Low to near-zero CO2 production of hydrogen from fossil fuels: Status and perspectives

At present, practically all industrial production of hydrogen either directly or indirectly (e.g., through electricity generation) relies on fossil fuels (mostly, natural gas and coal) and, according to many projections, this trend will continue in the foreseeable future. As a result, hydrogen plants are and will remain a major source of CO2 emissions to the atmosphere, with potentially adverse consequences to our planet's ecosphere and climate. In view of these negative trends, there is an urgent need to substantially reduce or even completely eliminate CO2 emissions from fossil fuel-based hydrogen production processes in order to underscore environmental advantages of hydrogen as an ecologically clean fuel. The main technological approaches to low to near-zero CO2 production of hydrogen from fossil fuels can be classified into three main groups: (1) coupling hydrogen plants with CO2 capture and storage systems, (2) dissociation of hydrocarbons to hydrogen and carbon, and (3) integrating hydrogen production processes with non-carbon energy sources such as nuclear and solar energy. The objective of this paper is to overview and analyze the current status of existing and emerging technological options and solutions to drastically reducing the amount of CO2 emissions from fossil fuel-based hydrogen manufacturing plants. A near-to-mid term outlook for low to near-zero CO2 hydrogen production from fossil fuels in the light of new technological trends is examined in this paper.