SellaTheChemistFeb 25
Scathing/sobering assessment of CCS and hydrogen tech in the context of climate change from Julian Allwood. Not a comfortable read. He must have had a hard time with referees because he comments:
Given the vast investment of academic effort …it is hardly surprising that the message of this paper is challenging, and this was made evident in the extensive process of manuscript review… the conclusions of the paper, reflected in the
title, should be seen not as heresy." https://www.nature.com/articles/s44286-025-00344-1
Too late for CCS and hydrogen - Nature Chemical Engineering

Fifty years after it was commercialized, global carbon capture and storage (CCS) capacity is equal to 0.09% of global emissions. Meanwhile, global emission-free electricity generation grows at a steady, linear rate. This Perspective argues that it is now too late for CCS or hydrogen to make a substantial contribution by 2050, so other solutions are required to decarbonize industry.

Nature
Show threadPino CarafaFeb 25
@sellathechemist Alright but what about the longer term? Could they come into their own further down the line, not as the only solution, but as part of a many pronged effort?
Show threadSellaTheChemistFeb 25
@rozeboosje there is plenty of fundamental science that is very interesting. But there are strategic directions being chosen for priority funding that are just misguided and Allwood makes a very strong case that CCS and H2 are a side-show. The fact is that they have very loud and well-funded cheerleaders in the firms that make their money from burning stuff. CCS gives them the cover to keep burning. And H2 sounds like virtuous combustion. but combustion it is. More of the same.
Show threadPaul
@sellathechemist @rozeboosje I listened to David Cebon a few years ago and he made it clear that H2 was actually a good way for fossil fuel companies to sell even more gas since the process of converting to H2 throws away a bunch of the energy. If you convert a boiler to hydrogen you need more gas out of the ground to run it. https://fullycharged.show/podcasts/podcast-177-so-how-clean-is-hydrogen-actually-with-prof-david-cebon/
David Cebon - How Clean is Hydrogen? - Everything Electric

Robert Llewellyn speaks to Professor David Cebon about Hydrogen in its various forms, but how clean is hydrogen, actually?

Everything Electric
Feb 26 at 9:02amTusky
Show threadPaulFeb 26
@sellathechemist @rozeboosje Damn. Reading that back that's very much a grandmother sucking eggs kind of situation. Sorry. I just found it very enlightening the way it was explained and I didn't realise before.