In December 2023 during COP28, The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and Bluerisk published a new report “Water for Hydrogen Production”. The report, which is the first of its kind, offers a groundbreaking analysis of the implications on water from the global hydrogen industry. We sat down with Tianyi Luo, one of the co-authors from Bluerisk, to get key findings, learn more about the water footprint of hydrogen power and why it is important in promoting the sustainable development of the global hydrogen industry.

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CWR: Congratulations on your new report “Water for Hydrogen Production”. Can you share with us how you came up with the idea of writing this report with IRENA?

Tianyi Luo (TL): Thank you! It was indeed a collaborative effort between IRENA and Bluerisk. Hydrogen has emerged as a viable solution to climate change over the past few years. Many countries have made ambitious plans to become hydrogen producers in the coming decades. There are different technologies for producing hydrogen. Green hydrogen is one of them, which uses electrolyzers to make hydrogen from water.

There’s been a misconception that green hydrogen must be water-intensive…

…the report is for policymakers to make informed decisions

There has been a misperception that, because green hydrogen uses water to produce hydrogen, it must be water-intensive. We’ve seen protests in California where people are worried that green hydrogen development is going to suck up all of its already scarce water resources, as well as a proposed hydrogen project in Australia, got cancelled due to concerns around its availability to secure water supply in the future. We wanted to understand how hydrogen production uses water and by how much, so that policymakers can make informed decisions. That was the reason we decided to do this report in the first place.

CWR: What are some of the key findings of this report regarding water usage in different hydrogen production technologies?

TL: Through interviews with the industry and extensive literature reviews, we developed water use models for various hydrogen production technologies and compiled their water withdrawal and consumption intensity factors. The number one key finding is that, on the contrary of the misperception of many, green hydrogen is actually the most water-efficient clean hydrogen production technology.

Green hydrogen is actually the most water-efficient clean hydrogen production tech…

…by coal gasification can be very intensive

PEM (proton exchange membrane) electrolysis has the lowest water consumption intensity at about 17.5 liters per kilogram of hydrogen (L/kg), which is about 22% less than what alkaline electrolysis is required, 28% ATR-CCUS (autothermal reforming with carbon capture, utilization, and storage), and 46% SMR-CCUS (steam-methane reforming with carbon capture, utilization, and storage).

Coal gasification is by far the most water-intensive of available technologies, and would be about 60% more intensive if equipped with CCUS, averaging 80.2 L/kg in withdrawal intensity and 49.4 in consumption. To put this in perspective, a 237-kilotonne (kt) CCUS-equipped coal gasification hydrogen plant would withdraw about 19 million cubic meters of water annually, enough to support the entire population of London for half a year.

CWR: Clearly, water is very important for hydrogen power generation. Considering the widespread adoption of hydrogen in the future, what are the potential global implications for water resources?

TL: At the global scale, water requirements of the hydrogen production sector are relatively small. Today, it withdraws about 2.2 billion cubic meters of freshwater every year, accounting for about 0.6% of the energy sector’s total freshwater withdrawals.

Water withdraws now at 0.6% of energy sector’s…

…may spike 6x by 2050, which could impact local resources

By 2050, hydrogen production could be withdrawing three times as much freshwater as it is today, and its share could increase six-fold to 2.4%. However, it could be a significant water user at the local level, as the example has shown before, and could intensify local water competitions, particularly in water-stressed areas.

 

CWR: Indeed, the integration of water considerations in energy planning is crucial, particularly in regions facing water scarcity. As China aims to achieve its dual carbon goals, the rapid development of hydrogen energy will inevitably have implications for water-scarce regions within the country. Could you elaborate on how this development will impact China’s water-scarce regions specifically?

TL: Currently, China’s hydrogen production relies primarily on coal or brown hydrogen. And more than 80% of China’s brown hydrogen is produced in the Yellow River Basin which accounts for less than 4% of the country’s total water resources. The province of Shanxi is estimated to account for more than about 45% of all brown hydrogen produced in the Yellow River Basin, demanding 381 million m³ of water in withdrawal and 237 million m³ in consumption annually. That withdrawal accounted for roughly 31% of Shanxi’s total industrial water withdrawal which was about 1.2 billion m³ in 2020.

China relies on brown hydrogen & >80% produced in Yellow River Basin…

…with dual carbon goals hydrogen might grow 11% by 2030 & reach withdrawals of 930mn m³/yr

As you mentioned, due to the dual carbon goal, hydrogen could go far in advancing China’s energy transition, and is expected to grow by 11% by 2030 compared to production level in 2020. If business as usual, brown hydrogen in the Yellow River Basin would require 930 million m³ in annual water withdrawal and 580 million m³ in consumption. If CCUS were to be adopted by the brown hydrogen industry, its water withdrawal could further increase to 1.5 billion m³ and consumption to 920 million m³, 77% more than its level in 2020.

CWR: What has been the response to this report since its launch during COP28?

TL: It might be a bit early to form a comprehensive understanding of what people think of the report and our findings, but we have been getting very positive feedback from representatives from international organizations like UNIDO, AIIB, and Ceres and companies like Masdar and Ecolab.

Within China, our report was covered by a spectrum of state-owned, sector-specific news media, including China Energy News, China Environment News, and China Industry News, which was somewhat rare and really nice to see.

CWR: Based on the report, what are your main recommendations for policymakers and industry stakeholders?

TL: The most important thing I’d recommend is for policymakers to prioritize developing green hydrogen over other hydrogen production technologies in water-stressed regions. The science is clear, hydrogen production can be water intensive at the local scale, and green hydrogen is the most water efficient compared to other clean hydrogen.

Prioritize green hydrogen over other tech in water-scarce areas & integrate water usage metrics into project evaluations

Additionally, policymakers should consider adding water withdrawal and consumption factors as benchmarking indicators in evaluating and approving hydrogen project proposals. This will push the industry to become more water-conscious and to start monitoring water usage and tracking efficiency improvements, which will ultimately help reduce the industry’s reliance on water and increase its resilience to water-related risks.

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Further readings

• No River, No Power – are we energy secure when rivers run dry? — A new CWR report explores if 10 major climate-sensitive rivers still power 16 countries across Asia
• What Lessons Do The Chinese Hydropower Shortages In Summer 2022 Hold For The World? — With extreme weather on the rise, is “just enough” power the way to futureproof power systems? Experts Thomas & Fishman from The Lantau Group share their insights from the Yangtze multi-month drought
• Six Reasons To Stay Confident About China’s Decarbonisation — Is China on track for decarbonization despite economic uncertainties? What about the added coal power? Liu, independent policy consultant & journalist, anaylses and shares 6 reasons the country is on course