Bill Gates Warns Producers That Blue Hydrogen Must Be Clean

Middle Eastern natural gas producers will only be able to switch to supplying the world with blue hydrogen if…

Hydrogen can be extracted from natural gas and termed “blue” if carbon dioxide emitted in the production process.  (AFP)

Middle Eastern natural gas producers will only be able to switch to supplying the world with blue hydrogen if a clean method of extracting the fuel is found, according to Bill Gates.

Hydrogen can be extracted from natural gas and termed “blue” if carbon dioxide emitted in the production process is captured and prevented from entering the atmosphere. Many countries are trying to shift toward hydrogen for power production and transportation because it doesn't emit carbon dioxide when used.

Several countries -- including Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Qatar -- plan to become major sellers of blue hydrogen by using their natural gas resources.

“It is a paradox for those countries that unless we can figure out a super wholly-clean way to extract hydrogen from their resources – primarily their natural gas – their potential revenues, as we achieve our goals here, could go down quite a bit,” Gates said in a video address at a conference in the UAE capital Abu Dhabi on Thursday.