News & Scientific Highlights

An international group of researchers led by the Paul Scherrer Institute has carried out in-depth analyses of the climate impact of blue hydrogen. This is produced from natural gas, with the CO₂ resulting from the process captured and permanently stored. The study concludes that blue hydrogen can play a positive role in the energy transition – under certain conditions.

Sustainable, synthetic fuels, so-called e-fuels, can help reduce CO₂ emissions. For their production, electricity from renewable sources is required in order to allow for a close to CO₂-neutral balance. The availability of electricity from renewable sources, which ensures the climate benefits of e-fuels, is currently still limited. “Especially in order to produce on a larger scale, a lot of renewable electricity is needed,” explains Christian Bauer, researcher at the Laboratory for Energy Systems Analysis (LEA) at PSI. 

NZZ am Sonntag  has picked up this highlight in its issue on March 7th, 2021: The highlight refers to the analysis performed in SCCER Joint Activity Scenarios and Modelling, where PSI-LEA performed the analysis of the energy transition pathways.