Hydrogen’s potential contribution to a sustainable energy transition has never been more evident. Along with renewable energy (RE), hydrogen will play an important role in the transition to net zero, especially for hard-to-abate sectors such as steel, refineries, and fertilizers, where direct electrification is not technically viable or commercially feasible. A growing number of countries are announcing targets to achieve net zero status and are also transitioning to sustainable economic development models over the next couple of decades.

Globally, an array of policy mechanisms are being announced, like carbon taxes and pricing, auctions for low-carbon hydrogen and its derivatives, consumption mandates, and low-carbon requirements within public procurement. Quick and widespread enactment of these hydrogen strategies and roadmaps through decisive and robust legislations could unlock the future potential of clean hydrogen supply and demand. Hence, the announcement and implementation of a long-term national hydrogen strategy is the first critical step toward achieving a country’s clean hydrogen ambitions.

Key Findings:

  • Clean hydrogen’s rising demand across countries is projected to require import and export of hydrogen, highlighting the need for bilateral and multilateral agreements and a definition of low-carbon/clean/green hydrogen.
  • Hydrogen hubs will act, a critical integration infrastructure for the supply and demand of clean hydrogen, enabling cost reduction and guaranteed offtake.
  • Countries with vast RE potential are looking at hydrogen as both a decarbonization vector and as a fuel to export, aiming to align these two priorities through their strategies.
  • To enable the development of resilient hydrogen supply chains, policies to promote development of domestic electrolyzer manufacturing capabilities and demand generation catalysts would play a critical role.
  • Legislative commitments aligning with the national hydrogen strategies will be critical to drive on ground implementation. National policies combined with subnational policies and product-linked incentives will enable easy adoption of hydrogen
  • Harmonized global safety codes and standards will make the clean hydrogen value chain more robust and promote global trade. Retrofitting the existing infrastructure for the transportation of hydrogen will also help build economies of scale at a global level.

 

Relevant WRI India Blogs:

 

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