Letters The Edmonton Journal Didn't Publish: Why Blue Hydrogen When There's Green?

 

Re: “A Few Glimmers of Hope,” Keith Gerein, Edmonton Journal, June 10, 2021

There as been a lot of jubilation about Pennsylvania-based Air Products’ blue hydrogen project proposed for Edmonton, but I have some concerns about a process that takes natural gas and splits it into hydrogen and carbon dioxide.

First, despite what Air Products suggests in its 2021 Sustainability Report, natural gas is not a transition fuel. The environmental impact of natural gas is significant.  Its primary component, methane, is a hundred times more potent a greenhouse gas than CO2. Unfortunately, the production of natural gas is fraught with methane leakage. Has this leakage been accounted for in the assessment of this project? As well, fracked natural gas poses a serious threat to the safety of our water supplies. Anyone concerned about our water supply would say No to using fracked gas.   

Secondly, as Gerein indicates, the CO2 generated needs to be captured and stored (CCS). But how feasible is it to bury tons of carbon produced per year? As Michael Mann, professor of atmospheric science at Penn State says, “Carelessly sequestered carbon could easily end up becoming mobilized and belched back into the atmosphere.”

My suspicion is that the carbon will be used for enhanced oil recovery.  Which, according to Dr. Mann, means “the oil that is recovered, when burned, yields several times as much carbon dioxide as was sequestered in the first place by CCS.” If enhanced oil is part of the project, the associated green house gas emissions need to be accounted for.

My question after looking into this project is, Why blue hydrogen?  Why not green hydrogen?—a  process that produces hydrogen and oxygen using renewable energy sources?

Ships at Sea

Preston Manning claims the economy is the big issue and urges Canadians to vote for Stephen Harper, the leader Manning feels is the one best able to pilot our “ship of state” during this stormy time. [1] Mr. Manning should take some Gravol. At election time, we’re always told the economy is the issue.

This time around, no matter what happens with the markets, the environment is the big issue. And on this matter, Mr. Harper is the last person we want at the helm. He’ll sink us with his aspirational, intensity based polices. On October 14 there is only one question for Canadians: carbon tax or cap and trade? For me, it’s a carbon tax.

[1] The Globe and Mail, October 6, 2008