Equinor was among early critics of a damning report on the emissions credentials of blue hydrogen, as the oil & gas sector digested the findings of what is claimed as landmark research in the area.

The Norwegian giant, which is involved in several planned blue hydrogen developments, including the proposed Net Carbon Humber project in the UK, said it “strongly disagrees” with US academics whose study sparked a fierce debate in the energy sector last week.

The study by researchers at Cornell and Stanford universities, published in the Energy Science & Engineering journal and reported by Recharge, is said to be a first-of-a-kind peer-reviewed analysis of blue hydrogen’s lifecycle greenhouse gases footprint.