The global energy market is in a transition towards low carbon fuel systems to ensure the sustainable development of our society and economy. This can be achieved by converting the surplus renewable energy into hydrogen gas. The injection of hydrogen (⩽10% v/v) in the existing natural gas pipelines is demonstrated to have negligible effects on the pipelines and is a promising solution for hydrogen transportation and storage if the end-user purification technologies for hydrogen recovery from hydrogen enriched natural gas (HENG) are in place. In this review, promising membrane technologies for hydrogen separation is revisited and presented. Dense metallic membranes are highlighted with the ability of producing 99.9999999% (v/v) purity hydrogen product. However, high operating temperature (⩾300 °C) incurs high energy penalty, thus, limits its application to hydrogen purification in the power to hydrogen roadmap. Polymeric membranes are a promising candidate for hydrogen separation with its commercial readiness. However, further investigation in the enhancement of H₂/CH₄ selectivity is crucial to improve the separation performance. The potential impacts of impurities in HENG on membrane performance are also discussed. The research and development outlook are presented, highlighting the essence of upscaling the membrane separation processes and the integration of membrane technology with pressure swing adsorption technology.

全球能源市场正在向低碳燃料系统过渡，以确保我们社会和经济的可持续发展。这可以通过将多余的可再生能源转化为氢气来实现。事实证明，在现有天然气管道中注入氢气（⩽10% v/v）对管道的影响可以忽略不计，如果终端用户提纯技术从富氢中回收氢气，这将是一种很有前景的氢气运输和储存解决方案。天然气（HENG）已到位。在这篇综述中，重新审视并介绍了用于氢分离的有前景的膜技术。致密的金属膜具有生产 99.9999999% (v/v) 纯度氢气产品的能力。然而，高工作温度（300°C）会导致高能量损失，因此，将其应用于氢能源路线图中的氢纯化。聚合物膜是一种很有前途的氢气分离候选物，其商业化程度很高。然而，进一步研究增强 H₂ /CH ₄选择性对于提高分离性能至关重要。还讨论了 HENG 中杂质对膜性能的潜在影响。提出了研发展望，突出了膜分离工艺升级和膜技术与变压吸附技术集成的本质。