The purpose of this guide is to provide basic background information on hydrogen technologies.It is not intended to be a comprehensive collection of hydrogen technologies safety information.

State policy targets on greenhouse gas emission reductions and other decarbonization initiatives are creating a movement toward low or zero-carbon gases and fuels. Given its versatility as an energy carrier and its potential for use in a broad range of applications, hydrogen is gaining in popularity, and natural gas providers are looking at integrating it into their networks.

Mixing of hydrogen into natural gas, as a means of mitigating environmental concerns associated with the use of fossil fuels, poses a question of performance of appliances designed for use with natural gas, when fuelled by blends of hydrogen and natural gas. This study examines the performance of space and water heating appliances fuelled by methane as a natural gas proxy, and methane/hydrogen blends containing up to 15% hydrogen.

In collaboration with Parker Hannifin Corporation, the Fire Safety Branch of the FAA conducted testing to evaluate the effects of three potential failure conditions of hydrogen proton exchange (or polymer electrolyte) membrane fuel cell stacks supplied by Nuvera Fuel Cells. The three conditions examined were a loss of coolant to the stack, short circuit, and a crossflow condition.

Contents 1 Climate Change Policy Objective 2 Hydrogen Flexibility 3 Hydrogen Production and Sources4 Hydrogen Properties5 Hydrogen Safety Codes and Standards Overview6 UK Hydrogen Blending Demo Approval7 US Hydrogen Blending Concept8 Pipeline Integrity9 Gas Composition Standards10 Pipeline Standards11 Hydrogen Safety Utilization 12 Conclusion 

Natural gas distribution companies are developing ambitious plans to decarbonize the services that they provide in an affordable manner and are accelerating plans for the strategic integration of renewable natural gas and the blending of green hydrogen produced by electrolysis, powered with renewable electricity being developed from large new commitments by states such as New York and Massachusetts. The demonstration and deployment of hydrogen blending have been proposed broadly at 20% of hydrogen by volume.

On March 11, 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published the much-anticipated Safer Communities by Chemical Accident Prevention Rule (SCCAP) Final Rule, an update to EPA’s Risk Management Program (RMP) 40 CFR Part 68, under the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 (CAA). This is the first substantial change to the rule since its inception in 1996.

The purpose of this action is to make changes to the Risk Management Program (RMP) rule in order to improve safety at facilities that use and distribute hazardous chemicals. Because major and other serious and concerning RMP accidents continue to occur, this final rule aims to better identify and further regulate risky facilities to prevent accidental releases before they can occur.

This report is developed as a part of the project “EMSA study investigating the safety of hydrogen as fuel on ships”. The overall objective of the project is to carry out a structured set of safety assessments and reliability analyses,delivering a Guidance document addressing ships using hydrogen as fuel. The purpose is to assist the industry and the regulators towards a safe and harmonised deployment of this relevant technology that could demonstrate an important step towards decarbonisation of the sector.

Experimental Investigation of Liquid Hydrogen Hazards, 1960 Film #1.  Videos of experiments of hydrogen releases in various sizes and conditions in support of fundamental understanding of flame behavior.