Hydrogen will be central in chasing net zero: report

But, it is not a silver bullet to energy transition.

Whilst hydrogen is “not a silver bullet,” it will play a major role in attaining net-zero goals, Herbert Smith Freehills reported. 

"Hydrogen is not a silver bullet. It's not the complete answer," Angus Leslie Melville, Editorial Director, IJGlobal, said. "But hydrogen will undoubtedly be a central part of the mix as we move towards net zero."

Hydrogen’s vital role in the energy transition will particularly take shape in powering heavy industry and heavy transport. 

Amongst the key emerging hubs for hydrogen are the US, European Union, China, the UK, Australia, Norway, and Canada. This is thanks to strong state support as well as cheap renewable energy. 

Its deployment, however, faces an uphill battle as the current RE capacity is insufficient in creating the amount of green hydrogen required for the 2025 climate goals. 

"Building enough renewable power is mind-blowing. The European Commission came up with 10 million tonnes of hydrogen being produced by 2030,” Martin Lambert, head of hydrogen research at The Oxford Energy Institute, said.

“That needs at least 150 gigawatts of electrolyser capacity and renewable power to happen. We need a lot more renewable power to carry on decarbonising the grid and to have another 150GW on top, it's a huge ask." 

Another key challenge to hydrogen is the difficulty in transporting it. This is considering that in its normal gas form, hydrogen is harder to contain than methane gas, giving rise to a need for infrastructure upgrades.