# Petroleum Sector-Driven Roadmap for Future Hydrogen Economy
## 3 Hydrogen Economy: A Pathway for Society with a Sustainable Future
From the carbon footprint analysis point of view, different production routes mentioned in Section 2 have their own sustainability impact so that the future hydrogen production mix should be optimized to this aim. Multiple studies show that where CCS is applied, the carbon footprint per kilogram hydrogen for SMR, ATR, and electrolysis methods are in the same range [14]. Nonetheless, for the GCC countries, both SMR and ATR technologies with CCS combining all the possible scenarios for electricity supply should be studied against cost, efficiency, and potential for CO\({}_{2}\) reduction. The future of CCS lies largely in the hands of policymakers setting a higher carbon price than the cost of the technology [46]. Nevertheless, the industrial sector can still play a role in encouraging quicker adoption to reduce the cost of CCS technology [47]. On the other hand, blue hydrogen may still face public opposition or at least some debate from those who disagree with the idea of any use of fossil fuels, even if the use is carbon neutral. This implies that a narrative around hydrogen needs to be created carefully to avoid miscommunication. Social support is a very exigent parameter in deployment of any mega-projects in the energy sector. Taking a perspective from the GCC region as well as Iran (mostly oil- or gas-rich countries), in the near term, the blue hydrogen option can sustain simultaneously their economy, jobs and assets, and market presence while addressing the long-term global climate goals. For this purpose, however, there are many cross-sectoral challenges that should be addressed. For GCC, two major utilizations of blue hydrogen can are foreseen: (i) so-called sector coupling, in which domestic electricity generation (use hydrogen as a sustainable fuel), ammonia production (as the most important industrial application in the region), and transport are integrated; and (ii) export markets. For domestic purposes, hydrogen can be used for fuel cell vehicles and/or heavy-duty transportation among the region's countries. Benefits and deficiencies of hydrogen in transportation and its hazard and safety issues have been discussed in the literature [33]. Hydrogen-based domestic power plants could be also an option for electricity generation, but there needs to be large pilots to achieve the scale and competitive price point. Besides power and transport, the steel sector as well as the ammonia industry would be other potential markets for hydrogen in the GCC. At the same time, the blue hydrogen produced in the GCC might be exported in liquid form, like LNG. Some international companies such as Kawasaki and Shell are currently working on building their own liquid hydrogen vessels [35; 39]. Transportation of bulk hydrogen to the international markets in form of clean ammonia (NH3) as one of the most traded chemicals worldwide is another well-designed and affordable way. In terms of industrial applications, natural gas has been used for decades in the Persian Gulf countries' industries as both fuel and as feedstock. There is no significant difficulty in replacing natural gas with hydrogen for feedstock usage. However, since hydrogen as fuel should be burned with burners, in furnaces or turbines, there would be some technical and safety challenges here to address. Hydrogen can be used in fuel cells, which could be additional use compared to natural gas. Due to the importance of such adaptive applications of blue hydrogen in today's industry, their feasibility is briefly analyzed. Different flame properties (temperature, length, stability, etc.) can be seen as showstoppers in industrial burners to use hydrogen instead of natural gas. Some3-50 MW state-of-the-art technologies for new H\({}_{2}\)-based burners/furnaces have been successfully tested up [27]. The key challenge is about operational regulations such as NOx emissions for the redesigned H\({}_{2}\)-based burners and their surrounding furnaces.