It is no secret that many countries are looking for ways to solve their energy needs without negatively impacting the environment. In this sense, one of the solutions that some nations are envisioning is green hydrogen, also known as renewable hydrogen.

Experts have highlighted hydrogen as the best innovation of recent times, representing a great investment opportunity for the future, as it is a fundamental factor in the fight against greenhouse gas emissions. Hydrogen is a very powerful fuel, even three times more powerful than gasoline, with the difference that it is a clean energy source, since instead of producing carbon dioxide (CO2) it releases water (H2O) in the form of steam.

It should be noted that, until a few years ago, the hydrogen production process required large amounts of energy and hydrocarbons were used to generate it, which invariably emitted CO2; however, for some years now hydrogen has been produced from renewable energies such as the sun and wind, which, in addition to benefiting the environment, helped to boost parallel industries.

The result of this process, called electrolysis, is green hydrogen, which in addition to being 100% sustainable, represents an ecological solution for many of the most polluting industries such as transportation and power generation.

The energy industry is characterized by the coexistence of different sectors, such as oil, natural gas, wood and coal, so hydrogen adds to the range of solutions towards the decarbonization of the planet.

A bet on the future

Pressures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions have led major oil companies around the world to launch renewable hydrogen projects, and governments in different countries to publish strategies for managing them.

In 2020, the European Union pledged to invest $430 billion in such fuel by 2030, with the aim of installing 40 gigawatts (GW) of electrolyzers to reach its goal of zero emissions by 2050.

In this way, the industry could grow 50-fold in the next five years. The hydrogen market is expected to exceed $11 billion by 2050, which points to a gradual reduction in cost (currently $2 per kilogram). Experts say the price could fall by as much as 64% over the next decade.

Hydrogen valleys

A hydrogen era is on the horizon, where economies will seek to populate hydrogen valleys to replace fossil fuels.

The deployment of industrial clusters, i.e., areas where different facets of hydrogen are combined to form an ecosystem, is a plan that is already underway, and will lead us in the not too distant future to live in real hydrogen valleys, which will facilitate the production and consumption of hydrogen fuel.

Deployment is planned in phases. The first consists of producing it near the areas of consumption; the second represents the interconnection between valleys, where one production zone with another will be closely connected; and the third phase, in which the fuel will be exported and massively moved. The objective is to create a network that will allow green hydrogen to reach any part of the world.