Potential Dangers of Blending Hydrogen and Natural Gas in Pipelines 

Could blending hydrogen with natural gas help decarbonize the natural gas supply chain? 

This 4-page fact sheet outlines the potential dangers of blending hydrogen and natural gas in pipelines. These dangers include hydrogen’s corrosive effects on pipeline materials, its tendency to leak, and its highly explosive nature. 

Hydrogen blending is also inefficient and costly: a 30 percent blend of hydrogen into the natural gas system could almost double costs per megawatt-hour for power plants, and would not effectively lower greenhouse gas emissions.  

Reducing natural gas use in the US is crucial to reach necessary emissions reduction goals, but hydrogen blending will only exacerbate climate change and increase costs, safety hazards, and inequities for ratepayers. Supporting proven clean energy alternatives to natural gas such as electrification paired with renewables should be the focus of government and utility-led initiatives for a cleaner energy future.   

For more information about the health and environmental impacts of hydrogen production and use, visit Clean Energy Group’s Hydrogen Information and Public Education webpage. This webpage includes a list of proposed hydrogen projects across the US, and a repository of hydrogen related publications.