Blue hydrogen is produced from natural gas through processes like steam methane reforming (SMR) or autothermal reforming (ATR), combined with carbon capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS) to reduce CO₂ emissions. It serves as a lower-carbon alternative to traditional fossil fuels and grey hydrogen (hydrogen produced without capturing emissions). While not as environmentally clean as green hydrogen, which is derived from renewable energy, blue hydrogen significantly reduces the carbon footprint by capturing up to 95% of the CO₂ emitted during production.
Blue hydrogen is seen as a transitional energy solution, offering a pathway toward decarbonization while green hydrogen infrastructure and renewable energy capacity are still being developed. It is particularly valuable in hard-to-decarbonise sectors such as heavy industry, transportation, and power generation.
Scotland has several blue hydrogen projects in development in 2025.
The Acorn Project is a major carbon capture and storage (CCS) initiative primarily based at the St Fergus Gas Terminal, 40 miles north of Aberdeen near Peterhead.
It’s one of the most advanced CCS projects in the UK, reusing legacy oil and gas infrastructure to move captured CO₂ from industrial emitters to permanent geological storage beneath the North Sea seabed, approximately 2.5 km (about 1.5 miles) below the seabed.
It will also produce low-carbon blue hydrogen from natural gas. The hydrogen component is one element of the broader Acorn CCS Project, which is primarily a CO₂ transport and storage infrastructure.
Despite its potential, blue hydrogen faces challenges. It relies on fossil fuels, raising concerns about methane leaks in the natural gas supply chain.
Additionally, the cost and scalability of CCUS technology are hurdles that need to be addressed. Nevertheless, blue hydrogen remains a critical tool in the transition to cleaner energy systems, providing a viable stopgap as the world shifts toward more sustainable energy solutions.
This section provides examples of a research, teaching or innovation taking place at The National Subsea Centre, Aberdeen and Robert Gordon University to this topic.
Environmental and Policy Impact of Blue Hydrogen Toward Net Zero in the United Kingdom - This project is aimed at understanding the environmental and policy relationships and implications of blue hydrogen in a net zero scenario for the United Kingdom. By first identifying and establishing the drivers, enablers and barriers of blue hydrogen development, an environmental impact assessment is to be carried out on the four case studies of proposed blue hydrogen projects in the UK.
RGU professor showcases hydrogen developments in Bolivia A leading researcher from RGU travelled more than 6,000 miles to South America to highlight the potential of moving away from traditional energy sources to embrace the use of hydrogen.