In December it was announced to a considerable amount of fanfare that the North East was going to become a centre of hydrogen production, with local and national politicians working with the Saudi regime in Riyadh. This raised a number of understandable concerns about human rights, given the Saudi regime’s appalling record in that area. There are certainly good grounds to be concerned about any collusion with the Saudi regime, which might help them to sportswash, or for that matter greenwash away the suffering and pain, which they inflict on so many innocent people.
But what of the hydrogen scheme itself? Will it be environmentally helpful and will it do anything to help combat climate change?
Producing hydrogen
It has been noted by American broadcasters CNBC that you can generate energy in the form of heat, when you burn hydrogen. The only by-product is water, making it in theory a clean source of energy. However, you need to have other forms of energy to make the hydrogen in the first place.
Hydrogen can indeed play a role in combating climate change, particularly in hard to decarbonise areas such as airplanes, large lorries and in the storage of electricity.
On the other hand, critics say that producing hydrogen is not the best way to combat climate change as it is inefficient and is often created with energy sources that emit carbon into the atmosphere.
Green and Blue hydrogen
It has been noted that green hydrogen is produced from renewables such as wind power. This kind of hydrogen production has essentially zero emissions.
Conversely, blue hydrogen is “typically created using natural gas…the process mixes methane with incredibly hot steam (with a catalyst present) to release the hydrogen output and carbon dioxide. These greenhouse gases are then captured and stored”.
Meanwhile Carbon Capture has recently been criticised in relation to the North East, with Guardian columnist George Monbiot claiming that the government’s proposed Carbon Capture schemes on Merseyside and Teesside, would be a “hugely expensive scheme that will either be abandoned, scaled back or require massive extra funding to continue.” It was further claimed that the scheme would “further accelerate climate breakdown”.
In terms of comparing the two forms of hydrogen and their effects on the environment it has been said that, “adopting green hydrogen production, powered by renewables, significantly cuts down carbon emissions compared to traditional hydrogen methods that use fossil fuels” and that “green hydrogen is a star in the eco-world, made from clean sources like wind, sun, or water, and contributes almost zero carbon emissions. But blue hydrogen? Even with its clever tech to trap carbon, it can’t shake off its natural gas roots, which adds a bit to our planet’s carbon load”
What kind of ‘clean energy’?
There was no mention from either Prime Minister Keir Starmer or NECA Mayor Kim McGuinness of exactly what kind of ‘clean energy’ was going to be produced in the proposed partnership between the North East and Saudi Arabia. Significantly, there is also no information in the press release, on the government website about which kind of hydrogen will be used, although it does mention using carbon capture. What we do know is that Saudi Arabia has the world’s fifth biggest natural gas reserves, which would mean that it could make a lot of blue hydrogen, with all its potential for carbon emissions.
The government press release also talks about, “building on the close ties between Newcastle and Saudi Arabia”. The Human Rights Watch report The man who Bought the World; Rights Abuses Linked to Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and Its Chairman, Mohammed bin Salman published in November detailing 95 pages of human rights concerns regarding the Saudi Public Investment Fund, majority owners of Newcastle United has already clearly outlined the realities of the links between Newcastle and Saudi Arabia.
We need to know more
There is a lot of uncertainty about the proposed link-up between the North East and Saudi Arabia, in terms of producing hydrogen, with many as yet unanswered questions. What kind of hydrogen might be produced by the proposed scheme? Will there be a need for unproven Carbon Capture? Who will really benefit from the partnership? And perhaps most pertinent of all, are we in danger of simply helping the Saudis to greenwash their image, while they continue to produce fossil fuels with business as usual, while also turning a blind eye to the human rights abuses the Saudi regime carries out on a daily basis?
As has been said many times, North East England has been waiting for a just transition for forty long years now, since the closure of the mines after the 1984/5 strike and the closure of shipyards, steelworks and other heavy industries in the 1980s and 1990s. It is long past time for this just transition, which could see genuinely green energy, under the ownership and control of the people of the region and producing not just green energy, but also good well-paid jobs for our young people.
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