The Hydrogen Economy and Carbon Capture Nexus: A Global Review of Pathways, Technologies, and Challenges


Authors : Ijeoma Charles; Akuma Oji; Obumneme Okwonna; Peter Muwarure

Volume/Issue : Volume 10 - 2025, Issue 11 - November


Google Scholar : https://tinyurl.com/4snfk9sr

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DOI : https://doi.org/10.38124/ijisrt/25nov1328

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Abstract : The worldwide transition to a low-carbon energy framework has established hydrogen as an essential decarbonisation mechanism, especially for challenging industrial sectors to decarbonise. The environmental advantages of hydrogen depend on its manufacturing method. Conventional "grey" hydrogen generation, mostly reliant on fossil-based technologies, is a major contributor to CO2 emissions. This analysis examines the relationship between the hydrogen economy and carbon capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS) technologies, facilitating the generation of "blue" hydrogen as a lower-carbon transitional fuel. The research methodically examines contemporary hydrogen generation methods, emphasising the integration of carbon capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS) with steam methane reforming (SMR) and autothermal reforming (ATR). It offers a comprehensive analysis of post-combustion, pre-combustion, and oxyfuel carbon capture systems, assessing their maturity, efficiency, and retrofit capability. The research delineates critical obstacles confronting both "green" (electrolysis-based) and "blue" hydrogen, including elevated prices, technical underdevelopment, energy inefficiencies, and public acceptability concerns. The review asserts that although green hydrogen embodies the ultimate sustainable objective, blue hydrogen, supported by CCUS, serves a crucial transitional function in decarbonising the current hydrogen supply and industrial framework, bridging the divide until renewable hydrogen achieves economic and technological feasibility at scale.

Keywords : Decarbonization; Sustainability; Hydrogen Economy; Carbon Capture; Energy Transition.

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The worldwide transition to a low-carbon energy framework has established hydrogen as an essential decarbonisation mechanism, especially for challenging industrial sectors to decarbonise. The environmental advantages of hydrogen depend on its manufacturing method. Conventional "grey" hydrogen generation, mostly reliant on fossil-based technologies, is a major contributor to CO2 emissions. This analysis examines the relationship between the hydrogen economy and carbon capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS) technologies, facilitating the generation of "blue" hydrogen as a lower-carbon transitional fuel. The research methodically examines contemporary hydrogen generation methods, emphasising the integration of carbon capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS) with steam methane reforming (SMR) and autothermal reforming (ATR). It offers a comprehensive analysis of post-combustion, pre-combustion, and oxyfuel carbon capture systems, assessing their maturity, efficiency, and retrofit capability. The research delineates critical obstacles confronting both "green" (electrolysis-based) and "blue" hydrogen, including elevated prices, technical underdevelopment, energy inefficiencies, and public acceptability concerns. The review asserts that although green hydrogen embodies the ultimate sustainable objective, blue hydrogen, supported by CCUS, serves a crucial transitional function in decarbonising the current hydrogen supply and industrial framework, bridging the divide until renewable hydrogen achieves economic and technological feasibility at scale.

Keywords : Decarbonization; Sustainability; Hydrogen Economy; Carbon Capture; Energy Transition.

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