Korea introduces clean hydrogen certification: a 4 kg CO₂eq/kg H₂ threshold and four classes

In December 2023 South Korea finalised its clean hydrogen certification system, based on the November 2023 amendment of the act on promoting the hydrogen economy. The emissions threshold for clean hydrogen is 4 kg CO₂eq per kilogram of H₂, and products are divided into four classes depending on their carbon footprint. The assessment covers the life cycle – from sourcing the feedstock to producing the hydrogen.

How the system works

According to the CMS review, certification is a state-run scheme: the act designates certification bodies that oversee the process, and hydrogen is classified by emissions on the basis of a detailed life cycle assessment (LCA), from sourcing the feedstock to producing the hydrogen. In this way hydrogen is considered clean if its emissions do not exceed a set limit. The emissions limit is 4 kg CO₂eq/kg H₂.

Link to support mechanisms

Certification is meant to underpin the CHPS (Clean Hydrogen Portfolio Standard) system, which encourages power generators to use clean hydrogen through a tender market with long-term power purchase contracts. As early as June 2023 – as reported by CSIRO HyResource – the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) published a notice of a tender for hydrogen-based power: power plants could sell electricity generated from hydrogen or its compounds, such as ammonia, to KEPCO or to regional operators. The tender was to be split into two markets – general hydrogen (distributed sources) and clean hydrogen. Thanks to a single emissions standard, hydrogen from natural gas with CO₂ capture (blue), from electrolysis powered by renewable energy sources (green) and from other sources will be judged by the same yardstick – provided it falls within the limit of 4 kg CO₂eq/kg H₂.

What about hydrogen from biogas?

From the biogas sector's perspective, the key question is how biogenic emissions and the methane avoided thanks to waste digestion will be treated. The sources available to us contain no detailed rules for balancing biogas in Korean certification, so we do not settle the matter in this article.

Comparison with the EU

Norton Rose Fulbright notes that the Japanese standard (a 70% emissions reduction relative to the fossil fuel) is consistent with European requirements, except that for hydrogen and ammonia it is measured at the point of production. The Korean threshold of 4 kg CO₂eq/kg H₂ is expressed as absolute emissions, so it should not be set directly against percentage thresholds, but the trend is shared: LCA-based certification is becoming the standard.