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Changing morals: we’re more compassionate than 100 years ago, but more judgmental too

Professor of Psychology, The University of Melbourne

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Nick Haslam receives funding from the Australian Research Council.

Melissa Wheeler has engaged in paid and pro-bono consulting and research relating to issues of social justice, applied ethics, and gender equality (e.g., Our Watch, Queen Victoria Women’s Centre, National Association of Women in Operations). She has previously worked for research centres that receive funding from several partner organisations in the private and public sector, including from the Victorian Government.

Melanie J. McGrath does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

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Values such as care, compassion and safety are more important to us now than they were in the 1980s. The importance of respecting authority has fallen since the beginning of the 20th century, while judging right and wrong based on loyalty to country and family has steadily risen.

Our analysis, using the Google Books database and published in Plos One , showed distinctive trends in our moral priorities between 1900 to 2007.

How we should understand these changes in moral sensibility is a fascinating problem. Morality is not rigid or monolithic. Moral Foundations Theory , for instance, puts forward five moral grammars, each with its own set of associated virtues and vices.

purity-based morality, which is rooted in ideas of sanctity and piety. When standards of purity are violated, the reaction is disgust, and violators are seen as unclean and tarnished

authority-based morality, which prizes duty, deference, and social order. It abhors those who show disrespect and disobedience

fairness-based morality, which stands in opposition to authority-based morality. It judges right and wrong using values of equality, impartiality and tolerance, and disdains bias and prejudice

ingroup-based morality, which esteems loyalty to family, community or nation, and judges those who threaten or undermine them as immoral

harm-based morality, which values care, compassion and safety, and views wrongness in terms of suffering, mistreatment and cruelty.

People of different ages, genders, personalities, and political beliefs employ these moralities to different degrees. People on the political right, for instance, are more likely to endorse the moralities of purity, authority and ingroup loyalty. Those on the left rely more on the morality of harm and fairness. Women tend to endorse harm-based morality more than men.

We used these five moral foundations in our analysis. Put simply, our culture, at least as revealed through moral language in the books we read and write, is increasing the emphasis it places on some moral foundations and decreasing its emphasis on others.

Read more: The greatest moral challenge of our time? It's how we think about morality itself

Historical change in moral concepts

Moral psychologists know a lot about how people today vary in their moral thinking, but they have largely ignored how moral thinking has changed historically. As cultures evolve and societies develop, people’s ways of thinking about good and evil also transform. The nature of that transformation is a matter of speculation.

One narrative suggests our recent history is one of de-moralisation . On this view, our societies have become progressively less prudish and judgmental. We have become more accepting of others, rational, irreligious, and scientific in how we approach matters of right and wrong.

A contrary narrative implies re-moralisation . By this account, our culture is increasingly censorious. More things offend and outrage us, and the growing polarisation of political debate reveals excesses of righteousness and self-righteousness.

We wanted to find which of these stories best captured how morals have changed over time, and we used an emerging field of inquiry to do so – culturomics . Culturomics uses very large text databases to track changes in cultural beliefs and values. Changing patterns of language use over time may reveal alterations in how people have made sense of their world and themselves.

The most common platform for examining such cultural shifts is the Google Books database. Containing more than 500 billion words from 5 million scanned and digitised books, the database is a rich source of information on the rising and falling popularity of words.

Studies using English-language books, for example, have shown increases in individualist values, revealed through decreases in “us” and increases in “me”. Studies in Chinese-language books have shown similar declines in words associated with collectivist values in recent decades.

Read more: Google's vast library reveals the rising tide of climate-related words in literature

To date, there has only been one culturomic study of moral language . The researchers examined changes in the frequency of a set of virtue words such as “conscience”, “honesty” and “kindness” over the 20th century. As the de-moralisation narrative would predict, most of these words showed a significant decline in popularity, suggesting ideas of moral virtue became less culturally salient.

In our study , we explored changes in 20th century morality in greater depth. Each of the five foundations was represented by large, well-validated sets of virtue and vice words. We also examined changes in a set of basic moral terms such as “good”, “moral”, “righteous”; and “bad”, “evil”, and “wrong”.

We extracted the relative frequency of each word in a set for every year, standardised it so that the year in which this frequency peaked scored 100, and then averaged the words in the set. The trajectory of these averaged values over time reflects broad changes in the prominence of each form of morality.

Differently moral

We found basic moral terms (see the black line below) became dramatically scarcer in English-language books as the 20th century unfolded – which fits the de-moralisation narrative. But an equally dramatic rebound began in about 1980, implying a striking re-moralisation.

The five moral foundations, on the other hand, show a vastly changing trajectory. The purity foundation (green line) shows the same plunge and rebound as the basic moral terms. Ideas of sacredness, piety and purity, and of sin, desecration and indecency, fell until about 1980, and rose afterwards.

The other moralities show very different pathways. Perhaps surprisingly, the egalitarian morality of fairness (blue) showed no consistent rise or fall.

In contrast, the hierarchy-based morality of authority (grey) underwent a gentle decline for the first half of the century. It then sharply rose as the gathering crisis of authority shook the Western world in the late 1960s. This morality of obedience and conformity, insubordination and rebellion, then receded equally sharply through the 1970s.

Ingroup morality (orange), reflected in the communal language of loyalty and unity, insiders and outsiders, displays the clearest upward trend through the 20th century. Discernible bumps around the two world wars point to passing elevations in the “us and them” morality of threatened communities.

Finally, harm-based morality (red) presents a complex but intriguing trend. Its prominence falls from 1900 to the 1970s, interrupted by similar wartime bumps when themes of suffering and destruction became understandably urgent. But harm rises steeply from about 1980 in the absence of a single dominating global conflict.

What can we say about this?

The decades since 1980 can be seen as a period when moral concerns experienced a revival. What has driven this revival is open to speculation. Some might see the election of conservative governments in the US, UK and Australia at the start of this period as a pivotal change.

That might explain the rise of the typically conservative purity-based morality but not the even steeper increase in the typically liberal harm foundation.

Others might point to the rise of social justice concerns – or “political correctness” to critics – as the basis for the upswing in harm-based morality. The surge of harm language during early- and mid-century wartime may point to the late century rise being linked to the so called “culture wars”. Certainly, the simultaneous rise in conservative (purity) and left-liberal (harm) moralities since that time is a recipe for moral conflict and polarisation.

Read more: How we decide who and what we care about – and whether robots stand a chance

Our research has its limitations. Books are windows into only some aspects of culture. The population of English-language books is dominated by American and to a lesser extent British volumes, and we cannot isolate patterns specific to different English-speaking nations. The Google Books database does not allow us to examine changes in morality over the past decade.

Even so, this research points to some important cultural transformations. How we tend to think about matters of right and wrong is different now from how we once did and, if the trends are to be believed, how we will in the future.

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Ethics and Morality

Is the world really in moral decline, the biased exposure effect, and how to get past it..

Updated June 29, 2023 | Reviewed by Michelle Quirk

• Both within the United States and globally, individuals perceive that morality is rapidly declining.
• A new study reveals that moral behavior is in fact either very stable or improving over time.
• We may believe that morals are deteriorating due to biased exposure or biased memory.

New research published in the journal Nature in June 2023 questions the common perception that global society is experiencing rapid moral decline. Co-authors Mastroianni and Gilbert show that despite archival and survey data suggesting that people across the globe believe that human moral behavior is declining, other data suggest that human morals are consistent or even improving.

Mastroianni and Gilbert note that throughout recorded history, people have bemoaned a sharp decline in kindness, honesty, ethical behavior, civility, and decency. As the authors note, moral deterioration would indeed be happening extremely quickly if we could perceive those changes within our lifetimes. However, our perceptions of precipitous moral decline may be illusory.

First, the researchers reviewed databases for previously published research assessing changes in moral values and attitudes, honesty, and ethical behavior over time within the United States. They found very strong evidence that respondents believed that morality had declined over time.

Furthermore, the authors found that “Americans have been reporting moral decline at the same rate for as long as researchers have been asking them about it.” Although participants reported more moral decline when they were asked about longer periods of time (e.g., the last 10 years versus the last year), people also acknowledged gains in morality on specific issues such as respect for individuals with disabilities or individuals with different sexual orientations.

Second, the researchers explored previous research from countries across the globe for similar studies assessing changes in morality over time. They found strong evidence that people from 60 different nations across South America, Europe, Asia, and Africa also reported declining morality over time.

Third, the researchers collected their own data using nationally representative samples within the United States to assess perceptions of kindness, honesty, and goodness at several time points over the course of participants’ lives. Generally, they found that participants perceived people to be “less kind, honest, nice, and good” in 2020 versus 2010 and “in the year that participants turned 20” versus “the year that participants were born.”

They also found that although both liberal and conservative participants reported declining morality over time, this effect was stronger for more conservative individuals. Similarly, older individuals reported increased moral decline relative to their younger counterparts. Interestingly, participants believed that the morality of individuals declined over time (people were becoming less moral as they aged) and that successive generations were becoming increasingly amoral.

Contradictory Evidence

Although the authors acknowledged that individuals believe that global morality is declining over time, they gathered research suggesting that, in some ways, morality is improving or staying stable. For example, the authors note that objective records of repugnant behaviors such as slavery, murder, and rape have declined over time.

Second, when survey research assessed current moral behavior toward individuals (e.g., “Were you treated with respect all day yesterday?” or “Would you say that most of the time people try to be helpful?”) and researchers considered participants’ responses over time, individuals’ reports of current morality stayed consistent across decades. Similarly, the authors review research suggesting increased cooperation over time even when individuals believe that cooperation has declined.

Why We Believe Morality Is Declining

The authors suggest two reasons that people believe that morality is rapidly declining. First is the “biased exposure effect,” which suggests that not only do individuals tend to look for negative information more frequently than positive information, but we also pay more attention to that negative information. The authors also note that the media “disproportionately focus” on negative rather than positive behaviors.

Second, the “biased memory effect” suggests that events from the past, even negative events, are remembered more positively, perhaps due to their weakening emotional impact.

When the Effect Disappears

Finally, the researchers show that under certain circumstances, the perception that morality is declining is either reduced or eliminated. For example, when individuals rated those within their personal spheres (such as friends, family members, and co-workers), individuals perceived moral improvement over time rather than moral deterioration.

Furthermore, although participants tended to rate individuals as less honest, kind, and nice when they were 20 versus when they were born, they did not rate individuals as less honest, kind, and nice in the year they were born versus 20 years before they were born, and perceptions of honesty and kindness were actually rated as improving from 40 years before they were born versus 20 years before they were born.

Limitations and Implications

The authors do note that the archival data they referenced were not necessarily collected to explicitly assess moral decline over time. Furthermore, when asking about changes in “moral values,” survey questions did not always specify to which “moral values” they referred. Lastly, the authors acknowledge that other factors besides biased exposure and biased memory may drive our perceptions of moral decline.

Mastroianni and Gilbert suggest some important implications for the inaccurate perception of moral decline such as deflecting funding away from genuine problems to address a problem that may be nonexistent—or individuals not seeking help because they do not believe others will be willing to provide it. This important research suggests that precipitous human moral decline is neither imminent nor inevitable.

Facebook /LinkedIn images: Krakenimages.com/Shutterstock

Mastroianni, A.M., Gilbert, D.T. The illusion of moral decline. Nature (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-06137-x

Madeleine A. Fugère, Ph.D. , is a professor of Social Psychology at Eastern Connecticut State University, and her areas of expertise include attraction and romantic relationships.

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Knowledge at Wharton Podcast

Technology and the decline of morality, july 14, 2017 • 29 min listen.

Former Hearst executive Eden Collinsworth explores the fluid lines of morality today in her new book.

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Author Eden Collinsworth talks about the fluid lines of morality today in her new book.

An edited transcript of the conversation follows.

Knowledge at Wharton: What has changed significantly about morality that we’re going down the bad road more often than the good road?

Eden Collinsworth: It might be helpful to define the words “morality” and “ethics” because they’re often thought to be one and the same. Morality is a personal set of beliefs, and you could say that it’s the core of who we are as individuals. Ethics is expressed in terms of the expectations and the sanctions that are defined and enforced by a certain culture and society.

What’s completely confounding today is that the world has never been so interconnected, but what we forget is that the ethical positions or decisions or expectations occur within a given period of time in a certain cultural silo. That is why many of us are completely disconcerted by what we think is so obviously right and wrong when other people don’t believe that.

Quite honestly, the book that I’ve written was the result of living in China for a period of time … and they are simply operating with a different set of moral values. The perspective is not one from a Judeo-Christian sense of right and wrong. They’re far more philosophical and don’t believe that there’s any one way of being right, and there are very few ways of being wrong. Something as fundamental as what you expect from a business contract becomes extremely vague and amorphous even after you’ve signed it because there’s a belief that it’s a continuation of a dialogue and not the culmination of one.

This led me to contemplate whether my own values were at all germane or applicable any longer in America, as an American. I started to explore that question with a variety of other people in terms of the moral choices they’ve made. Some of them have upheld the moral status quo, others have been defiant. And I think a great deal has to do with the generational shift.

I was brought up with a certain set of moral standards and values by parents who believed that it was almost a rule book. My son, who is in his late 20s, is the result of a generation whose ethics have been shaped largely by the technological advances that occurred in his lifetime. There are a lot of external factors, but yes, things are really very different and far more morally flexible.

Knowledge at Wharton: The mindset of each generation is certainly different, but I would think morals would be something that would carry on through the generations.

Collinsworth: After spending a year exploring this topic, I think that we’re not necessarily born with ethics or morality. I think that a great deal of it is acquired. Some part of it has to do with skills. One of the people I interviewed in the United Kingdom is this brilliant neuroscientist. … She has underscored the fact that your brain is constantly evolving. The frontal lobes, which are the part of the brain that puts things in perspective and allows you to be empathetic, are constantly evolving.

“We’re not necessarily born with ethics or morality. I think that a great deal of it is acquired.”

But it is less likely to evolve and develop those skills if you are in front of a screen. In other words, those skills come into play when you have a face-to-face interaction with someone. You can observe facial gestures. You can hear the intonation of a voice. You’re more likely to behave moderately in that exchange, unless it’s a just a knock-down, drag-out fight.

Now, the average time spent in front of a screen is nine hours. My son grew up with a computer, but he did not grow up with social media. Even in his late 20s, he is different from somebody in their early 20s who had grown up curating their Facebook page, working Instagram and Twitter. That’s a demarcation that’s fairly obvious, and that has to do with technological changes that are not going to retreat. In other words, this is the deal.

Knowledge at Wharton: What we’re seeing politically in this country and around the world does challenge the idea that morals and politics can work together.

Collinsworth: I would agree. But I think, like anything, it comes from the top. The fact remains that in America there is a president who has no qualms about, dare I say, lying. The word “lie” conveys not only a factual judgment but also a moral one. I come from a media background, so what is the obligation of a free press? I’ve also lived in countries where there is not a free press, China specifically. I am incredibly grateful as an American for a free press, which I believe holds [the excesses of] democracy in check. But what is the obligation? Is it to trust the public’s judgment? Or is it to present judgment to them?

As far as I’m concerned, a lie is a lie is a lie. And we normalize it by not calling him out. But we also are living in a society now that is far more comfortable believing something [just] because it’s the opposite of what somebody else believes. I’m afraid we’re going to have to do a little more heavy lifting, and I don’t know whether Americans have the appetite for that.

Knowledge at Wharton: It’s almost an expectation that you’re going to have lies coming at you, whereas 30 or 40 years ago there was an assumption of truth coming your way.

Collinsworth: That’s true. But my truth might be different than yours because I’m entrenched in certain beliefs. This is what I assumed was a political trend, and I must say that I’m incredibly relieved to see what’s happened in France. Not because I necessarily agree with the policies, but Emmanuel Macron, the new president, has come out of nowhere in a little over a year and he has now won a majority in Parliament.

Fifty percent of the parliamentarians have not had any experience in politics. He is completely determined to build a populous movement from the center rather than the extremes. I’m hoping that is a very positive sign of what might come and what might be embraced not only in America but also the U.K. and other countries that have become so polarized. I mean, you can’t open your mouth without being accused of any number of things, and it’s far more emotional than it is rational.

“My truth might be different than yours because I’m entrenched in certain beliefs.”

Knowledge at Wharton: You also take some time in the book to look at Hollywood as well, specifically the Kardashians.

Collinsworth: Yeah, that’s pretty weird. But you know what, I’m not of that generation. What one has to remember is that these are extremely shrewd business decisions [made by the Kardashian family]. Kim Kardashian is memorializing in every conceivable sense — on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, newsletters, traditional media — the most mundane aspects of her life on a day-to-day basis. But she’s charging for it.

In a larger sense, we should remember that just a few tech companies [control our digital life]. You think of the internet as this rather ephemeral, atmospheric opportunity to create communities and outreach and gather information, and it is all of those things. But it’s important to remember that it’s also owned by a few extremely lucrative tech companies.

These are businesses. These are publicly owned companies, and their first and foremost obligation is the return on investment. Now they’re being held to account on some degree, and they finally have admitted that they are more than simply content providers, so they should become responsible to a degree for patrolling or curtailing some content that’s very incendiary. But the point is that all of these are money-making ventures.

Knowledge at Wharton: The world of Kim Kardashian revolves around a lot of social media. I want to get your thoughts on what social media means to this discussion of morality.

Collinsworth: If you look at it just from a logistical perspective and focus in on something like Twitter — and this loops back to the issue of one’s ability to interact with people — Twitter basically has reduced communication to so many characters, so there’s no room for any subtlety. But more to the point, it’s very direct. What you see on Twitter, but also on Facebook, is often an angry response that ratchets up very quickly.

Part of this overall concern about what is happening is there is a diminution or lesser opportunity to build the skill set of how to deal with people. We are social animals, so something as simple as communicating has now become fraught with not only our polarized ideas, policies and politics, but also it is exacerbated by the way we communicate.

I read someplace that within a relatively short period of time, in less than five years, most people will be using their phones not to make phone calls but for text messages and internet connection. Even with the phone now, you’d just as soon text rather than actually hear somebody’s voice. It just is becoming a more stilted way of dealing with other people. I don’t think that it’s going to change. I think that’s the trend, so I think we have to learn to live with it and perhaps put it in perspective.

Knowledge at Wharton: You also get into the military a little bit. You had a conversation with a major general from the Air Force about elements they have to deal with regarding morality.

Collinsworth: Yes, that was really very interesting for me and quite compelling. I spoke to Gen. Michael “Buzz” Moseley, who under two presidents was chief of staff of the Air Force. We spoke about drone warfare because it falls very quickly into two ethical camps. One feels that it’s immoral and unethical to kill because it has to do with the ease by which you kill and the fact that you’re basically killing somebody from a bunker outside of Las Vegas or something. You follow this person around. There’s this rather weird intimacy where you’re tracking this person, getting to know their daily habits in order to isolate a moment where you can murder them, in effect.

The other side of the argument is that it is a more moral way of dealing with warfare. Gen. Moseley reminded me of the purpose of war, and that is why he feels very strongly that there’s nothing casual about making the decision to put boots on the ground or move into a military posture. He told me very directly that the purpose of war is to kill people and destroy property.

“When do you begin to forfeit your morals?”

He felt that technology finally has allowed warfare, most especially from the air, to become more moral because even though admittedly there is collateral damage, there is far less collateral damage when you’re focused on an individual rather than whatever the alternative is. Obviously, there’s been a long history of warfare from the air, including carpet bombing and so on, so it was interesting to hear that perspective.

These are issues one grapples with especially now. The question I have, which is unanswered by the way, is when do you begin to forfeit your own moral values — whether you call them Western values — and acknowledge that the enemy you’re fighting doesn’t share your values? I’ve lived in London for the last several years, and the last two months have been fairly gruesome [due to several terrorist attacks]. It’s a situation where the goal [of the attacker] is to kill as many innocent civilians as possible, usually in a vulnerable situation, often women and children.

So when do you begin to forfeit your morals [as a result]? Fortunately, I have not seen that happen. There are hate crimes on the rise but what I do see, not surprisingly, is the trend towards a willingness to forfeit civil liberties for security. Now in the U.K. and possibly elsewhere, the government will take a more aggressive position and attitude towards monitoring your personal communication online and on phones. … I think the government is just at its wit’s end. It’s been very stalwart. But its threshold of tolerance has really diminished considerably.

Knowledge at Wharton: You also talk towards the end of the book about birth and the moral questions surrounding it.

Collinsworth: Everything is relative. Here in the U.K., it is against the law to deliberately choose a gender. That’s where they draw the line. However, a three-person pregnancy, [or making babies using DNA from three people], is legal. That is illegal in America, but what is legal in America is choosing a gender. Those people in the U.K. who can afford it fly to a doctor in Chicago, and he will perform that procedure. In China, it’s against the law for a single woman to freeze her eggs. Women in China who could afford it fly to California and do just that.

A lot of it has to do with, whether right or wrong, your financial wherewithal. But it’s difficult to know where the line is drawn. I don’t want to get personal, but you volunteered that you support a certain procedure [IVF]. Would you then support the choice of a gender? It’s very, very personal. … The one thing that became extremely apparent to me is that [whatever issue we discuss like] reproductive rights, warfare, or others, technology will continue to hurl ahead as we argue both sides of the equation.

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• Correspondence
• Published: 07 May 2018

Things we know about media and morality

• Richard Huskey 1 ,
• Nicholas Bowman 2 ,
• Allison Eden 3 ,
• Matthew Grizzard 4 ,
• Lindsay Hahn 3 ,
• Robert Lewis 5 ,
• Nicholas Matthews 1 ,
• Ron Tamborini 3 ,
• Joseph B. Walther 6 &
• René Weber 6  

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To the Editor — Crockett’s Comment ‘Moral outrage in the digital age’ 1 explains how social media affect responses to moral violations and the consequences thereof: social media increase the frequency of exposure to moral violations, alter the cost and constraints of experiencing them, and promote feuding responses. We applaud Crockett for addressing this pressing topic. However, a significant body of communication science research suggests important ways in which Crockett’s model and hypotheses could be enriched and refined.

First, Crockett argues that individuals show moral outrage when exposed to moral content in social media contexts and that this outrage is consistent with an individual’s moral subculture. Crockett primarily accounts for volume and platform of exposure while underspecifying content as emotional, immoral or otherwise triggering stimuli. Volume is a reasonable start. However, existing models show that moral beliefs shape media exposure, and that these beliefs are influenced as a result. Moral subcultures emerge in response to media use 2 and the moral profiles of these subcultures shape the evaluation of moral actions 3 . Importantly, moral messages differ in systematic ways 4 and vary by source 5 . Therefore, research should address how variations in media content interact with individuals’ moral profiles to shape exposure 6 and subsequent behavioural outcomes 7 . Given that volume can be considered an outcome of variation in moral content, Crockett’s model would benefit from specifying message, source and receiver characteristics that explain intensity of and variation in moral emotions.

Second, Crockett’s argument assumes that social media constitute echo chambers and that exposure to moral content in social media contributes to polarization. Empirical support for these assumptions is mixed. Moral content on social media platforms are part of broader media contexts that jointly contribute to moral evaluations and behaviour. In traditional and new media contexts, audience fragmentation is lesser than audience duplication and this finding is true across multiple nations and platforms 8 . If social media significantly contribute to polarization, then the most polarized audiences should use social media the most. Nationally representative data show the opposite pattern 9 . Accordingly, Crockett’s hypothesis that echo chambers associated with social media limit the costs and benefits of moral outrage requires further empirical scrutiny.

Finally, Crockett argues that exposure to moral content evokes stronger moral outrage in social media compared with in person. This is supported by preliminary evidence for a small effect size in a large sample 1 . However, the hypothesis that social media exacerbate moral outrage in kind and ferocity over other channels requires additional evidence. Illuminating questions might consider the properties of social media in addition to volume and ease of transmission with a focus on the written nature of online communication that intensifies the emotional impact of messages. Despite the prevalence of graphics in social media, commenting is still predominantly textual, and therefore exceptionally provocative 10 . If we agreed that evidence for echo chambers is inconclusive and social media may not limit the benefits of moral outrage, then other factors such as intensified self-perceptions and commitment to public positions due to postings are indeed aspects worth considering in more detail.

Ultimately, if social media affect moral outrage at the individual and societal level, then cross-disciplinary collaborations to model morality, media and their mechanisms will help us better understand these phenomena.

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Huskey, R., Bowman, N., Eden, A. et al. Things we know about media and morality. Nat Hum Behav 2 , 315 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-018-0349-9

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Published : 07 May 2018

Issue Date : May 2018

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-018-0349-9

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When morality is not in consonance with a law, what should prevail – the moral principle or the law?

Topic: laws, rules, regulations and conscience as sources of ethical guidance;

6. When morality is not in consonance with a law, what should prevail – the moral principle or the law? (150 words)

Difficulty level: Tough

Why the question: The question is part of the static syllabus of General studies paper – 4 Key Demand of the question: To debate as to what should prevail if morality is in conflict with the law. Structure of the answer: Introduction: Start the answer by mentioning the relationship between morality and law. Body: Explain that the popular conception of the connection between law and morality is that in some way the law exists to promote morality, to preserve those conditions which make the moral life possible. Write about the reason for conflict. They conflict most often because morality gives you a sense of what is right and wrong or acceptable and what is not according to human nature. Law commands obedience not out of a sense of right or wrong but out of necessity. Substantiate the above with examples. Conclusion: Conclude by underscoring that Morality forms the foundation, the pre-condition, for laws. Put another way, laws do not have the necessary foundation or reason to be, if there is no such thing as morality.

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Embrittlement, degradation, and loss prevention of hydrogen pipelines

• Materials for Hydrogen Production, Storage, and Conversion
• Open access
• Published: 04 April 2024

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• Leonardo Giannini   ORCID: orcid.org/0009-0005-9589-6325 1 ,
• Nima Razavi 1 ,
• Antonio Alvaro 2 &
• Nicola Paltrinieri 1  

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The detrimental effects induced by hydrogen on different materials—including steels—are a well-known and studied phenomenon. In the last century, several research papers focusing on hydrogen damages were published, including investigations concerning the hydrogen impact on the crack growth rate in steels subjected to cyclic loading. However, the past studies focused on material behavior and the role of external factors (e.g., pressure, temperature, stress field, microstructure, inhibitors, etc.), while the consequences of these findings on safety procedures and guidelines remain unspoken. The present work aims at investigating how the manifestation of the hydrogen degradation effect on equipment subjected to fatigue loadings may reflect on conventional safety practices. More accurately, a review of the parameters governing pipeline fatigue life is undertaken to analyze how such variables may lead to undesirable events and ultimately promoting a loss of containment scenario. In this sense, this work appeals for an evolution of the existing inspection methodologies for components that may experience fatigue failures (i.e., piping and pipeline systems), since the time-dependency of the detrimental effects induced by hydrogen should be considered in the operations of accident prevention and risk mitigation. Hence, the development of a preventive inspection and maintenance strategy specifically conceived for hydrogen technologies is essential to avoid the loss prevention of hydrogen systems. This will not only contribute to a quicker and larger scale spread of a hydrogen infrastructure, but it will also foster the energy-transition challenge that our society is facing today.

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Introduction

Following several decarbonization roadmaps 1 , 2 and international sustainability projects, the hydrogen infrastructure is today slowly spreading, with numerous applications that foster its utilization in the automotive industry, the maritime sector, and even the aviation industry. The hydrogen value chain, which comprehends production facilities (e.g., solar panels and/or wind turbines coupled with electrolyzers to produce green hydrogen), 3 storage and transport equipment (e.g., vessels and repurposed or newly installed pipelines), and dedicated infrastructure for the final utilization (e.g., refueling stations), shall in fact evolve in the following years, with the goal of producing, importing, and transporting up to 20 million tons of hydrogen by 2030. 2 To support this value chain, the European Commission delivered a communication titled “A Hydrogen Strategy for a Climate Neutral Europe,” in which it indicates that planning of medium range and backbone transmission infrastructure should begin. 4 Against this background, the concept of retrofitting and/or repurposing the existing pipeline grid, originally designed for natural gas transportation, has gained interest in industry, and tests on transporting methane-hydrogen blends were performed. 5 In fact, research on integrity assessment protocols of repurposed gas pipes 6 and management of hydrogen injection in the European gas network 7 is already starting, aiming to enable a safe integration of hydrogen in the existing pipeline network. Under this premise, the main scope of this work is to investigate safety-related uncertainties concerning the integrity of this envisioned pipeline grid, reviewing the detrimental effects that hydrogen may induce on steels commonly implemented in the pan-European pipe-network and defining the parameters, working conditions, and variables that may influence the life of a hydrogen pipeline. In addition, these considerations aim at defining the factors that could promote loss prevention for a hydrogen pipeline, which could not only cause disastrous consequences, but may also inhibit the spread of hydrogen technologies undermining the social acceptability of the related infrastructure. This aspect is therefore deemed as crucial for the spread of hydrogen systems, whose development delay could also slow the overall energy transition process.

Hydrogen pipeline safety

Inspection and maintenance procedures for hydrogen equipment do not currently exist, 8 and specific procedures should be developed in order to account for the degrading effects that hydrogen may induce on pipeline steels. 9 Hence, it is understandable that the matters of hydrogen damage and material compatibility point in the direction of pipeline safety, and that risk analysis should focus on preventive measures and on mitigation of failure probability, along with consequence modeling that today apparently holds the lion’s share of publications on hydrogen safety. A fault tree analysis 10 of a generic hydrogen pipeline would report some of the most relevant hydrogen-induced damages that may couple with material local flaws, thus fostering the likelihood of a LOC scenario. Figure   1 shows a fault tree (FT) that highlights criticalities which might favor the occurrence of a hydrogen accident. The black box indicates the accident event (loss of containment), and the light blue boxes describe the hydrogen-induced failures potentially leading to it. From left to right, Figure 1 indicates failures due to the loss of mechanical properties (i.e., due to hydrogen embrittlement), fatigue failure (i.e., related to hydrogen-enhanced fatigue crack growth rate—HEFCGR), and the hydrogen impact on the resistance against cracking (i.e., due to reduction of fracture toughness). The dashed lines indicate that the FT is not designed to be comprehensive, as it focuses on elements related to hydrogen-induced damages. The undesirable events 10 are the basis of the FT, and they usually represent initial elements that could foster fatigue failure or that may be relevant for initiating cracks (vibrations, critical loading history, etc.) or for the susceptibility to cracking (design error, manufacturing error, etc.).

Fault tree describing initiating events and conditions that could foster a loss of containment of a hydrogen pipeline. The hydrogen-assisted degradation is indicated by the yellow boxes, which sum up the overall effect on mechanical properties, fracture resistance, and fatigue performances of pipeline steels. The fifth level (white square boxes) collects undesirable events 10 that may lead to conditions favoring damages (undetected defects). Similar elements could be considered for the other green boxes (vertical dashed lines).

Methodology

The process of the systematic review is rooted in the research questions that this work aims at answering, as suggested by the guidelines proposed by Xiao and Watson. 11 The research questions also arise from the elements in the FT (Figure  1 ), whose structure was refined and updated according to the results of the review process, as indicated in Figure 2 . Hence, the research questions that this work aims to answer are the following:

Which is the existing information on steel-hydrogen interaction, and what are the consequences of such interactions on a macroscopical level?

Which are the conditions, variables, and parameters that favor the hydrogen damage on pipeline steels and what material characteristics are relevant for hydrogen incompatibility?

From a safety perspective, what is the current state of the art on hydrogen-assisted degradation of pipeline steels and what are the implications for planning inspections and maintenance on a hydrogen pipeline?

Flowchart highlighting the iterative process of the review methodology. The phases of the review process (“Identification,” “Screening,” and “Inclusion”) are described in detail in Table II . FT, fault tree.

To answer these questions, data were collected using the Scopus database 12 and submitted queries related to the previously mentioned research questions. In particular, the queries were articulated on three subtopics reflecting the research questions:

detrimental effects caused by hydrogen,

research on pipeline steels and materials, and

field of application (transport and storage), including unwanted events (e.g., accidents and loss of containment).

Table I reports the submitted queries (articulated in accordance with the research questions) that were then updated and tuned according to the results obtained from the systematic review process (see Figure  2 ).

As shown in Table I , the date of the records ranged from 1985 to 2024, the longest selectable range, and the research was limited to the English language. The queries were applied to the papers’ title, abstract, and keywords and the literature review was concluded on September 5, 2023. This resulted in a total of 57 publications (28 research articles, 21 conference papers, one book chapter, and seven reviews), which were scanned (screening process + inclusion/exclusion criteria) according to the reviewing methodology suggested by Xiao and Watson. 11 In addition, the results of the systematic review were not only used to update the submitted queries, 11 but also to refine the structure and the elements of the FT (Figure  1 ) that is the starting point of this work. The inclusion of a FT in the development of a systematic review method can be thus considered as a novelty, and the process of literature identification can also be easily inferred in Figure 3 , which depicts the framework of the research.

Venn diagram illustrating the review process, the field “Hydrogen Pipeline Safety” corresponds to the output of the queries.

After the identification of the literature and the screening procedure, some additional studies were identified through backward and forward search. 11 Such studies were selected because indicated by the scanned literature reviews as crucial sources, therefore being particularly relevant to the scope of this work (as shown in Figure  2 ). Gray literature (book chapters, inspection planning standards, relevant reports on pipeline failure rates and conference papers) was only considered and referred when of particular interest. As reported in Table II , other publications were excluded, mostly because the term “hydrogen” present in the title, abstract and keywords did not refer to gaseous hydrogen, but rather to other chemical substances that have “hydrogen” reported in the name (i.e., hydrogen sulfide and hydrogen chloride). Additionally, some studies were excluded because they focused on the effect of sulfate-reducing bacteria on buried pipelines, materials different from steels, basic research on hydrogen diffusivity and solubility or because the full text was not available (see Table II ). The information collected from the review process is narratively discussed as follows, while the bibliometric analysis and related results are reported in the “ Key insights and reflections ” section.

Metal−hydrogen interactions

This section discusses metal–hydrogen interactions that are relevant for pipelines working in hydrogen environments. Hence, hydrogen-induced detrimental effects that originate from corrosion processes (i.e., stress-oriented hydrogen-induced cracking, stress-corrosion cracking, etc.) are not considered. Laureys et al. 9 reviewed the factors influencing the performances of pipeline steels facing a pressure-driven hydrogen uptake, which may be described as the increased fraction of hydrogen dissolved in the steel and promoted by the external pressure. The uptake process follows the steps of physisorption, chemisorption, and absorption, 13 as indicated in Figure 4 .

Qualitative chart describing the mechanisms of physisorption and chemisorption, as illustrated by Christmann. 13 If a hydrogen molecule is close enough to the metal surface, the chemisorption mechanism takes place and molecular dissociation is favored. This process acts as a source of atomic hydrogen, which may then recombine or diffuse toward the subsurface region of the steel (absorption).

Once atomic hydrogen enters the material, it can diffuse toward areas characterized by residual stress, local flaws, dislocations, and traps, and it may lead to a loss of cohesive strength, thus enhancing material degradation and ultimately cracking. 14 Villalobos et al. 14 also pointed out that even few ppm of hydrogen can cause loss of ductility and promote cracking, especially in high strength steels. Such penetration potential depends on a series of variables, including the surface condition of the steel and the presence of impurities or blending with additives. 9 The final effect at a macroscopic level consists in the inhibition of critical mechanical properties, which is usually referred to as hydrogen embrittlement (HE). In fact, HE is responsible for the deterioration of tensile properties (i.e., elongation to failure 15 and ultimate tensile strength 16 ) and for the reduction of fracture toughness (i.e., the resistance to fracture propagation). 17 , 18 , 19 Moreover, other studies investigated the reduction of the fatigue endurance of steels working in gaseous hydrogen environments under different operative conditions (i.e., temperature, pressure, frequency) and cyclic loadings. 9 , 20 , 21 , 22 More details concerning the affected properties are reported in the next sections.

Loss of ductility

As the name hydrogen embrittlement suggests, one of the main results of hydrogen permeation in steels is the induced loss of ductility. Stalheim et al. 23 conducted comparative tensile tests on a commercial X70 pipeline steel (nomenclature of API 5L 24 ) in hydrogen and helium environments, proving the poorer ductility of the steel when tested in hydrogen at 5.5 MPa. In addition, X65 specimens were electrochemically charged with hydrogen 25 and tested to measure the induced loss of ductility ( Figure   5 ). In both works, the area reduction was measured to evaluate the ductility loss, and a more pronounced embrittlement was obtained at slower strain rates, indicating that the time of exposure to the hydrogen environment is a key variable in the process of embrittlement. 23 This aspect seems consistent with other experimental evidence, as pointed out by Slifka et al. 21

Hydrogen-induced loss of ductility on a X65 pipeline steel. On the left, the steel was tested in an inert environment, and it shows a typical “cup and cone” ductile cracking. On the right, the steel was electrochemically charged with hydrogen, and it shows a more brittle behavior and lower ductility (from the research work conducted in Reference 25 ). The arrows indicate the reference to the specific scale bar.

Reduction of fracture toughness

Hydrogen also affects another crucial property of pipeline steels: fracture toughness. Li et al. 26 discussed recent advances in embrittlement characterization and mitigation, pointing out a lack of direct evidence on how hydrogen segregation can lead to the propagation of cracks. Even if an agreed upon hydrogen degradation mechanism is missing and a fracture toughness testing procedure is under development in different ongoing projects around the world, it is clear that hydrogen uptake negatively impacts the materials resistance against cracking. A thorough analysis of this phenomenon is not strictly related to the safety-driven nature of this work, but additional specific literature on the topic can be consulted to deepen this aspect. 27 , 28 In any case, experiments on hydrogen pre-charged specimens were carried out by Wang, 18 who investigated crack propagation on X70 specimens and suggested a critical hydrogen concentration of 1 ppm as a threshold for the reduction of fracture toughness. Above such threshold, the author obtained a linear correlation between the hydrogen concentration in ppm ( \({C}_{H}\) ) and the critical stress intensity factor ( \({K}_{IQ}\) ) expressed in \(MPa\sqrt{m}\) , as illustrated in Figure 6 .

Reduction of the fracture toughness of a X70 specimen pre-charged with hydrogen for different concentrations. Data from Reference 18 . © 2009 Elsevier.

In addition, Mendibide et al. 29 studied the effects of humidity on hydrogen permeation, indicating that it can slightly increase the severity of the environment and therefore lead to a potential reduction of fracture toughness. It should be noted that for an operating pipeline the welds resistance to cracking is of paramount importance, and that the crack propagation of these areas can differ from the one of the base metal. Hence, Chatzidouros et al. 30 and Giarola et al. 19 studied the effect of hydrogen on the fracture toughness of steel welds, investigating X52 and X70 electrochemically charged specimens and comparing the results with the properties of the base metal. Surprisingly, they found that the microstructure of the heat-affected zone (i.e., the areas affected by microstructural modifications during welding processes) was less susceptible to hydrogen degradation than the base metal. The authors indicated that a possible explanation of the phenomenon could be the trapping of hydrogen in the continuous interfaces between the microstructures of the base metal. 30 However, the data showed considerable dispersion and are in contrast with the results reported in other publications concerning heat-affected zones (HAZs). 28 , 31 In fact, HAZs and welds are known to be particularly delicate areas of pipelines, so further studies concerning their compatibility with gaseous hydrogen transport should be carried out, especially conducting tests in pressurized hydrogen environments.

Inhibition of fatigue performances

During its operative life, a pipeline is often subjected to cyclic loadings that may be caused by the fluctuations in the pressure level induced by variations in the load of the connected utilities and/or by the movement of the seabed in the case of subsea pipelines. Even if not completely clarified yet, the presence of hydrogen can reduce the threshold cyclic stress intensity factor ( \(\Delta {K}_{th}\) ), thus promoting fatigue cracking and reducing the pipeline’s operative life. 32 On a more general basis, Laureys et al. 9 and Hagen and Alvaro 15 also reviewed the fatigue performances of pipeline steels in hydrogen environments, investigating the factors affecting hydrogen-induced degradation. Several studies were also reviewed by Li et al., 26 indicating the role of natural gas blending in the inhibition of fatigue crack propagation in pipeline steels. In fact, several conditions, variables, and parameters affect the fatigue behavior of X-grade steels operating in hydrogen environments. Pressure, temperature, loading frequency, hydrogen gas impurities and inhibitors, steel grade, surface conditions, loading history; all these variables interdependently play a role in the determination of the fatigue performances of a hydrogen pipeline, thus increasing or reducing the likelihood of failure and potentially fostering LOC scenarios. The next section delves more in detail into these aspects, discussing such factors and providing critical elements obtained from the review process.

Parameters affecting crack growth in hydrogen environments

Metallic equipment working in high-pressure hydrogen environments and subjected to cyclic loadings is known to be potentially susceptible to fatigue failure, and numerous studies highlighted the variables influencing the crack growth during different tests. The main parameters are collected and described as follows.

Hydrogen pressure

Faucon et al. 31 conducted in situ fatigue tests on X60 hollow specimens, focusing both on the base and the weld metal. Unlike the findings reported in Reference 30 , they noticed that hydrogen accelerated the crack growth by a factor of four for the base metal and by a factor of eight in the welded steel. This resulted in a reduced life of 37% and 57%, respectively, proving that the hydrogen damage is more severe on weld metal under fatigue conditions—which is also confirmed by numerical simulations of crack propagation in heat-affected zones, as indicated in additional literature. 33 Interestingly, no difference in the fatigue behavior was detected at a hydrogen pressure ranging between 7 and 15 MPa, hinting that a saturation pressure for hydrogen diffusion was reached at around 7 MPa. Nonetheless, the tests were conducted using an unstandardized geometry (hollow specimen technique) and focused on low cycle fatigue regimes (which may not be the most relevant for pipeline working conditions). Therefore, more data could be needed to prove such results. Conventional fatigue experiments were carried out by An et al. 20 on a X80 pipeline steel to investigate the influence of the hydrogen pressure on the enhancement of the fatigue crack growth rate (FCGR). Their findings show that the FCGR doubles when the hydrogen pressure is increased from 0.2 to 8 MPa. Both works 20 , 31 indicate that the hydrogen pressure plays a pivotal role in the enhancement of the FCGR, as also stated by Briottet et al., 34 who conducted similar tests on a X80 steel in hydrogen at 30 MPa.

Loading frequency

Another crucial parameter in the assessment of hydrogen fatigue damages is the frequency of the load. It is in fact established knowledge 21 , 35 that low frequencies promote hydrogen degradation, since the latter has more time to diffuse at a crack tip – a phenomenon that was also investigated through numerical modeling. 36 Slifka et al. 21 tested X52 vintage and modern steels (the production year is another relevant variable, since same grade steels produced in different periods can be microstructurally different due to a different chemical composition) proving the FCGR dependence on frequency when it varied between 1 and 0.01 Hz. In addition, it should be noted that fatigue tests at low frequencies are usually extremely time-consuming and expensive. As a result, a limited amount of data is currently available for modeling and monitoring the degradation mechanisms. 9 Interestingly, an extensive discussion on the topic can be found in an additional previous publication, 37 in which a thorough study concerning the effect of frequency on the fatigue performance of austenitic steels was carried out.

Operating temperature

As previously mentioned, the effects of pressure and frequency on the steel susceptibility to hydrogen-induced degradation appear to have a monotonic nature. However, this aspect seems not to be valid for temperature. According to previous studies, high temperatures enhance hydrogen mobility in the bulk phase of steels, thus promoting detrapping and desorption. 9 , 22 The desorbed hydrogen can also be quantitatively measured, 26 thus establishing a relation between the specimen temperature and the released hydrogen. In fact, some studies point out that the worst condition in terms of maximum HEFCGR is at ambient temperature, while it becomes more negligible at higher temperatures. 32 On the other hand, Laureys et al. 9 report that below room temperature the hydrogen effect on FCGR decreases in relation with its lower diffusivity, which is on the order of \({10}^{-10}{\text{m}}^{2}\text{/s}\) for body-centered cubic (bcc) iron structures. 15 From these considerations, it may be inferred that a temperature value which maximizes the hydrogen effect can exist, and Frandsen and Marcus 38 proved it for a high-strength alloy steel (HP 9-4-20), indicating that a maximum susceptibility is reached at around 273 K (0℃).

As mentioned, other variables and parameters influencing hydrogen-induced fatigue failures do exist, and they include material characteristics (microstructure, grade, strength) and the presence of other chemicals in the gaseous phase (inhibitors, promoters). The following section discusses these aspects, focusing on the role of materials and gas blending in a LOC scenario and outlining the importance of dedicated inspection and maintenance procedures.

Loss of containment of a hydrogen pipeline

Material characteristics are crucial in terms of hydrogen compatibility. ASME (the American Society of Mechanical Engineers) developed a standard 39 to provide guidelines on steel requirements for hydrogen transport in piping and pipeline systems, defining operative pressure limits depending on the steel grade. High grade steels (i.e., X100) are in fact typically more susceptible to hydrogen-induced loss of ductility, 16 , 21 therefore ASME 39 suggests using lower steel grades for hydrogen transport or limiting the operative pressure. However, both Slifka 21 and Stalheim 40 noted that, thus affecting the hydrogen-assisted loss of ductility, the yield strength does not have a dominant effect on fatigue performances. In fact, the fatigue tests conducted by Slifka et al. 21 show that the FCGR is not affected by the steel grade. Nevertheless, the crack growth mechanisms can vary depending on the tested material, 41 and a thorough and comprehensive standard for steel selection should consider this aspect, possibly also evaluating the potential presence of inhibitors, as explained as follows.

An important variable influencing hydrogen-assisted fatigue failure is the presence of inhibitors. Such elements can decrease the hydrogen presence in the steel, by either affecting its diffusivity or by providing some shielding effect to the pipeline surface. With respect to gaseous elements, oxygen and carbon monoxide seem to show a dominant inhibiting effect, 9 while a more modest inhibition can be obtained with methane blending, because the latter seems to affect hydrogen adsorption at high-angle grain boundaries, a common trap for hydrogen accumulation in steels. 42 Moreover, Xu et al. 43 studied the effect of lanthanum salt ( \({\text{La}}^{3+}\) ) on hydrogen permeation into steel. Although the study may have limited implications for gaseous hydrogen transport (the tests were conducted in acidic solutions), it should be noted that the addition of \({\text{La}}^{3+}\) considerably limited the hydrogen degradation of a X70 pipeline steel by forming a protective film on its surface. In addition, a theoretical study was carried out by Li et al. 44 in which the authors investigated the inhibiting effect of iron oxide ( \({\text{Fe}}_{2}{\text{O}}_{3}\) ) on hydrogen permeation in iron, suggesting that the oxide could protect steels from hydrogen-induced degradation. However, a pipeline can extend for hundreds or even thousands of kilometers, and to the author’s best knowledge there are currently no studies pointing out the possibility of considering an inhibiting effect constant over such lengths. Hence, pipeline sections could be prone to hydrogen-induced failures disregarding the presence of inhibitors. In any case, the blending with inhibitors can be an interesting element for the safety of hydrogen pipelines; however, this topic seems generally overlooked.

Indeed, hydrogen pipeline safety itself seems to be a mostly overlooked topic, even if some past studies tried to cast light on this field. Briottet et al. 34 were among the first to conduct FCGR tests on an X80 grade in a hydrogen environment to discuss safety implications, and their work suggests the development of qualification tests and redaction of standards to evaluate materials compatibility with hydrogen transport from a safety perspective. However, the problem was already pointed out by Mohitpour et al. in 1988, 45 who advocated for the development of specific codes for hydrogen pipelines based on the hydrogen’s unique characteristics. Within this review process, the only journal publication entirely dedicated to hydrogen pipeline safety is attributed to Khwaja and Paul, 46 who discussed advantages and disadvantages of different inspection techniques for coated hydrogen pipelines. Interestingly, Dmytrakh et al. 47 proposed a special diagram for the evaluation of hydrogen damage on pipeline steels, and the authors indicated its potential application in the interpretation of inspection results of long-term operated pipelines. Hence, the limited literature concerning hydrogen pipeline safety, especially focusing on inspection and maintenance procedures, is a symptom of a general miscommunication between materials science and risk analysis, which also underlines an overall lack of international harmonization of operational safety protocols. A further discussion of this aspect is presented in the next section, along with all the findings of the systematic review process and implications for future research.

Key insights and reflections

The queries reported in the “ Methodology ” section resulted in 57 documents found on the Scopus database (28 articles, 21 conference papers, seven reviews, and one book chapter). In addition, a backward-forward search 11 led to the inclusion of some other relevant publications, as explained in the “ Methodology ” section. Moreover, gray literature (conference papers initially excluded and important technical reports, standards, and codes) was considered when particularly relevant, and Table II describes the review process initially indicated in Figure 2 .

As shown in Table II , the available literature concerning hydrogen pipeline safety is quite limited. However, the number of documents spiked between 2022 and 2023 ( Figure   7 ), showing increased attention toward the subject.

The 35 journal publications obtained from the review process on Scopus, categorized per year of publication (as of 05/09/2023).

Overall, the interest toward the development of a large-scale hydrogen infrastructure is quite recent 1 , 2 , 4 , 6 , 7 and it is safe to assume that the trend shown in Figure 7 will continue in the following years. However, upon examining the results based on subject area (as depicted in Figure   8 ), it becomes evident that the domain of “materials science” is prominently the most discussed and studied, accounting for 27.4% of the records. In fact, it should be noted that the field “engineering” is quite heterogenous, and the few records 34 , 45 , 46 concerning safety aspects (albeit to a limited degree) are collected in this area.

The 35 journal publications obtained from the review process on Scopus, categorized per subject area.

To get a better understanding of the ongoing research, the results were analyzed with the software VOSviewer, 48 which performs bibliometric analyses of records. First, the authors were categorized on the number of publications and citations. The number of authors of the 35 original journal publications was 148, while a total amount of 3923 authors was cited by the documents, of which 16 are considered as highly cited (each cited more than 20 times in the records), and Figure   9 was developed based on the number of co-citations (i.e., the number of times two authors are cited together).

Number of co-citations based on the authors and weighted (circle sizes) on the total number of citations of an author. The different colors indicate author clusters and are used to highlight researchers that are strongly related to each other. 49

As indicated in Figure 9 , the research network seems well connected and experts on the field tend to cite each other quite often. The topic of the research is almost always materials science, physics, or chemistry, and this is inferable by the keywords of the publications. Considering the index keywords that appear at least two times and plotting a co-occurrence chart (i.e., the number of times the different keywords appear in the same document) Figure   10 can be obtained.

Co-occurrence of index keywords weighted on the number of times they appear (circle sizes). The relatedness of items is established on the number of times they appear together. The different colors indicate keyword clusters and are used to highlight words that are strongly related to each other (they often appear in the same publication together). 49

Figure  10 collects a total of 69 index keywords that are clustered in different topics or fields (the software clusters keywords together based on a clustering technique that uses a resolution parameter 49 ). The four clusters (indicated by the different colors) merge together in the most used index keywords: hydrogen embrittlement, hydrogen, pipelines, and steel pipe. The green cluster is the most heterogenous; it collects keywords concerning applications, economy, materials, and fracture analysis. The blue cluster is mostly characterized by materials and applications (natural gas pipelines and transportation, high strength steel, welds, and hydrogen storage) whereas the red cluster has a more chemical nature, focusing on corrosion, cathodic protection, sulfide, and dissolution. Finally, the yellow cluster collects keywords typical of physics studies, such as density functional theory, atoms, and hydrogen permeation. Again, no keywords concerning safety aspects are present, highlighting once again the lack of research concerning hydrogen pipeline safety. Moreover, the keywords “inspection,” “maintenance,” and “loss of containment” never appear even if they are explicitly reported in the submitted queries (Table I ), showing that literature concerning hazards prevention and risk assessment of materials subjected to hydrogen-assisted failure is still mostly unpublished and/or unavailable. Some other considerations regarding this aspect are reported as follows.

Implication on inspection and maintenance planning

As demonstrated with this work, hydrogen pipeline accidental prevention (intended as inspection and maintenance planning) is still largely undebated and the implications of hydrogen damage on safety aspects remain vastly unspoken. It should be noted that the hydrogen damage, although not completely understood, is a long-studied phenomenon and the conducted review confirmed a well-known aspect that most experts agree with: hydrogen-induced degradation of mechanical properties (loss of ductility, reduction of fracture toughness, and inhibition of fatigue performances) is strongly dependent on a complex interaction of a series of interlinked variables that encompass material properties, exposure conditions and mechanical characteristics. However, this work also highlighted a critical research gap concerning the consequences of hydrogen-induced damage on operational safety. Hence, the results of the review process indicated that:

The implications of recent advancements and progress in materials science are currently disregarded for what it concerns the operational safety of hydrogen transport via pipeline.

Hydrogen damage can play a pivotal role in fostering the likelihood of a LOC of a hydrogen pipeline via embrittlement effect, reduction to fracture toughness, and assisted fatigue crack propagation (as indicated in Figure  1 ).

Hence, the results of the systematic review hint that hydrogen-induced degradation effects are investigated by teams of materials scientists, while safety analysists are not involved in the activity. In fact, the author network (Figure  9 ) and the index keywords (Figure  10 ) clearly show that RAMS (reliability, availability, maintainability, and safety) research does not delve into the topic. This research gap is believed to potentially hinder the optimization of inspection and maintenance procedures for hydrogen pipelines, since risk uncertainties could result in the adoption of over-conservative safety measures. Such measures may comprehend inspection programs characterized by short inspection intervals to ensure preventive crack detection, but that can pose unsustainable economic and financial burdens potentially reducing the economic attractiveness of this technology. Therefore, future research should focus on the development of dedicated and optimized safety guidelines and strategies for hydrogen pipelines, vital to ensure optimal operational safety. Finally, this has critical implications for inspection and maintenance activities of such equipment, because the risk picture evolves with time, 50 and a static risk evaluation conducted in the design phase could be insufficient to evaluate the increasing probability of failure of hydrogen systems, potentially leading to hazardous scenarios.

This work addressed the existing state of the art concerning metal–hydrogen interactions in pipeline steels under the lens of operational safety, with particular attention paid to the role of inspection planning and preventive maintenance in the scenario of a LOC of a hydrogen pipeline. The review process started from the development of a FT (Figure  1 ) further updated and refined according with the obtained information. Such iterative process (Figure  2 ) was used to adapt the review methodology proposed by Xiao and Watson 11 to the field of pipeline safety, thus proposing a novel approach in the definition of the research queries. The following bullet points sum up the main conclusions of this work:

Metal–hydrogen interactions are a known and long studied phenomenon constituting a central debate in materials science, and numerous studies have highlighted the effects of hydrogen on mechanical properties and crack propagation.

With respect to pipeline steels, the existing research discusses the role of environmental conditions, mechanical loadings, inhibitors, and degradation on the integrity of materials, with particular attention paid to mechanical failures and the reduction of the steels’ performances.

Research on prevention, maintenance, and safety is still mostly unpublished when it comes to hydrogen-assisted failures, since the number of publications discussing the implications of hydrogen degradation on safety aspects is still extremely limited. However, the recent spike of the existing literature on the topic shown within this work could be a hint of the direction of the research, and unknown criticalities might be underlined in the near future.

Data availability

Literature database and relative data are available upon request.

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Open access funding provided by NTNU Norwegian University of Science and Technology (incl St. Olavs Hospital - Trondheim University Hospital). This work was funded by the Norwegian national project SH2IFT-2 (Grant No. 327009) led by SINTEF Industry and by the Norwegian R&I center for hydrogen and ammonia—Hydrogeni (Grant No. 333118). The author thanks the Norwegian Research Council (NFR) for the support.

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L.G.: conceptualization, development of the analysis, investigation, methodology and structure development, visualization, artwork development, writing (drafting, review, editing). N.R.: conceptualization, investigation, formal analysis, resources and references, supervision, writing (drafting, review, editing). A.A.: investigation, formal analysis, resources and references, supervision, funding acquisition, project management, writing (review, editing). N.P.: conceptualization, methodology and structure development, investigation, formal analysis, resources and references, supervision, funding acquisition, project management, general administration, writing (drafting, review, editing).

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Giannini, L., Razavi, N., Alvaro, A. et al. Embrittlement, degradation, and loss prevention of hydrogen pipelines. MRS Bulletin (2024). https://doi.org/10.1557/s43577-024-00695-9

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DOI : https://doi.org/10.1557/s43577-024-00695-9

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