Low-emissions hydrogen projects grow as policy support races to catch up

Low-emissions hydrogen and hydrogen-based fuels can play an important role in the decarbonisation of sectors where emissions are hard to abate and alternative solutions are either unavailable or difficult to implement, such as heavy industry and long-distance transport. 

The announcements for new projects for the production of low-emission hydrogen keep growing, but only 7% have taken firm investment decisions due to uncertainties around the future evolution of demand, the lack of clarity about certification and regulation and the lack of infrastructure available to deliver hydrogen to end users. On the demand side, hydrogen demand keeps growing, but remains concentrated in traditional applications. Novel applications in heavy industry and long-distance transport account for less than 0.1% of hydrogen demand, whereas they account almost 40% of global hydrogen demand by 2030 in the Net Zero Emissions by 2050 (NZE) Scenario. A growing number of countries are releasing national strategies and adopting concrete policies to support first movers. But the delays in the implementation of these policies and the lack of policies for demand creation are preventing the scale-up of low-emissions hydrogen production and use.