Among the numerous “green” (clean) energy resources being developed, one that has received significant government and industry support is “blue” hydrogen. But this alternative fuel is actually very questionable. According to a major analysis by climate scientists Robert Howarth (Cornell Univ) and Mark Jacobson (Stanford Univ), “the greenhouse gas footprint of blue hydrogen is more than 20 percent greater than burning natural gas or coal for heat and some 60 percent greater than burning diesel oil for heat,” Dr. Howarth explains what blue hydrogen is, how it is produced, and why we must consider the environmental and climate risks of developing this particular resource.
Robert W. Howarth is the David R. Atkinson Professor of Ecology & Environmental Biology at Cornell University. He is Co-Editor in Chief of the journal of Ocean-Land-Atmosphere Research (OLAR) and he is also Chair of the SCOPE International Biofuels Project The focus of the Howarth Lab is on human alteration of element cycles (particularly nutrients) in coastal marine ecosystems and in the watersheds that feed them. Dr Howarth also works on the environmental consequences of energy systems, particularly from oil and gas development and from biofuels, emphasizing water quality and greenhouse gas emissions. Dr. Howarth received his Ph.D. (1979) from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.