Renewable energy can and will decarbonise power generation. Renewable energy and batteries can and will decarbonise the automotive sector. But these technologies will not be as viable for aviation, shipping, commercial vehicles, steel or fertiliser manufacturing. In all of these vital industries it looks as though hydrogen will be needed, or at least that hydrogen will be one of the most viable solutions, for decarbonisation.
Yes. 95% of existing hydrogen production is exceptionally polluting, being produced from natural gas or coal gasification . However, hydrogen can be produced CO2-free by electrolysis of water. If renewable energy is used to produce the electricity, the hydrogen can essentially be made CO2-free.Today, renewable hydrogen is a lot more expensive than fossil fuel hydrogen.
The costs of renewable derived hydrogen are going to fall dramatically as shown above, driven by economies of scale and the ever falling costs of renewables, and this makes it quite likely, in our view, that green hydrogen will overwhelm fossil-derived hydrogen in 10 years' time. Given that green hydrogen is only 1% of the hydrogen market today, the potential is huge.
Just hot air