Hydrogen Council sees potential for big role of hydrogen

The Hydrogen Council this week released a report, according to which hydrogen could meet 18% of total final energy demand by 2050 in the two-degree scenario.

The coalition, which was launched at the World Economic Forum in Davos at the start of 2017 and currently includes 18 multinationals, said the report is the first comprehensive vision of the long-term potential of hydrogen.

According to the study, Hydrogen, Scaling up, the annual demand for hydrogen could increase tenfold by 2050, from 8 EJ in 2015 to almost 80 EJ in 2050, accounting for almost one fifth of final energy consumption. This would reduce annual carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by some 6 gigatonnes compared to current levels, and contribute about 20% of the reduction needed to limit global warming to 2 degrees C, the group says.

It has identified seven roles for hydrogen, including in transport, power generation and storage, building heating and power, industry processes and feedstocks. The group sees hydrogen powering about 10 to 15 million cars and 500,000 trucks by 2030. By 2050 more than 400 million cars, 15 to 20 million trucks, and around 5 million buses could use the gas.

Achieving that vision would require annual investment of USD 20 billion (EUR 17bn) to USD 25 billion for a total of about USD 280 billion until 2030. According to the Hydrogen Council, attracting those funds to scale the technology is feasible within the right regulatory framework.

Among the members of the group are Toyota, Royal Dutch Shell, Engie, Statoil, Total, Audi, BMW Group, Daimler, General Motors, Honda and Hyundai Motor.

(USD 1 = EUR 0.844)

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