hydrogen.6
Shell’s claims v climate impact
At present, global production of fossil hydrogen Shell has claimed that “blue [fossil] hydrogen
with CCS comes to around 700,000 tonnes per produces little to no greenhouse gas
year.7 The International Energy Agency (IEA) emissions”,11 and is advocating for a large-scale
contends that this should increase massively, expansion of fossil hydrogen.12 The company is
going up to 200 million tonnes a year by 2050,
also a member of industry lobby groups that are
with the agency saying this is needed to meet the
pushing for a huge increase in fossil hydrogen
Paris Agreement goals.8
production.13
To help assess industry’s claims for fossil
So-called ‘clean hydrogen’ – a term used by Shell
hydrogen’s climate-friendliness, Global Witness
that covers both fossil and renewable hydrogen14
investigated the greenhouse gas emissions from
– plays a prominent role in Shell’s energy
one of only a handful of existing fossil hydrogen
transition strategy, with the company aiming for
plants that use CCS.9 The plant is owned by the “a double-digit market share of global clean
oil major Shell, and is part of the company’s hydrogen sales by 2030”.15
Scotford refinery in Alberta, Canada, where the
hydrogen is used to convert tar sands bitumen The ‘Quest’ CCS system at Shell’s Albertan
into synthetic crude oil.10 hydrogen plant is one of the company’s flagship
climate projects, and is cited in Shell’s ‘Climate
Key terms Target’ briefing as an example of what it’s doing
to tackle global heating.16
> Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is a
technology that aims to prevent carbon The CCS system also featured in Shell’s ‘Energy
dioxide from entering the atmosphere at the Podcast’ series, is mentioned in the company’s
point of emission – for example in the ‘Powering Progress’ organisational strategy, and
smokestack of a power plant. The captured has been covered multiple times in its
carbon is then stored underground, or sold for promotional videos on YouTube.17
use in other industrial processes.
The CCS system was added to Shell’s Albertan
> Fossil hydrogen (or ‘blue hydrogen’) is a fuel plant in 2015, which had been producing
that oil and gas companies are promoting, hydrogen from fossil gas for several years by that
which can be used instead of fossil fuels. It’s time.18
made by converting fossil gas into hydrogen,
and using CCS to capture some of the Ben van Beurden, Shell’s CEO, attended the
emissions that occur during the production launch of the CCS system. In his speech, he said
process. CCS systems can be retrofitted to that the project “represents a significant
milestone in the successful design, construction
GLOBAL WITNESS BRIEFING JANUARY 2022 HYDROGEN’S HIDDEN EMISSIONS 3
and use of carbon capture and storage the same climate footprint as 1.2 million UK
technology on a commercial scale”,19 and that petrol-powered cars.26
CCS is “a key technology in the transition to a
Shell states that its Albertan project shows CCS is
low-carbon future and in the fight against climate
a “safe and effective measure to reduce
change.”20
CO2 emissions”,27 and that the project “continues
to be a thriving example of how carbon capture
and storage is working; showing it can make a
significant contribution to lowering
CO2 emissions.”28
Global Witness believes these claims about the
CCS facility are misleading, as they create the
impression that the hydrogen plant is less
damaging for the climate than is actually the
case, while Shell’s promotional materials give no
Shell CEO Ben van Beurden launching the company’s carbon sense of the proportion of carbon dioxide emitted
capture and storage facility in Alberta, Canada in November from its hydrogen plant.
2015. Reuters/Alamy
In its promotional materials for the Albertan CCS
system, Shell says that it prevented five million
tonnes of carbon dioxide from reaching the
atmosphere in under five years.21
But this doesn’t provide a full picture of the
project’s impact on the climate, as five million
tonnes is less than half of the carbon dioxide
produced at the hydrogen plant over this period,
so it remains a major emitter.
In fact, Shell’s CCS system captures just 48% of
the carbon emissions produced at its fossil
hydrogen plant.22 This is far below the 90% or
higher carbon capture rate promised by industry
for fossil hydrogen production in general.23 Why Shell’s CCS system has a low
carbon capture rate
When the project’s overall greenhouse gas
Shell’s Albertan plant produces hydrogen
emissions are factored in, such as methane
through a process known as ‘steam methane
pollution from extracting and transporting fossil
reforming’, or SMR. This is by far the most
gas used to produce the hydrogen, only 39% of its
common way of producing hydrogen from fossil
emissions are prevented from reaching the
gas, and it will remain so for many years to
atmosphere.24
come.29
This means that while Shell’s CCS system
The Albertan government requires Shell to
captured 4.81 million tonnes of carbon dioxide
publish technical reports on the performance of
from 2015 to 2019, the hydrogen plant emitted a
its CCS system. These show that it captures
further 7.66 million tonnes of greenhouse gases
around 80% of the carbon emissions from the
over the same period.25 Per year, the plant has
SMR process.30
GLOBAL WITNESS BRIEFING JANUARY 2022 HYDROGEN’S HIDDEN EMISSIONS 4
However, the SMR process only accounts for Methane leaks or is deliberately released at every
around 60% of the carbon emissions produced at stage of the fossil gas supply chain.34 These
the hydrogen plant. Another 40% of the carbon emissions occur outside of hydrogen production
emissions come from a waste stream known as plants, and are not captured by CCS systems.
‘flue gas’, and are not captured by Shell’s CCS
system.31 Methane emissions rates
Along with the on-site carbon capture rate, the
As the CCS system captures only 80% of 60% of ‘methane emissions rate’ is a crucial factor in
the carbon emissions produced at Shell’s plant, determining the climate impact of fossil
this brings its carbon capture rate down to 48%. hydrogen production. The methane emissions
rate is the amount of methane emitted to the
Why only 39% of the project’s overall
atmosphere from a supply chain of fossil gas as a
greenhouse gas emissions are
percentage of the overall gas consumed.
captured
We know that 52% of the carbon emissions Methane emissions rates vary depending on the
produced at Shell’s hydrogen plant – the ‘on-site’ methods used to identify them, and where the
emissions – are not captured. But even this only fossil gas is sourced from. Some reports show
tells part of the story, as fossil hydrogen projects relatively low methane emissions rates. For
generate greenhouse gas emissions outside of example, the fossil gas used by Shell’s hydrogen
the production plant, which are also not plant in Alberta is estimated to have a methane
captured. These include: emissions rate of 0.6%.35
> Methane emissions from the supply chain of This is substantially lower than the IEA’s estimate
fossil gas used to produce the hydrogen – from that the average methane emissions rate from
the gas fields where it’s extracted, through to fossil gas operations globally is 1.7%.36 Other
gas processing plants and pipelines.
country-level studies have shown far higher
> Carbon emissions from the energy used to methane emissions rates of up to 8%.37
power the CCS system.32
When all of the greenhouse gas emissions from
Methane emissions from the supply chain for Shell’s fossil hydrogen project are factored in,
fossil gas are a particular concern. As a climate-
heating pollutant, methane is more than 80 times only 39% of them end up being captured.38 This
more powerful than carbon dioxide over a 20- means that from 2015 to 2019, the project
year period.33 released 7.66 million tonnes of greenhouse gases
into the atmosphere.
Sources of greenhouse gas emissions from fossil hydrogen production
GLOBAL WITNESS BRIEFING JANUARY 2022 HYDROGEN’S HIDDEN EMISSIONS 5
Greenhouse gas emissions from Shell’s Albertan fossil hydrogen plant, 2015-19
Source of GHGs
Supply chain On-site CO2 Electricity to Total GHGs Total GHGs Total GHGs
for fossil gas produced at the power the produced captured released
hydrogen plant CCS system
Tonnes of 1,580,000 10,023,000 868,000 12,469,000 4,813,000 7,656,000
GHGs
% of overall 12.7% 80.3% 7% 100% 38.6% 61.4%
GHGs
Global Witness estimates, see Annex for the methodology and sources.
Shell’s tentative plan to increase the from the supply chain for fossil gas or the
Albertan plant’s carbon capture rate energy used to power the CCS system.
In July 2021, Shell announced that it may try to Shell’s response
increase the carbon capture rate at its Albertan Global Witness requested comments from Shell
hydrogen plant to 90% or more, with a final on the findings of this investigation, but the
investment decision expected in 2023.39 However, company did not respond.
even if Shell goes ahead with the proposed
project expansion, a number of points need to be First Nations’ fightback
considered: The damaging effects of fossil hydrogen don’t
stop at high greenhouse gas emissions. Hydrogen
> The hydrogen produced would carry on
made from fossil gas is inextricably linked to
being used to refine fossil fuels40 that will be
fossil fuel industries that are having destructive
burnt and emit greenhouse gases, even though
the vast majority of Canada’s oil reserves need impacts on people’s health and livelihoods in
to stay in the ground to stand a 50% chance of Indigenous and other marginalised communities.
limiting global heating to 1.5°C.41
As an important element of Shell’s tar sands
Canada has ratified the Paris Agreement which operations, the Albertan hydrogen plant plays a
aims to limit warming to this level, and Shell role in supporting one of the most
claims that it supports this goal.42 As such, environmentally damaging extractive
Shell should be actively working to phase out developments in the world,43 which has
its high carbon businesses, rather than using encroached on Indigenous people’s traditional
hydrogen to claim its fossil fuel products can
lands for decades.44
be greener.
> Success is not guaranteed. As shown below Tar sands production in Alberta – essentially
on page 10, almost 80% of government- mining and processing bitumen to produce oil –
backed, large-scale CCS projects initiated over covers an area the size of England, and is one of
the past three decades have been cancelled or the largest extractive projects on Earth.45 The
suspended, and at least some of the CCS industry is causing environmental damage on a
projects currently operating are capturing huge scale, including high greenhouse gas
carbon at lower rates than intended. emissions, large-scale deforestation, air and
> Even if Shell managed to increase the water pollution, contamination of wildlife and
carbon capture rate at its hydrogen plant, this land disturbance.46
would not reduce greenhouse gas emissions
GLOBAL WITNESS BRIEFING JANUARY 2022 HYDROGEN’S HIDDEN EMISSIONS 6
As Melina Laboucan-Massimo, a member of the
Lubicon Cree First Nation said, “whether it be
from toxic emissions and water contamination to
the complete fragmenting and decimation of the
boreal forest, tar sands development is
completely altering our homelands and
destroying the very foundation of who we are as
Indigenous peoples.”47
First Nations communities have been seeking
justice for the damaging impacts of tar sands
extraction on their health, livelihoods and land The Albian tar sands project in Alberta, Canada, part-owned by
Shell. Larry MacDougal/Design Pics Inc/Alamy
rights for many years. In 2008 for example, the
Beaver Lake Cree Nation sued the federal and Thirteen years after it was filed, the case is
Albertan governments for failing to uphold its ongoing and is not due to reach trial until 2024.52
treaty rights.48 The protracted timeline highlights how difficult it
can be for Indigenous communities to access
Activists say that Beaver Lake Cree territory has
environmental justice, with legal cases often
been adversely affected by a huge number of
taking a decade or more.
industrial projects and infrastructure. These
include 35,000 oil and gas sites, 21,700 kilometres Currently, the Beaver Lake Cree Nation is fighting
of seismic lines, 4,028 kilometres of pipeline and to obtain a court order that would see the
948 kilometres of road.49 Canadian and Albertan governments pay for
some of the legal costs – a remedy that has
The lawsuit claims that the impacts of these historically been granted to some Indigenous
developments are preventing the Beaver Lake Nations to ensure their access to justice.
Cree Nation from exercising their treaty rights,
including to hunt and fish in their traditional Representatives for the Beaver Lake Cree Nation
territories. say that, while it has access to funds, these are
needed for essential services and emergency
The case could set a powerful precedent that support, such as repairing trucks that bring clean
would force regulators to evaluate industrial water to the community. According to one report,
projects not on a one-by-one, piecemeal basis, 85% of homes in the Beaver Lake reserve
but according to the cumulative impacts of community are not connected to the main water
industrial development on treaty rights.50 line.53
As Crystal Lameman, treaty coordinator for the In an interview with The Narwhal, Crystal
Beaver Lake Cree Nation said: “Indigenous rights Lameman said: “Had we put all that money
are the last stronghold we have to stop the towards the litigation, we would have no money
unmitigated expansion of the tar sands at source.
to fix our school.”54
The Beaver Lake Cree are carrying a case on their
backs that could set historical precedence: Lameman sees a double standard in how her
success would mean that it would become much nation is being treated. “A court would not say,
harder if not impossible to expand tar sands ‘Alberta, you need to be completely broke.’ The
projects and would greatly curtail the industry’s same application would not be applied to a
expansion plans.”51 municipality, to a provincial government, to the
federal government,” she added. “The systemic
GLOBAL WITNESS BRIEFING JANUARY 2022 HYDROGEN’S HIDDEN EMISSIONS 7
racism is so deeply embedded… The fact they which Shell is considering as part of its tentative
feel they can do this to a First Nations plans to expand the Albertan project.
government is the reason why we didn’t just let
However, this would incur even higher costs.
this die.”55
Shell reports that capturing flue gas emissions
An economically unviable would increase the cost of installing CCS at fossil
technology? hydrogen plants by 60%, partly because it
The low carbon capture rate at Shell’s fossil requires larger carbon capture equipment.58
hydrogen plant comes despite its CCS system Applying CCS to flue gas emissions would
receiving US$654 million in government therefore increase what already appear to be
subsidies, with the total cost of the CCS system prohibitively high costs. According to Shell, a
being a reported US$1 billion.56 typically-sized hydrogen plant that sells the
captured carbon dioxide could lose US$12 million
According to a 2019 study by the IEA Greenhouse
a year in revenues if it applied CCS to the flue gas
Gas R&D Programme (IEAGHG), the high capital
and operating costs of Shell’s Albertan CCS emissions, because of the high cost.59
system show that deploying CCS in heavy oil
Cleaner fossil hydrogen: more
processing plants is “not yet economic without
industry hype?
considerable support in the form of government
Some industry lobby groups have admitted that –
or external funding.”57 As a means to address
when applied to SMR plants – CCS can result in
Canada’s obligations under the Paris Agreement,
this is a poor use of tax-payer dollars. low emissions capture rates.60 As it traps only
48% of the on-site carbon emissions, Shell’s
The US$1 billion outlay covered the cost of Albertan CCS system is a case in point.
capturing only 48% of the on-site carbon
emissions. More of the on-site emissions could be So instead of producing it with SMR technology,
captured by applying CCS to the flue gas outlet, supporters of fossil hydrogen say that new
production plants can be built that use different
technologies to make hydrogen from fossil gas.
First Nation activists Melina Laboucan-Massimo (fifth from left) and Crystal Lameman (sixth from left) on the front row of a march in
Washington DC. Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP/Shutterstock
GLOBAL WITNESS BRIEFING JANUARY 2022 HYDROGEN’S HIDDEN EMISSIONS 8
These are ‘autothermal reforming’ (ATR), and The EU regulations exclude any hydrogen that
‘partial oxidation’ (POx).61 emits three or more tonnes of greenhouse gasses
for every tonne of hydrogen produced67 (Shell’s
ATR and POx technologies still generate high on- Albertan plant emits double the EU limit, largely
site carbon emissions, so they would need CCS as a consequence of its low carbon capture
systems to capture these emissions.62 rate).68
The on-site carbon emissions from ATR and POx Researchers have shown that even if an ATR plant
plants are released at one point in the hydrogen had a high carbon capture rate of 98%, the
production process, rather than two points as methane emissions rate for its fossil gas supply
with SMR.63 This means that, in theory, CCS would need to be below 0.6% for the hydrogen to
systems would be able to capture a higher comply with the EU’s sustainability regulations.69
proportion of on-site emissions at ATR and POx This analysis uses a 100-year ‘Global Warming
plants than is the case with SMR plants. Potential’ value for methane (see box below).
ATR and POx technologies, so industry claims, If a 20-year methane Global Warming Potential
can outperform SMR with carbon capture rates of value is used, the methane emissions rate for
94%64 to 98%.65 However, promises of low fossil gas supplied to an ATR plant would need to
emissions from these technologies should be be even lower – under 0.2% – for the hydrogen to
treated with caution, for several reasons: comply with the EU regulations, assuming a high
carbon capture rate of 98%.70
Emissions from ATR and POx plants
can easily exceed the limit allowed Methane’s Global Warming Potential
by EU sustainability rules Methane’s impact on the climate is commonly
The carbon capture rates cited for ATR and POx measured by its ‘Global Warming Potential’
technologies don’t account for the overall (GWP) over time. Over a 20-year period, methane
greenhouse gas emissions produced, such as is estimated to be 83 times more powerful than
from the fossil gas supply chain and from carbon dioxide as a climate heating gas. Over a
powering CCS systems. Once these are factored 100-year period, methane is 30 times more
in, the proportion of emissions released into the potent than carbon dioxide.71
atmosphere will be higher, and potentially much
Because methane emissions make up a
higher if the methane emissions rate is high.66
substantial proportion of fossil hydrogen’s
Even with low methane emissions and high climate footprint, estimates of fossil hydrogen’s
carbon capture rates, greenhouse gas emissions overall emissions can vary significantly
from fossil hydrogen produced with ATR and POx depending on which GWP timeframe for methane
technologies could easily exceed the limit is used.
allowed by new EU sustainability regulations,
If a 20-year GWP value is used, this results in
which include criteria that define which
methane emissions making a higher contribution
investments are environmentally sustainable.
to fossil hydrogen’s overall emissions than a 100-
Meeting these criteria is desirable for companies year GWP value for methane.
as it could bring significant commercial benefits,
The emissions figures for fossil hydrogen cited in
such as making them more attractive to
this briefing, including for Shell’s Albertan plant,
investors, enhanced competitiveness and further
use the more conservative 100-year GWP value
policy support from governments.
for methane, unless otherwise stated.
GLOBAL WITNESS BRIEFING JANUARY 2022 HYDROGEN’S HIDDEN EMISSIONS 9
Studies on countries that export fossil gas to the projects in this dataset, 78% had been cancelled
EU have found methane emissions rates that far or suspended for three years or more.75
exceed the levels needed to comply with the EU’s
sustainability regulations for hydrogen. The high project failure rate means that globally,
existing CCS systems have the capacity to capture
For example, a report by MIT researchers on fossil only 17% of the carbon emissions that
gas used in the US power sector estimates that announced CCS systems aimed to capture.76
methane emissions rates range from 1.5% to
4.9%.72 Another study estimates that Russian The actual volume of carbon being captured by
fossil gas, which makes up around 40% of the existing CCS systems may be even lower than this
EU’s gas imports, has methane emissions rates of 17% figure, as several of them are capturing less
5% to 7%.73 carbon than intended.77
If ATR or POx plants used fossil gas with methane As such, a concern is that CCS systems for ATR or
emissions at these rates, the resulting hydrogen POx plants could capture less carbon than
would almost certainly overshoot the EU limit by promised, or fail completely.
a much wider margin, even if they achieved high
carbon capture rates. The SMR problem doesn’t go away
SMR will remain the dominant technology used to
Emissions from ATR production v EU produce hydrogen from fossil gas for many years
sustainability regulations to come. SMR plants already produce large
Methane Global Warming 20 years 100 years volumes of hydrogen – around 53 million tonnes
Potential per year globally.78 According to the Energy
Transitions Commission, currently there are no
Carbon capture rate 98% 98%
ATR or POx plants that use CCS to produce fossil
Methane emissions rate 0.2% 0.6% hydrogen,79 and CCS systems can take six to 10
Greenhouse gasses 3 tonnes years to build.80
emitted per tonne of (25 kgCO2e/GJ H2)
hydrogen produced So even if energy companies planned a large
expansion of ATR or POx plants, it would be many
EU sustainability Below 3 tonnes
years before they overtook production from SMR
regulations – greenhouse
plants, if at all.
gas emissions threshold
for hydrogen per tonne
The vast majority of existing SMR plants have no
produced
CCS systems in place. Together, they emit around
Source: Baur et al, 2021. 600 million tonnes of greenhouse gases every
year81 – more than the UK’s and Italy’s combined
Carbon capture’s dismal track record
annual emissions from burning fossil fuels.82
Globally, CCS technology has received billions of
Shell’s Albertan plant highlights the risk that
dollars in public funding over the past three
applying CCS to try and decarbonise more of the
decades.74 Despite this, promises made by
world’s SMR plants could result in only a fraction
industry that CCS will be an effective tool for
of these emissions being captured, which would
reducing carbon emissions have consistently
be disastrous for the climate.
failed to materialise.
Therefore, the problems inherent in using CCS to
A study of 263 government-supported CCS
reduce emissions from SMR plants, as outlined in
projects shows that of the 127 large-scale
this briefing, remain critical.
GLOBAL WITNESS BRIEFING JANUARY 2022 HYDROGEN’S HIDDEN EMISSIONS 10Viable alternatives exist Global Witness is calling for an accelerated
Carbon-free alternatives to fossil hydrogen are transition away from fossil gas and with it, an end
available. These include direct electrification to the industry’s destructive impacts on local
from renewables, energy efficiency, renewable communities. To help achieve this goal:
hydrogen, and phasing out refineries. Policymakers, including in Canada, the US and
In the EU, energy scenario modelling shows that EU should not provide regulatory or financial
genuinely sustainable options such as these support for new fossil hydrogen projects. Instead
would be able to meet the Paris Agreement goals they should work to phase out existing fossil
by 2040 without the need for any fossil hydrogen plants, and promote carbon-free
hydrogen,83 and they can be ramped up within a alternatives to fossil hydrogen.
similar timeframe to proposed new fossil Shell should be fully transparent about the
hydrogen capacity.84 emissions from its fossil hydrogen plant, stop
claiming fossil hydrogen is ‘low carbon’ and end
its lobbying – directly and through industry
associations – for governments’ support for fossil
hydrogen.
The Canadian government should ensure that
communities affected by fossil fuel development
have access to justice and are able to hold
companies accountable for human rights and
environmental harms.
A wind and solar energy development near Shanghai, China.
Boosting renewables is a viable alternative to fossil hydrogen.
Yaorusheng/Getty Images
Hydrogen policy for a safe climate
Fossil fuel companies see fossil hydrogen as a
way of continuing to make profits from extracting
and burning fossil gas, whilst greenwashing it at
the same time. This is despite all the evidence
that fossil gas needs a rapid and managed
phaseout to avoid catastrophic global heating.
As this briefing illustrates, any push to increase
fossil hydrogen production would be dangerous.
Far from being a low carbon fuel, hydrogen from
fossil gas generates unacceptably high climate-
heating emissions, and is inextricably linked to
fossil fuel industries that are having devastating
impacts on communities of colour.
GLOBAL WITNESS BRIEFING JANUARY 2022 HYDROGEN’S HIDDEN EMISSIONS 11Annex: methodology and sources
The emissions totals presented here for Shell’s Albertan hydrogen plant are estimates based on data
published by Shell and the Pembina Institute, a leading Canadian energy think tank.
Table 1: On-site CO2 captured as a percentage of overall CO2e produced by Shell’s Albertan
hydrogen project
Figure Calculation Source
On-site CO2 captured 33.8 gCO2/MJ H2 On-site CO2 emitted (gCO2/MJ H2) –
Pembina Institute, table 2, ‘Plant
= 36.6 / 52 x 48
operation’, page 12:
= on-site CO2 emitted https://www.pembina.org/reports/carbo
(gCO2/MJ H2) / % of on-site n-intensity-of-blue-hydrogen-revised.pdf
CO2 emitted x % of on-site
On-site CO2 captured (%) – Pembina
CO2 captured
Institute, table 2, ‘Carbon capture rate’,
page 12:
https://www.pembina.org/reports/carbo
n-intensity-of-blue-hydrogen-revised.pdf
Overall CO2e produced 87.6 gCO2e/MJ H2 Overall CO2e emitted – Pembina
Institute, table 2, ‘GHG intensity total’,
= 53.8 + 33.8
page 12:
= overall CO2e emitted + CO2 https://www.pembina.org/reports/carbo
captured (gCO2/MJ H2) n-intensity-of-blue-hydrogen-revised.pdf
On-site CO2 captured as % 38.6%
of overall CO2e produced
= 33.8 / 87.6 x 100
Table 2: CO2e emissions from Shell’s Albertan hydrogen project expressed in tonnes, 2015-19
Figure Calculation Source
Overall CO2e produced 12.469 Mt On-site CO2 captured (Mt) – Shell, table
4-1, page 4-2:
= 4.813 / 38.6 x 100
https://open.alberta.ca/dataset/f74375f3
= on-site CO2 captured (Mt) / -3c73-4b9c-af2b-
on-site CO2 captured as % of ef44e59b7890/resource/ff260985-e616-
overall CO2e produced x 100 4d2e-92e0-
9b91f5590136/download/energy-quest-
annual-summary-alberta-department-
of-energy-2019.pdf
% of overall CO2e produced – GW
calculation shown in Annex, table 1
GLOBAL WITNESS BRIEFING JANUARY 2022 HYDROGEN’S HIDDEN EMISSIONS 12On-site CO2 emitted 5.210 Mt On-site CO2 emitted (gCO2/MJ H2) –
Pembina Institute, table 2, ‘Plant
= 36.6 / 87.6 x 12.469
operation’, page 12:
= on-site CO2 emitted https://www.pembina.org/reports/carbo
(gCO2/MJ H2) / overall CO2e n-intensity-of-blue-hydrogen-revised.pdf
produced (gCO2e/MJ H2) x
Overall CO2e produced (gCO2e/MJ H2) –
overall CO2e produced (Mt)
GW calculation shown in Annex, table 1
CO2e emitted from the 1.580 Mt CO2e emitted from gas supply (gCO2/MJ
fossil gas supply chain H2) – Pembina Institute, table 2, ‘Natural
= 11.1 / 87.6 x 12.469
gas production and transport’, page 12:
= CO2e emitted from gas https://www.pembina.org/reports/carbo
supply (gCO2e/MJ H2) / n-intensity-of-blue-hydrogen-revised.pdf
overall CO2e produced
(gCO2e/MJ H2) x overall CO2e
produced (Mt)
CO2e emitted from 0.868 Mt CO2e from CCS system (gCO2e/MJ H2) –
powering the CCS system Pembina Institute, table 2, ‘Electricity’,
= 6.1 / 87.6 x 12.469
page 12:
= CO2e emitted from CCS https://www.pembina.org/reports/carbo
system (gCO2e/MJ H2) / n-intensity-of-blue-hydrogen-revised.pdf
overall CO2e produced
(gCO2e/MJ H2) x overall CO2e
(Mt)
Overall CO2e emitted 7.656 Mt
= 12.469 - 4.813
= overall CO2e produced -
CO2 captured
*Due to rounding and the use of two different data sources, the overall CO2e emissions figure total shown in row 2 does
not match exactly the sum of the broken-down emissions figures.
Table 3: Average annual emissions from Shell’s Albertan hydrogen project compared with
average annual emissions from UK petrol cars
Average annual GHG emissions from one UK petrol-powered car
Figure Calculation Source
Average fuel consumption 163.9 gallons Average miles travelled per UK petrol car
per UK petrol car per year per year (2020) – UK Department for
= 5,900 / 36
Transport, reported by Nimblefins:
GLOBAL WITNESS BRIEFING JANUARY 2022 HYDROGEN’S HIDDEN EMISSIONS 13= average miles travelled per https://www.nimblefins.co.uk/cheap-
UK petrol car per year / car-insurance/average-car-mileage-uk#
average miles per gallon for
Average miles per gallon for UK petrol
UK petrol cars
cars – Spritmonitor data, reported by
Nimblefins:
https://www.nimblefins.co.uk/cheap-
car-insurance/average-mpg
CO2 emitted per UK petrol 1,456.58 kg CO2 emissions per gallon of petrol – US
car per year Environmental Protection Agency:
= 163.9 x 8.887
https://www.epa.gov/energy/greenhous
= average petrol e-gases-equivalencies-calculator-
consumption per UK petrol calculations-and-references#gasoline
car per year x CO2 emissions
per gallon of petrol
Total CO2e emissions per 1,466.85 kg Ratio of CO2 emissions to total GHG
UK petrol car per year, emissions – US Environmental
= 1,456.58 / 0.993
after factoring in GHG Protection Agency:
emissions other than CO2 = CO2 emitted per UK petrol https://www.epa.gov/energy/greenhous
car per year / ratio of CO2 e-gases-equivalencies-calculator-
emissions to total CO2e calculations-and-references#gasoline
emissions
Average annual GHG emissions from Shell’s Albertan hydrogen plant
On-site CO2 emissions 4.442 Mt Shell, table 4-1, page 4-2:
captured by Shell’s CCS https://open.alberta.ca/dataset/f74375f3
system over 4 full years’ -3c73-4b9c-af2b-
operation, 2016-19 ef44e59b7890/resource/ff260985-e616-
4d2e-92e0-
9b91f5590136/download/energy-quest-
annual-summary-alberta-department-
of-energy-2019.pdf
Overall CO2e emitted, 7.066 Mt % of overall CO2e emissions captured
2016-19 and emitted – GW calculation shown in
= 4.442 / 38.6 x 61.4
Annex, table 1
= on-site CO2 emissions
captured (Mt) / % of overall
CO2e emissions captured x %
of overall CO2e emitted
Average annual CO2e 1.767 Mt
emissions from Shell’s
= 7.066 / 4
plant
GLOBAL WITNESS BRIEFING JANUARY 2022 HYDROGEN’S HIDDEN EMISSIONS 14= Overall CO2e emitted /
years of full operation
Number of UK petrol cars 1,213,000 cars
whose average annual
= 1,767,000 / 1.45658
CO2e emissions equal the
average annual CO2e = annual CO2e emissions
emissions from Shell’s from Shell’s plant (t) / CO2e
hydrogen plant emitted per UK petrol car per
year (t)
GLOBAL WITNESS BRIEFING JANUARY 2022 HYDROGEN’S HIDDEN EMISSIONS 15ENDNOTES
1
Earthjustice, ‘Reclaiming hydrogen for a renewable 11
Shell, ‘Q&A: Will CO2 capture help Canada mobilise a
future: distinguishing oil & gas industry spin from zero clean hydrogen economy?’, 21 January 2021:
emission solutions’, August 2021, page 12: https://www.shell.com/business-customers/catalysts-
https://earthjustice.org/sites/default/files/files/hydrogen technologies/resources-library/will-co2-capture-help-
_earthjustice_2021.pdf canada-mobilise-a-clean-hydrogen-economy.html
2
Consumption of hydrogen is not entirely emissions-free, 12
Recharge, ‘Large-scale blue hydrogen may still be
however. Burning hydrogen fuel produces nitrogen oxide, needed, even if green H2 is cheaper, says Shell VP’, 19
an air pollutant that can have severe adverse effects on April 2021: https://www.rechargenews.com/energy-
human health. Renewable Energy World, ‘Hydrogen hype transition/large-scale-blue-hydrogen-may-still-be-
in the air’, 21 December 2020: needed-even-if-green-h2-is-cheaper-says-shell-vp/2-1-
https://www.renewableenergyworld.com/hydrogen/hydr 997772
ogen-hype-in-the-air/#gref. Also, if hydrogen leaks from
infrastructure such as pipelines, it acts as an indirect
13
Hydrogen Council, ‘Hydrogen decarbonization
greenhouse gas by reacting with methane and ozone pathways: potential supply scenarios’, January 2021,
present in the atmosphere. Euractiv, ‘Scientists warn page 11: https://hydrogencouncil.com/wp-
against global warming effect of hydrogen leaks’, 14 content/uploads/2021/01/Hydrogen-Council-
October 2021: Report_Decarbonization-Pathways_Part-2_Supply-
https://www.euractiv.com/section/climate- Scenarios.pdf; Hydrogen4EU, ‘Charting pathways to
environment/news/scientists-warn-against-global- enable net zero’, 2021, page 8: https://2d214584-e7cb-
warming-effect-of-hydrogen-leaks/ 4bc2-bea8-
d8b7122be636.filesusr.com/ugd/2c85cf_69f4b1bd94c543
3
Hydrogen Council, ‘Hydrogen decarbonization 9f9b1f87b55af46afd.pdf
pathways: a lifecycle assessment’, January 2021, page 6:
https://hydrogencouncil.com/wp-
14
Shell, ‘Energy transition strategy 2021’, footnote, page
content/uploads/2021/01/Hydrogen-Council- 18: https://www.shell.com/promos/energy-and-
Report_Decarbonization-Pathways_Part-1-Lifecycle- innovation/shell-energy-transition-
Assessment.pdf; Global CCS Institute, ‘Blue hydrogen’, strategy/_jcr_content.stream/1618407326759/7c3d5b317
2021, page 7: https://www.globalccsinstitute.com/wp- 351891d2383b3e9f1e511997e516639/shell-energy-
content/uploads/2021/04/Circular-Carbon-Economy- transition-strategy-2021.pdf
series-Blue-Hydrogen.pdf 15
Ibid, page 18.
4
Hydrogen Council, ‘Hydrogen for net-zero: a critical cost- 16
Shell, ‘Our climate target’, 2021, page 4 of pdf version:
competitive energy vector’, November 2021, page 8: https://www.shell.com/energy-and-innovation/the-
https://hydrogencouncil.com/wp- energy-future/our-climate-
content/uploads/2021/11/Hydrogen-for-Net-Zero_Full- target.html#iframe=L3dlYmFwcHMvY2xpbWF0ZV9hbWJp
Report.pdf dGlvbi8
5
Longden, T et al, ‘“Clean” hydrogen? An analysis of the 17
Shell, ‘The Energy Podcast’, May 2019:
emissions and costs of fossil fuel based versus renewable https://open.spotify.com/episode/7wx5m0LTMgf5sm5Ab
electricity based hydrogen’, Australian National BhDR7?si=653125cd3fea4c6b; Shell, ‘Powering Progress’,
University, March 2021, pages 6 and 7: February 2021, page 9 of pdf:
https://crawford.anu.edu.au/publication/ccep-working- https://www.shell.com/powering-
paper/18648/clean-hydrogen-analysis-emissions-and- progress.html#iframe=Lw; Shell, ‘Can carbon capture and
costs-fossil-fuel-based storage tackle climate change?’, 10 December 2018:
6
US Department of Energy, ‘DOE announces $52.5 million https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ppa7gAb1NCo; Shell,
to accelerate progress in clean hydrogen’, 7 July 2021: ‘How it works: carbon capture and storage’, 6 November
https://www.energy.gov/articles/doe-announces-525- 2015: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EyPI20h9kx0
million-accelerate-progress-clean-hydrogen 18
Alberta Chamber of Resources, Scotford Upgrader:
7
International Energy Agency, ‘Global hydrogen review https://www.acr-alberta.com/members/shell-
2021’, October 2021, page 130: scotford/#:~:text=In%202003%2C%20Shell%20opened%2
https://iea.blob.core.windows.net/assets/3a2ed84c-9ea0- 0an,Canada%2C%20Canadian%20Natural%20and%20Ch
458c-9421- evron.
d166a9510bc0/GlobalHydrogenReview2021.pdf 19
Shell, ‘Shell launches Quest carbon capture and storage
8
International Energy Agency, ‘Net zero by 2050: a project’, 6 November 2015:
roadmap for the global energy sector’, July 2021, page https://www.shell.com/media/news-and-media-
109: https://iea.blob.core.windows.net/assets/beceb956- releases/2015/shell-launches-quest-carbon-capture-and-
0dcf-4d73-89fe-1310e3046d68/NetZeroby2050- storage-project.html
ARoadmapfortheGlobalEnergySector_CORR.pdf 20
Shell, ‘CCS: the world is watching’, 6 November 2015:
9
International Energy Agency, ‘Global hydrogen review https://www.shell.com/media/speeches-and-
2021’, October 2021, page 130: articles/2015/quest-ccs-the-world-is-
https://iea.blob.core.windows.net/assets/3a2ed84c-9ea0- watching.html#:~:text=Carbon%20capture%20and%20st
458c-9421- orage%20(CCS,CCS%20in%20the%20long%20term
d166a9510bc0/GlobalHydrogenReview2021.pdf 21
Shell, ‘Quest CCS facility captures and stores five million
10
Shell, Scotford Upgrader: tonnes of CO2 ahead of fifth anniversary’, 10 July 2020:
https://www.shell.ca/en_ca/about-us/projects-and- https://www.shell.ca/en_ca/media/news-and-media-
sites/scotford.html
GLOBAL WITNESS BRIEFING JANUARY 2022 HYDROGEN’S HIDDEN EMISSIONS 1636
International Energy Agency, ‘World energy outlook
releases/news-releases-2020/quest-ccs-facility-captures- 2017’, page 399:
and-stores-five-million-tonnes.html; @Shell, tweet, 10 https://iea.blob.core.windows.net/assets/4a50d774-5e8c-
July 2020: 457e-bcc9-
https://twitter.com/shell/status/1281643369006010368?l 513357f9b2fb/World_Energy_Outlook_2017.pdf. A 2021
ang=en global study of 252 fossil gas supply chains found that
their average methane emissions rate is 1.7%, matching
22
Pembina Institute, ‘Carbon intensity of blue hydrogen the IEA’s 2017 figure. Cooper et al, ‘The quantification of
production: accounting for technology and upstream methane emissions and assessment of emissions data for
emissions’, August 2021, page 12: the largest natural gas supply chains’, Journal of Cleaner
https://www.pembina.org/reports/carbon-intensity-of- Production, October 2021, page 8 (paywall):
blue-hydrogen-revised.pdf https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959
23
Hydrogen Council, ‘Hydrogen decarbonization 652621030523
pathways: a lifecycle assessment’, January 2021, page 6: 37
Bauer, C et al, ‘On the climate impacts of blue hydrogen
https://hydrogencouncil.com/wp- production’, Sustainable Energy & Fuels, 7 January 2022,
content/uploads/2021/01/Hydrogen-Council- page 73:
Report_Decarbonization-Pathways_Part-1-Lifecycle- https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlepdf/2022/se/d1se0
Assessment.pdf; Global CCS Institute, ‘Blue hydrogen’, 1508g
April 2021, page 7:
https://www.globalccsinstitute.com/wp- 38
See Annex, table 1.
content/uploads/2021/04/Circular-Carbon-Economy-
series-Blue-Hydrogen.pdf
39
Shell, ‘Shell proposes large-scale CCS facility in Alberta’,
13 July 2021: https://www.shell.ca/en_ca/media/news-
24
See Annex, table 1. and-media-releases/news-releases-2021/shell-proposes-
large-scale-ccs-facility-in-alberta.html
25
See Annex, table 2.
40
Ibid.
26
See Annex, table 3.
41
Welsby, D et al, ‘Unextractable fossil fuels in a 1.5°C
27
Shell, ‘Quest carbon capture and storage’: world’, Nature, 8 September 2021, page 231:
https://www.shell.ca/en_ca/about-us/projects-and- https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03821-8.pdf
sites/quest-carbon-capture-and-storage-project.html
42
Shell, ‘Our climate target’, 2021, page 1 of pdf version:
28
Shell, ‘Quest CCS facility captures and stores five million https://www.shell.com/energy-and-innovation/the-
tonnes of CO2 ahead of fifth anniversary’, 10 July 2020: energy-future/our-climate-
https://www.shell.ca/en_ca/media/news-and-media- target.html#iframe=L3dlYmFwcHMvY2xpbWF0ZV9hbWJp
releases/news-releases-2020/quest-ccs-facility-captures- dGlvbi8
and-stores-five-million-tonnes.html
43
National Geographic, ‘This is the world’s most
29
See page 10 of this briefing for details of current high destructive oil operation – and it’s growing’, 11 April 2019:
production volumes from SMR plants vis-à-vis long lead https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/articl
times for constructing new fossil hydrogen plants that use e/alberta-canadas-tar-sands-is-growing-but-indigenous-
different production technologies to SMR. people-fight-back
30
Shell, ‘Quest CO2 capture ratio performance’, February 44
Melina Laboucan-Massimo, ‘Awaiting justice:
2020, page 6: https://open.alberta.ca/dataset/f74375f3- Indigenous resistance in the tar sands of Canada’, Open
3c73-4b9c-af2b-ef44e59b7890/resource/c36cf890-3b27- Democracy, 22 April 2015:
4e7e-b95b-3370cd0d9f7d/download/energy-quest-co2- https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/5050/awaiting-
capture-ratio-performance-2019.pdf justice-indigenous-resistance-to-tar-sand-development-
31
Pembina Institute, ‘Carbon intensity of blue hydrogen in-cana/
production: accounting for technology and upstream 45
Greenpeace Canada, ‘Everything you need to know
emissions’, August 2021, page 3: about the tar sands and how they impact you’, 17 May
https://www.pembina.org/reports/carbon-intensity-of- 2021:
blue-hydrogen-revised.pdf https://www.greenpeace.org/canada/en/story/3138/ever
32
Howarth, R & Jacobson, M, ‘How green is blue ything-you-need-to-know-about-the-tar-sands-and-how-
hydrogen?’, July 2021, table 1, page 1,679: they-impact-you/
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ese3.95 46
World Resources Institute, ‘Tar sands threaten world’s
6 largest boreal forest’, 15 July 2014:
33
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Sixth https://www.wri.org/insights/tar-sands-threaten-worlds-
Assessment Report, ‘Climate change 2021: the physical largest-boreal-forest; Natural Resources Defence Council,
science basis’, 6 August 2021, table 7.15, page 7-125: ‘10 threats from the Canadian tar sands industry’, 13
https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/downloads/report/I August 2015: https://www.nrdc.org/stories/10-threats-
PCC_AR6_WGI_Full_Report_smaller.pdf canadian-tar-sands-industry; Scientific American, ‘New
tar sands impact on air pollution found’, 25 May 2016:
34
Global Energy Monitor, The Gas Index: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/new-tars-
https://thegasindex.org/where-leaks-occur/ sands-impact-on-air-pollution-found/; McLachlan, M &
35
Pembina Institute, ‘Carbon intensity of blue hydrogen Riddell, C ‘“Water is a living thing”: environmental and
production: accounting for technology and upstream human health implications of the Athabasca Oil Sands for
emissions’, August 2021, page 12: the Mikisew Cree First Nation and Athabasca Chipewyan
https://www.pembina.org/reports/carbon-intensity-of- First Nation in Northern Alberta’, July 2014:
blue-hydrogen-revised.pdf https://bit.ly/3IzJstm
GLOBAL WITNESS BRIEFING JANUARY 2022 HYDROGEN’S HIDDEN EMISSIONS 17content/uploads/2021/04/ETC-Global-Hydrogen-
47
Indigenous Environmental Network & UK Tar Sands Report.pdf
Network, ‘Get Shell out of the tar sands’, June 2011, page
4: https://www.no-tar-sands.org/files/wp-
62
Energy Transitions Commission, ibid, page 25:
content/uploads/2011/06/ien_shell_factsheet- https://energy-transitions.org/wp-
webntsn.pdf content/uploads/2021/04/ETC-Global-Hydrogen-
Report.pdf
48
Intercontinental Cry, ‘Beaver Lake identifies 16,000
infringements in lawsuit’, 20 May 2008:
63
Pembina Institute, ‘Carbon intensity of blue hydrogen
https://intercontinentalcry.org/beaver-lake-identifies- production: accounting for technology and upstream
16000-infringements-in-lawsuit/ emissions’, August 2021, pages 3 and 4:
https://www.pembina.org/reports/carbon-intensity-of-
49
RAVEN, ‘Defend the treaties – legal backgrounder’, 19 blue-hydrogen-revised.pdf
April 2018: https://raventrust.com/tarsands-trial-legal-
backgrounder/
64
Gas For Climate, ‘European hydrogen backbone:
analysing future demand, supply, and transport of
50
RAVEN, ‘Beaver Lake Cree Nation is headed to the hydrogen’, June 2021, page 66:
Supreme Court!’, 11 September 2021: https://gasforclimate2050.eu/wp-
https://raventrust.com/beaver-lake-cree-nation-is- content/uploads/2021/06/EHB_Analysing-the-future-
headed-to-the-supreme-court-2/ demand-supply-and-transport-of-hydrogen_June-
2021_v3.pdf
51
The Guardian, ‘Life above the Alberta tar sands – why
we're taking the government to court’, 8 April 2015: 65
Hydrogen Council, ‘Hydrogen decarbonization
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/keep-it-in- pathways: a lifecycle assessment’, January 2021, page 12:
the-ground-blog/2015/apr/08/life-above-alberta-tar- https://hydrogencouncil.com/wp-
sands-why-were-taking-government-to-court content/uploads/2021/01/Hydrogen-Council-
Report_Decarbonization-Pathways_Part-1-Lifecycle-
52
The Narwhal, ‘“Are you poor enough?”: First Nations Assessment.pdf
face compounding financial hardship when defending
rights in court’, 12 June 2021: https://thenarwhal.ca/first- 66
Emissions modelling by Antonioni et al assumes a 98%
nations-canada-indigenous-rights-beaver-lake/ carbon capture rate for hydrogen produced using
autothermal reforming technology. When lifecycle
53
Ibid. emissions are factored in, the capture rate falls as low as
54
Ibid. 79%. The study assumes a relatively low methane
emissions rate of 0.6%. If the methane emissions rate
55
Ibid. were higher, the overall capture rate would be even
56
IEAGHG, ‘The Quest carbon capture and storage lower. Antonioni, C et al, ‘Hydrogen production from
project’, September 2019, page 23: natural gas and biomethane with carbon capture and
https://ieaghg.org/publications/technical- storage – a techno-environmental analysis’, Sustainable
reports/reports-list/9-technical-reports/949-2019-04-the- Energy & Fuels, 1 April 2020, page 2,979, figure 4:
shell-quest-carbon-capture-and-storage-project. The https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlepdf/2020/se/d0se0
US$1 billion figure includes the capital cost of the CCS 0222d
facility and the estimated cost of its first ten years of 67
European Commission, Taxonomy Regulation –
operation, and uses the average CAD-USD exchange rate Delegated Act, 4 July 2021, Annex 1, page 57:
for 2015 of 0.7832. https://ec.europa.eu/finance/docs/level-2-
57
Ibid, page 145. measures/taxonomy-regulation-delegated-act-2021-
2800-annex-1_en.pdf
58
Shell, ‘Carbon dioxide capture options for steam
methane reforming based hydrogen manufacturing
68
Analysis by the Pembina Institute estimates the lifecycle
units’, 2021, table 1, page 10: emissions from Shell’s Albertan hydrogen project are 53.8
https://www.globalwitness.org/documents/20218/Shell_ kg CO2e/GJ H2, using a 100-year methane Global
carbon_dioxide_capture_white_paper_- Warming Potential value. This equates to 6.5 tonnes of
_December_2021.pdf greenhouse gases emitted for every tonne of hydrogen it
produces. Pembina Institute, ‘Carbon intensity of blue
59
This assumes a carbon price of US$60 per tonne. Ibid, hydrogen production: accounting for technology and
table 1, page 10. upstream emissions’, August 2021, table 2, page 12:
https://www.pembina.org/reports/carbon-intensity-of-
60
Hydrogen Europe states that retrofitting CCS to existing blue-hydrogen-revised.pdf
fossil hydrogen plants – i.e. SMR plants – can reduce their
greenhouse gas emissions by 60%-65%. Hydrogen 69
Methane emissions figure provided to Global Witness by
Europe, ‘Hydrogen Act: towards the creation of the the Paul Scherrer Institute, based on analysis of lifecycle
European hydrogen economy’, April 2021, page 7: emissions from autothermal reforming technology
https://www.globalwitness.org/documents/20236/Hydro presented in Bauer, C et al, ‘On the climate impacts of
gen_Act_Hydrogen_Europe_-_April_2021.pdf. The Energy blue hydrogen production’, Sustainable Energy & Fuels, 7
Transitions Commission states that carbon capture rates January 2022:
of 60% can be achieved at SMR plants at a moderate cost. https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlepdf/2022/se/d1se0
Energy Transitions Commission, ‘Making the hydrogen 1508g
economy possible: accelerating clean hydrogen in an
electrified economy’, April 2021, page 25: https://energy-
70
Ibid.
transitions.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/ETC-Global- 71
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Sixth
Hydrogen-Report.pdf. Assessment Report, ‘Climate change 2021: the physical
61
Energy Transitions Commission, ibid, page 25: science basis’, 6 August 2021, table 7.15, page 7-125:
https://energy-transitions.org/wp-
GLOBAL WITNESS BRIEFING JANUARY 2022 HYDROGEN’S HIDDEN EMISSIONS 18https://www.energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2020/07/f76/US
https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/downloads/report/I DOE_FE_Hydrogen_Strategy_July2020.pdf
PCC_AR6_WGI_Full_Report_smaller.pdf 79
Energy Transitions Commission, ‘Making the hydrogen
72
Klemun, M & Trancik, J, ‘Timelines for mitigating the economy possible: accelerating clean hydrogen in an
methane impacts of using natural gas for carbon dioxide electrified economy’, April 2021, footnote 47, page 26:
abatement’, Environmental Research Letters, 16 December https://energy-transitions.org/wp-
2019, page 2: content/uploads/2021/04/ETC-Global-Hydrogen-
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748- Report.pdf. According to the International Energy Agency,
9326/ab2577/pdf a POx hydrogen plant in the Netherlands began capturing
carbon dioxide in 2005 for use in greenhouses, however
73
Abrahams, L et al, ‘Life cycle greenhouse gas emissions the plant is not fully utilising the installed carbon capture
from U.S. liquefied natural gas exports: implications for capacity. International Energy Agency, ‘Global hydrogen
end uses’, Environmental Science and Technology, 15 review 2021’, October 2021, page 129:
February 2015, page 3,243: https://iea.blob.core.windows.net/assets/3a2ed84c-9ea0-
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/es505617p 458c-9421-
74
Wang, N et al, ‘What went wrong? Learning from three d166a9510bc0/GlobalHydrogenReview2021.pdf
decades of carbon capture, utilization and sequestration 80
Global CCS Institute, ‘Net-zero and geospheric return:
(CCUS) pilot and demonstration projects’, Energy Policy, actions today for 2030 and beyond’, September 2020,
November 2021, figure 4, page 5 (paywall): page 9: https://www.globalccsinstitute.com/wp-
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S content/uploads/2020/09/Netzero-and-Geospheric-
030142152100416X Return-2.pdf
75
Ibid, page 2. The authors define government-supported 81
The International Energy Agency estimates that the
CCS projects as 1) those that are more than 50% funded global average for GHG emissions from fossil hydrogen
by government grants, or 2) executed by government production without CCS is 11.7 kgCO2e/kgH2.
bodies, universities, non-profit groups or state-owned International Energy Agency, ‘Global hydrogen review
companies. Large-scale CCS projects refer to those with a 2021’, October 2021, page 128:
CO2 capture capacity greater than 0.3 Mt per year. https://iea.blob.core.windows.net/assets/3a2ed84c-9ea0-
76
Wang et al state that: “if every CCUS project planned in 458c-9421-
the last 30 years was successfully delivered, the CO2 d166a9510bc0/GlobalHydrogenReview2021.pdf.
capture capacity in operation in 2019 would be 232 Mt Multiplying this figure by the US Department of Energy’s
CO2 per year”. This was 17% of the world’s carbon estimate for current global production of hydrogen from
capture capacity (operating and in construction) of 40 Mt fossil gas of 53 Mt per year (see endnote 78) = 620 Mt
CO2 per year in 2019, with global capture capacity CO2e.
remaining at 40 Mt CO2 in 2021. Wang, N et al, ibid, page 2; 82
International Energy Agency, Energy Atlas, CO2
Global CCS Institute, ‘Global status of CCS’, 2019 and 2021 Emissions From Fuel Combustion:
updates: http://energyatlas.iea.org/#!/tellmap/1378539487
https://www.globalccsinstitute.com/resources/global-
status-report/previous-reports/ 83
Climate Action Network Europe & European
Environmental Bureau, ‘Building a Paris Agreement
77
Sydney Morning Herald, ‘WA’s Gorgon project fails to compatible (PAC) energy scenario’, June 2020, pages 5, 8
deliver on pollution deal, adding millions of tonnes of and 40:
carbon a year’, 16 February 2021: https://www.caneurope.org/content/uploads/2020/06/PA
https://www.smh.com.au/national/millions-of-tonnes-of- C_scenario_technical_summary_29jun20.pdf; Deutsches
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Economics and Financial Analysis, ‘Carbon capture goals economic recovery’, June 2020, page 3:
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2021: https://ieefa.org/ieefa-saskpower-hits-carbon- 1.c.791736.de/diwkompakt_2020-153.pdf
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late/; Mark Jacobson, ‘The health and climate impacts of 84
Long lead times for fossil hydrogen and carbon capture
carbon capture and direct air capture’, Energy & investments mean that alternative, carbon-free options
Environmental Science, December 2018, table 2, page can be ramped up in the meantime. Also, a lack of
3,570 (paywall): availability of and access to local carbon storage facilities,
https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2019/ee/c failure to develop shared carbon pipeline networks, and
9ee02709b; Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting, public resistance to CCS could slow the pace of
‘Despite hundreds of millions in tax dollars, ADM’s carbon development of fossil hydrogen. Energy Transitions
capture program still hasn’t met promised goals’, 19 Commission, ‘Making the hydrogen economy possible:
November 2020: accelerating clean hydrogen in an electrified economy’,
https://investigatemidwest.org/2020/11/19/despite- April 2021, page 62: https://energy-transitions.org/wp-
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US Department of Energy, ‘Hydrogen strategy: enabling
a low-carbon economy’, July 2020, page 5:
GLOBAL WITNESS BRIEFING JANUARY 2022 HYDROGEN’S HIDDEN EMISSIONS 19You can also read
