Which of the following "colors" of hydrogen will be the cheapest by 2030? [details in description]
6
92
420
2030
25%
black/brown (coal gasification)
20%
gray (steam methane reforming)
6%
blue (steam methane reforming + carbon capture)
17%
green (renewable electricity + water electrolysis)
10%
pink (nuclear electricity + water electrolysis)
12%
white/gold (geologic: stimulated serpentinization or microbial biogeochemistry)
5%
turquoise (methane pyrolysis)
5%
Other

Hydrogen can be produced or extracted from many different sources. Because the production method is the primary driver of lifecycle emissions, hydrogen from different sources are often referred to as different "colors" of hydrogen. The list of colors chosen here is nonexhaustive and somewhat subjective/arbitrary but reflects my professional understanding of the general industry consensus on hydrogen colors. There are a near-infinite number of ways to make hydrogen and very few have widely agreed-upon "colors"; if you feel I missed your favorite color, drop an explanation in the comments.

"Hydrogen cost" should be understood to reflect "average national market price in the US, including relevant subsidies and tax credits".

For some context, current hydrogen prices (at the time of writing and with substantial error bars) are ~$1/kg (black/brown), ~$2/kg (gray), ~$4/kg (blue), ~$6-8/kg (green), with other colors not produced in commercially meaningful quantities.

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what about radiolysis? Running water through some aneutronic strong source of radiation might be more efficient than converting the radiation to heat to electricity to electrolysis

Heat of formation of water (gas) = -241.8 kj/mol

1 kg of hydrogen contains around 240MJ compared to aviation fuel’s 44MJ/kg. Fuel weight might be a reason to use it in planes if the metallurgical problem of hydrogen can be solved

Sorry y'all, deleting my account so I will be unable to resolve this. Admin can pick this market up if they so choose.

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