Certification of Carbon Intensity for Geological Hydrogen (Methodological Framework and Regulatory Benchmarks for Bankable Projects)

Unofficial AI-generated summary based on the public title and abstract. Not an official translation.

🔬研究者:Provides a standardized methodology for CI quantification of geological hydrogen, useful for further research on carbon accounting and hydrogen production pathways.

🏢実務担当者:Offers a ready-to-use framework for hydrogen project developers to conduct CI certification and engage with auditors and offtakers.

🏛政策担当者:Provides regulatory benchmarks for integrating geological hydrogen into carbon markets and clean hydrogen certification schemes.

Geological hydrogen, including naturally occurring "white" hydrogen and stimulated "orange" hydrogen, is emerging as a potentially low-carbon supply pathway but currently lacks a dedicated, widely accepted approach for carbon intensity (CI) certification. This paper presents a practical, transparent, and reproducible CI quantification framework aligned with ISO/TS 19870 and ISO 14067, tailored to the specific characteristics of geological hydrogen production. The methodology defines a consistent well-to-gate system boundary (with an optional well-to-tank extension), expands to an injection-to-gate boundary for stimulated reservoirs, and integrates Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions using IPCC Sixth Assessment Report (IPCC AR6) global warming potentials and established emission factor datasets. Co-produced gases, fugitive emissions, and hydrogen leakage are explicitly addressed, and a conservative measurement, reporting, and verification (MRV) framework is proposed to support third-party assurance. Hydrogen's indirect warming effect is addressed through a dual-reporting convention that preserves comparability while maintaining alignment with current compliance practices. The framework is demonstrated using an illustrative 100,000 tonnes-per-year reference case. Under representative assumptions, passive geological hydrogen production yields well-to-gate CI values in the range of approximately 0.5-1.5 kg-CO2e/kg-H2. Stimulated production pathways may achieve lower or potentially net-negative CI outcomes only where permanent CO2 mineralization is demonstrated through scheme-accepted verification; otherwise, no removal credit is applied. The proposed methodology provides a standards-based foundation for consistent CI quantification across geological hydrogen projects. While regulatory eligibility remains jurisdiction- and scheme-dependent, the framework supports certification, contracting, and risk assessment by enabling auditable, comparable CI disclosure without predetermining regulatory or market outcomes.

• semanticscholar https://doi.org/10.4043/37197-msfirst seen 2026-05-05 22:11:26