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Though hydrogen is not a greenhouse gas, it can indirectly influence the greenhouse effect when introduced into the atmosphere

Hydrogen (H2) is not a direct greenhouse gas in the way that carbon dioxide (CO2) or methane (CH4) are, but is considered an indirect greenhouse gas 1. Hydrogen doesn't absorb or emit infrared radiation in the atmosphere, which is the primary mechanism by which greenhouse gasses trap heat in the Earth's atmosphere. However, hydrogen can indirectly influence the greenhouse effect by increasing the lifespan of methane in the atmosphere. Hydrogen can react with other compounds in the atmosphere, particularly radicals such as hydroxyl radicals (OH) which are important for the removal of methane from the atmosphere.2 Hydrogen decreases the amount of OH particles in the atmosphere, which has the knock-on effect of allowing methane to exist longer in the atmosphere.3 Since methane is a potent greenhouse gas, any increase in its atmospheric lifetime indirectly enhances its greenhouse warming potential. If hydrogen leakage exceeds a certain threshold, it could reduce the climate benefits of replacing fossil fuels with hydrogen.

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Footnotes​

  1. Derwent, R., Simmonds, P., O’Doherty, S., Manning, A., Collins, W., & Stevenson, D. (2006). Global environmental impacts of the hydrogen economy. International Journal of Nuclear Hydrogen Production and Applications, 1(1). https://www.geos.ed.ac.uk/~dstevens/publications/derwent_ijnhpa06.pdf ↩

  2. Bertagni, M. B., Pacala, S. W., Paulot, F., & et al. (2022). Risk of the hydrogen economy for atmospheric methane. Nature Communications, 13, 7706. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-35419-7 ↩

  3. Ibid. ↩