White Paper
Updated August 2026.
Given the expected push for the expansion of hydrogen-related infrastructure, it is critical that industry leaders, regulators, and safety professionals understand the hydrogen-related hazards. The goal of this hydrogen white paper is to review the publicly available test programs on hydrogen’s risk and safety that have been performed by BakerRisk, our clients, and the Explosion Research Cooperative (ERC).
The ERC is a BakerRisk-organized joint industry program (JIP) founded in 1993. JIPs like the ERC are a great way to leverage research dollars to address industry concerns. ERC-funded research is highlighted yellow in the sidebar to the left. The ERC-funded research is proprietary to the ERC and is summarized via the publicly available prospectus documents as well as relevant photographs and still frames. Below are summaries of those four ERC-funded research projects on hydrogen risks, followed by descriptions of additional hydrogen-related testing efforts conducted by BakerRisk in collaboration with other groups and clients.
In 2023, BakerRisk published a series of white papers on hydrogen safety, reviewing diverse perspectives on managing hazards and associated risks due to the presence of hydrogen, and utilizing various tools, techniques, and analyses. As hydrogen continues to emerge and re-emerge as a key technology and economy player, it is essential to understand how to effectively control hydrogen associated hazards and risks to minimize impacts on both people and assets. The first paper in this updated series covers the concept of hydrogen safety from the facility siting perspective.
Hydrogen has been used in petroleum refining, fertilizer production, chemical synthesis and many more applications for centuries. Throughout hydrogen’s use, releases have resulted in numerous explosion and fire incidents. Hydrogen is becoming more prevalent as a low carbon energy solution since it can be used both as an energy carrier as well as a replacement for raw materials. As hydrogen is adopted across more industries and applications, continued emphasis on preventing release and escalation is essential.
As the biofuels industry continues to expand in support of global decarbonization mandates and objectives, facility owners and developers are being challenged to balance production efficiency, operational reliability, and personnel safety.
The promise of hydrogen as the simplest of molecules and perhaps the most challenging and perplexing of energy carriers has the clean energy world diving into hydrogen applications across all major energy categories.
Contact: +1 (210) 824-5960
