Use of Hydrogen in Industry Comes from Two Directions

July 25, 2022--Written by Paul Wiseman for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The discussion of how to integrate industry into the hydrogen economy involves two different aspects of "use." Currently, the great majority of hydrogen is already used in industry--as a feedstock. It goes into ammonia, which becomes fertilizer, which boosts food production across the globe. It is used in metals production and medicine (to make hydrogen peroxide, a disinfectant).

Hydrogen also is used in oil and gas refining, in hydrocracking, to reduce sulfur in diesel. It also is a base ingredient in methanol.

But the true goal of the hydrogen economy is to reduce the burning of fossil fuels that release CO2 and other petroleum-based byproducts. Here, the future of hydrogen is murkier because in processes like smelting steel and making concrete, the process itself gives off CO2.