Achatech and Dechema analyse 22 national hydrogen strategies

The analysis is part of their joint Hydrogen Compass project. In the future, the analysis will be regularly supplemented and updated with further hydrogen strategies.

Green hydrogen dominates the analysed strategies

The aim of the strategy papers analysed is primarily the production of green hydrogen using electrolysis and fossil fuels. Some strategies see blue hydrogen as a transitional solution. This is conventional hydrogen from fossil fuels, primarily natural gas. The carbon dioxide (CO₂) produced in the process is captured and stored or utilised. All of the papers analysed date from the time before Russia's attack on Ukraine.

„Against the backdrop of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, it is not unlikely that European countries in particular will change their previous stance on blue hydrogen,

says Jens Artz, head of the Hydrogen Compass project at Dechema. He assumes that no more natural gas will be used for hydrogen production than in the past. Germany is planning to update its own hydrogen strategy by the end of 2022.

Chile, Spain, Portugal and Morocco want to export green hydrogen

Chile, Spain, Portugal and Morocco want to export green hydrogen according to their strategies. They have favourable location conditions and a high supply of renewable energies.

Australia, Canada and Norway state that they also want to export hydrogen based on fossil fuels. As a country that will be dependent on hydrogen imports, Germany would do well to keep a close eye on developments in those countries that are already planning to export green hydrogen," says Andrea Lübcke.

Use of hydrogen: industry and heavy goods vehicles yes, cars no

Many countries are endeavouring to use hydrogen in industry in those sectors that already have high hydrogen requirements and an existing infrastructure. The strategies cite the chemical industry and refineries in particular.

The strategy papers mostly envisage the use of hydrogen or hydrogen derivatives in heat generation or the energy industry in the medium to long term.

In the transport sector, most countries are aiming to use hydrogen in (heavy) goods transport and in fleets in the short to medium term.

In the passenger car sector, the national strategies differ greatly. China and California have published a dedicated strategy for the ramp-up of fuel cell vehicles. Japan, South Korea, the USA, Canada and the Netherlands also envisage the early use of hydrogen in motorised private transport. Germany, Norway, the European Union, France, Chile, Spain, Hungary, the United Kingdom and Morocco do not mention hydrogen cars in their strategies.

Development of the hydrogen economy: funding, international cooperation, infrastructure

Most national strategy papers take a similar view of what needs to be done to build a hydrogen economy. 20 out of 22 strategies rely on government funding, 18 out of 22 on the development of international co-operation in science and trade. A large proportion describe the need to develop infrastructures and reduce production costs. Most are also in favour of standardised regulation and certificates.

Hydrogen strategies from North America, Western Europe and industrialised countries in East Asia

For the current meta-analysis, the authors examined the following hydrogen strategies: China (2017), Japan (2017), California (2018), South Korea (2019), Australia (2019), the Netherlands (2020), Germany (2020), Norway (2020), the European Union (2020), Portugal (2020), and the United States (2019);Union (2020), Portugal (2020), France (2020), Chile (2020), Spain (2020), Italy (2020), USA (2020), Canada (2020), Hungary (2021), Poland (2021), United Kingdom (2021), Russia (2021), Morocco (2021), Czech Republic (2022).

They all date from before the Russian attack on Ukraine. Chile and Australia are the only countries covered in the southern hemisphere, while Morocco is the only country covered in Africa. According to Acatech, more countries are to be added. One candidate could be Brazil, for example, which published a hydrogen strategy in 2022.

The Hydrogen Compass project started in June 2021 and will run for two years. It aims to facilitate orientation in the global hydrogen landscape with meta-analyses and dialogue processes. At the beginning of the year, they presented the results of an industry survey.

The results could also feed into a new political hydrogen roadmap. The analysis of hydrogen strategies could also help to prioritise areas of application or find potential trading partners. The project is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and the Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection.

The analysis of the hydrogen strategies is available here for download.

Source: Solarserver, 19 December 2022