Full Title: Hydrogen Policy’s Narrow Path: Delusions And Solutions: Hydrogen for Petrochemicals
Author(s): Energy Innovation
Publisher(s): Energy Innovation
Publication Date: September 10, 2024
Full Text: Download Resource
Description (excerpt):
This overview describes how electrolytic hydrogen can obviate the need for fossil fuels in making most petrochemicals. It focuses on the carbon embodied in feedstocks, which get “chemically transformed and become part of the output products,” rather than fuels, which are burned for heat or electricity and immediately release carbon as CO2 (with these functions covered in separate overviews). While temporarily fixed, the carbon in feedstocks eventually is released into the atmosphere (such as when plastics are incinerated); thus, the carbon must ultimately come from a net-zero source rather than fossil fuels.
This fact sheet is part of an Energy Innovation paper assessing clean hydrogen’s value for cutting climate pollution from 12 end uses.