It’s been a chastening period for hydrogen but that shouldn’t detract from its bigger picture potential.
On the broad hydrogen spectrum from scepticism to optimism it’s fair to say the needle has moved left of centre in recent months. There is increasing consensus that delivering hydrogen globally is going to be challenging in the short to medium term – which is as worrying for policymakers tied to Net Zero targets as it is for industry needing to reduce emissions and secure clean energy investment.
Against an uncertain backdrop of widespread elections, and ongoing financial, infrastructural, supply and demand difficulties, it is little wonder that hydrogen finds itself at a crossroads; and that’s before you take into account getting accompanying novel technologies such as carbon capture utilisation and storage (CCUS) off the ground and adopted at scale.
With green hydrogen and renewables beset by power and supply challenges, attention is turning more to blue hydrogen and carbon capture – seen as a more feasible and ‘environmentally friendly’ solution to fossil fuels, although that continues to be open to debate.
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