The Clean Hydrogen Ladder [Now updated to V4.1]
Source: Michael Liebreich · LINKEDIN · | August 15, 2021
Here is Version 4.0 of my Clean Hydrogen Ladder. If you're new to this, it's my attempt to put use cases for clean hydrogen - whether it be green, blue, pink, turquoise or whatever - into some sort of merit order, because not all are equally likely to succeed.
Source: The Clean Hydrogen Ladder, Version 4.0 Source: Liebreich Associates (concept credit: Adrien Hiel/Energy Cities)
The main changes from the last version are to clean up some of the terminology. It's hard to summarise the full splendour of a use case in just a couple of words, and that has led to some confusion. I have downgraded the aviation use cases a tad since the last version, and upgraded off-road vehicles. Of which, a bit more below, where I give a thumbnail of my reasoning for each use case. Oh, and for the avoidance of doubt, by hydrogen I also include ammonia and e-fuels or synfuels made via hydrogen (don't @ me!).
Many thanks to all those who have contributed to my education over the past few months, in particular the brilliant Paul Martin, from whom I think I borrowed the Swiss Army Knife imagery and whose generously-shared knowledge of chemistry far exceeds my own, and to Lord Bamford of JCB. Thanks too to Adrien Hiel of Energy Cities, who gave me the initial idea for a ranking based on the EU's A to H energy efficiency scale.
For those who want to use and reproduce the Clean Hydrogen Ladder, there is a link to a high-definition set of images at the end of this article. I have made it available under a Creative Commons license, which means you can use it as long as you credit me, and you can even modify it, as long as you make it clear that any modifications are not approved by me. Enjoy!
For those who want more background, let's start with the standard view of the hydrogen economy. I don't mean Jeremy Rifkin's bonkers view ("the Worldwide Energy Web and the Redistribution of Power on Earth"), I mean the view of hydrogen as the Swiss Army Knife of the future global economy, able to do pretty much any job that needs doing.