New Study Shows Rising Hydrogen Emissions are Heating the Planet

Rising hydrogen emissions are warming the planet. The rise of hydrogen over the last three decades has contributed to global warming by helping other gases do more damage.

Hydrogen in the Atmosphere

Hydrogen doesn’t directly warm the planet, it changes the chemistry of the atmosphere. In the air, natural chemicals act like detergents, by breaking down methane, which is one of the most powerful heat-trapping gases we release. When hydrogen levels rise, the detergents get used up, allowing methane to stick around longer and thus trapping heat for longer periods of time.

Rob Jackson, a scientist at Stanford University and senior author of the paper published in Nature and chair of the consortium explains, “Hydrogen is the world’s smallest molecule, and it readily escapes from pipelines, production facilities, and storage sites. The best way to reduce warming from hydrogen is to avoid leaks and reduce emissions of methane, which breaks down into hydrogen in the atmosphere.”

Hydrogen indirectly heats the atmosphere around 11 times faster than carbon dioxide over 100 years and around 37 times faster over the first 20 years after it’s released. The heating comes from chemistry, not heat trapping.

Hydrogen Study

Lead author of the study, Zutao Ouyang, an assistant professor of ecosystem modeling at Auburn University says, “More hydrogen means fewer detergents in the atmosphere, causing methane to persist longer and, therefore, warm the climate longer.” Methane accumulates in fossil fuels, agriculture and landfills, then breaks down in the atmosphere and oxidizes to form hydrogen. The increased levels of hydrogen extend the lifetime of methane, creating a loop.

Jackson says, “The biggest driver of hydrogen increase in the atmosphere is the oxidation of increasing atmospheric methane.” Since 1990, the annual growth in estimated volume of hydrogen produced through the decomposition of methane has been around 4 million tons and reached 27 million tons by 2020. Leaks from industrial production of hydrogen and nitrogen fixation used in agriculture for soybeans are human-related sources. Wildfires are a natural source with no definite trend.

Changes in Hydrogen

Hydrogen levels in the atmosphere have risen around 70% from preindustrial times to 2003 and began climbing again in 2010. Between 1990 and 2020, most of the increase was due to human activity. Soil does most of the cleanup when the gas is in the air. Around 70% of emissions were absorbed by soil bacteria that use hydrogen for energy, but enough remained to alter atmospheric chemistry. These reactions also create ozone and water vapor high in the atmosphere and can change how clouds form.

Rising hydrogen has added 0.02ºC to global warming since the Industrial Revolution. This is comparable to the total warming caused by the lifetime emissions of a major industrialized country like France. Every fraction of a degree matters; little things start to add up. “We need a deeper understanding of the global hydrogen cycle and its links to global warming to support a climate-safe and sustainable hydrogen economy,” says Jackson.