While blue hydrogen might be considered cleaner than some other available fuel options (think coal and oil), it’s not without a carbon footprint. Burning hydrogenas a mixture with methane gas, as some utilities have discussed doing, can produce dangerously high levels of nitrogen oxides (NOx). Two studies found that burning hydrogen-enriched methane gas can lead to NOx emissions up to six times that of burning methane gas alone. NOx plays a major role in the formation of smog—a major contributor to asthma and other respiratory issues.
Further, a large-scale blue hydrogen industry would facilitate more releases of climate-altering methane, which carries a heavy public health burden, as lethal storms, fires, heat waves, floods, and other extreme weather events impact people’s physical and mental health worldwide.
How can we protect public health from blue hydrogen production?
If blue hydrogen projects go forward, as they appear to be, robust and comprehensive public health protections are needed:
• Industry must be compelled to effect stringent emissions detection and reporting—working with communities to reduce exposure and alert the public of any unusual releases, whether planned or accidental.
• Government agencies must be intrinsically involved in making sure industry complies with pollution standards, holding operators accountable when they do not comply.
• Health impact assessments and other community health monitoring must be put in place to ensure public health is protected today and into the future. Residents must be informed fully about health risks to which they are exposed.
• It is not enough to regulate sources of emissions singly. All sources of emissions must be aggregated to determine actual levels of pollution the public is exposed to in any given locality.
• Generation plants, pipelines, compressor stations, and other infrastructure must be situated far enough from areas of human activity—including homes, schools, businesses, and recreational facilities—to protect public health.
• Communities must be given a say as to whether this development happens within their borders, and there must be clear channels of communication between governmental agencies, industrial operators, and community leaders.
When public health becomes part of the blue hydrogen conversation, only then can we truly begin to limit the serious risk to human health this industry poses.
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