Hydrogen has a long history in energy generation – from use in the first internal combustion engines over 200 years ago to becoming an integral part of different sectors in the modern industry. It is light, storable, energy-dense, and produces no direct emissions of pollutants or greenhouse gases. But for hydrogen to make a significant contribution to clean energy transitions, it needs to be adopted in sectors where it is almost completely absent, such as transport, buildings and power generation.
The time is right to tap into hydrogen’s potential to play a key role in a clean, secure and affordable energy future. There have been false starts for hydrogen in the past but this time could be different. The recent successes of solar photovoltaic (PV), wind, batteries and electric vehicles have shown that policy and technology innovation have the power to build global clean energy industries.
Hydrogen can help tackle various critical energy challenges. It offers ways to decarbonize a range of sectors – including long-haul transport, chemicals, and iron and steel – where it is proving challenging to reduce emissions.
Bringing in versatility, technologies already available today enable hydrogen to produce, store, move and use energy in different ways. Additionally, it can enable renewables to provide an even greater contribution. It has the potential to help with variable output from renewables, like solar photovoltaics (PV) and wind, whose availability is not always well matched with demand.
Today, hydrogen is used mostly in oil refining and for the production of fertilizers, but it can be used in a much wider range of applications. For it to make a significant contribution to clean energy transitions, it also needs to be adopted in sectors where it is almost completely absent at the moment, such as transport, buildings and power generation. It is rapidly gaining traction in the green e-mobility industry with commercially viable hydrogen power solutions as an alternative to acid-lead batteries.
Green hydrogen improved cost competitiveness, low environmental footprint and abundance of materials and resources required in its production coupled with regulatory tailwinds continue accelerating its production and application in a vast range of industries.