Literature review on climate effects and leakage rates in a hydrogen economy

Hydrogen is widely recognized as an important future energy carrier because of its potential as a less polluting energy source with lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Several studies however have raised the issue, that a hydrogen economy would could impact the global climate system, by increasing the level of atmospheric hydrogen through leakages and due to the fact that hydrogen has been found to be an “indirect” GHG.  This report provides a review of the latest technical and scientific knowledge on leakage rates in current and future hydrogen supply chains, as well as the global warming potential (GWP) of these emissions.