Water consumption of hydrogen power

Hydrogen has been promoted as a clean and renewable alternative to natural gas. However, hydrogen production could become an issue in countries with low freshwater availability. If freshwater resources are depleted for the hydrogen production process, this could potentially lead to water scarcity and drought in vulnerable regions, affecting local populations and ecosystems. It is important to note that this is a hypothetical problem shift. It is more likely that water-stressed regions would be dependent on hydrogen imports.

Nº 77
  • Climate & Atmosphere
  • Energy Emission Reduction
  • Promotion of Hydrogen
some attempts made
past case
Region-1
Region-2
Region-3
Region-4
ongoing case
no attempts made

Water consumption of hydrogen power

Hydrogen has been promoted as a clean and renewable alternative to natural gas. However, hydrogen production could become an issue in countries with low freshwater availability. If freshwater resources are depleted for the hydrogen production process, this could potentially lead to water scarcity and drought in vulnerable regions, affecting local populations and ecosystems. It is important to note that this is a hypothetical problem shift. It is more likely that water-stressed regions would be dependent on hydrogen imports.

1) The production of green hydrogen in countries such as Argentina may have unintended socio-economic consequences. As water is essential to sustain life, the use of natural freshwater sources in the hydrogen production process could potentially exacerbate water scarcity and drought issues in the affected regions, affecting local communities and disrupting ecosystems.

2) Studies conducted in Australia have provided evidence that the production of hydrogen from the country’s fossil fuel based grid electricity could have adverse consequences, including increased water consumption and water scarcity. This is due to the fact that fossil fuel based grid electricity has the highest water footprint and contributes significantly to water scarcity issues.

  • Facilitated the efforts to address the initial problem
  • Cascading (far-reaching effects following each other)

1) Woods, P., Bustamante, H., & Aguey-Zinsou, K. F. (2022). The hydrogen economy-Where is the water?. Energy Nexus, 7, 100123.

2) Shi, X., Liao, X., & Li, Y. (2020). Quantification of fresh water consumption and scarcity footprints of hydrogen from water electrolysis: A methodology framework. Renewable Energy, 786-796. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2020.03.026.

Beswick, R. R., Oliveira, A. M., & Yan, Y. (2021). Does the green hydrogen economy have a water problem?. ACS Energy Letters, 6(9), 3167-3169.

Woods, P., Bustamante, H., & Aguey-Zinsou, K. F. (2022). The hydrogen economy-Where is the water?. Energy Nexus, 7, 100123.

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