Ask a friend to make a list of the main technologies that will wean humans off of dirty fossil fuels. If they put green hydrogen anywhere on the list, it's probably near the bottom.
This is a misconception. The reality is that green hydrogen is one of the very few climate solutions that, like wind or solar, may play a leading role. For several hard-to-decarbonize sectors of human activity -- summing to ~30% of total emissions -- there are few renewable solutions besides green hydrogen.
Today, it is both necessary and possible to correct this misconception, and to focus in earnest on green hydrogen deployment.
It is necessary because the sectors shown in the graphic have been decarbonizing too slowly, and are among the biggest risks to humanity's remaining carbon budget.
It is possible because of technological and economic shifts. Green hydrogen is produced from water and renewable electricity. As renewable prices drop, and as renewable production exceeds grid demand and storage, green hydrogen gets cheaper. By 2030, green hydrogen is forecasted to become cheap enough to replace “gray” hydrogen, an industrial chemical responsible for 2% of global greenhouse gas emissions, and a $118B annual market.
Given these facts, it is good policy and good business to ramp up investment in green hydrogen, a fact which is not reflected appropriately in most policy or investment contexts today. Countries should look to examples like Germany's National Hydrogen Strategy, published June 10 2020: a cohesive, multibillion-Euro plan to shift industries like steel, transport, and chemicals to green hydrogen by 2050, and thereby reduce dozens of percentage points of greenhouse gas emissions.
We are Phoenix Hydrogen, and our mission is to help make this change happen. If you share that goal, let’s talk: contact@phoenixhydrogen.com
