Production

South Korea plans to match US clean hydrogen standard — but won’t include shipping of raw materials in its calculations

Seoul outlines proposal to set lifecycle emissions limits of 4kg of CO2 equivalent per kg of hydrogen produced

LNG vessel under construction in South Korea.
LNG vessel under construction in South Korea.Photo: Seung-il Ryu/NurPhoto via Getty Images
  • Rachel Parkes
South Korea has laid out plans to match US and Canada’s emissions intensity-based definition of clean hydrogen, but has said it will temporarily exclude carbon pollution from shipping raw materials such as fossil gas to make H2.

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In a briefing to around 70 businesses and public institutions in Seoul on Monday, university researchers working with the ministry of trade, industry and energy (MOTIE) outlined a proposal to set the standard for clean hydrogen in the country at 4kg of CO2 equivalent per kg of H2 produced.
This would match the emissions intensity of clean hydrogen standards in both the US and Canada, although it would fall short of the definitions adopted by both the EU and Japan, which have clean hydrogen standards of 3.38kg CO2/kgH2 and 3.4kg CO2/kgH2 respectively.
The UK’s clean hydrogen standard is even more rigorous, at 2.4kg CO2/kgH2.

Emissions would be calculated on a well-to-gate basis, to include the emissions from producing raw materials for hydrogen production, such as fossil gas or coal.

But significantly, the proposal said it would temporarily exclude the emissions from shipping those raw materials to hydrogen production facilities “in consideration of Korea’s specificity”.

Located on the end of a peninsula and bordered to the north by North Korea, with which it has no formal diplomatic relations, South Korea is heavily dependent on seaborne imports of both liquefied natural gas (LNG) and coal.

However, the briefing made no mention of excluding emissions from shipping H2 and its derivatives in its calculations, meaning that liquid hydrogen or ammonia imported to the country using traditional marine fuels could be at a disadvantage to domestically-produced H2 made with imported fossil fuels.

“Just as Korea has successfully built a hydrogen economy, we will focus our capabilities on leading the global market in the upcoming era of clean hydrogen,” Lee Ok-hun, a hydrogen economy policy officer at MOTIE told the briefing.

However, the standard as presented may not be the final version: it is still under development by MOTIE, which has brought a number of academics on board to work on the proposal, alongside public-private consulting partnership H2Korea — which on Monday also made the case to the Seoul audience for high-level public subsidies for green hydrogen, pointing to measures put in place by the UK, Germany, Japan and the US.

Last week, the International Energy Agency warned that differing clean hydrogen standards around the world could become “a barrier” for international hydrogen trade, but shied away from recommending harmonised standards.
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Published 19 April 2023, 08:00Updated 19 April 2023, 08:00