Hydrogen and its role in Carbon reduction

Is Hydrogen the next big break for the Natural Gas Industry ? Hydrogen can be added to Natural Gas to reduce carbon emissions and to help protect the colossal investments made in network infrastructure across Europe. The EU have published their Hydrogen strategy for a carbon neutral Europe:

file:///F:/My%20Documents/BioGas/EU%20hydrogen_strategy.pdf

They report that between November 2019 and March 2020 the list of planned global investments rose from 3,2 GW to 8,2 GW of electrolysers by 2030 (57% in Europe) and the number of companies joining the International Hydrogen Council has grown from 13 in 2017 to 81 today. 

They reports that whilst electricity will decarbonise a large share of the EU energy consumption by 2050 it also has the strong potential to be used for renewable energy storage, alongside batteries, and transport, ensuring back up for seasonal variations. The share of hydrogen in Europe’s energy mix is projected to grow from less than 2% to 13-14% by 2050.

Clearly there will be challenges ahead and the report mentions that investment in renewable energy runs in up to 25 year cycles so that needs to start now if a significant impact is to be made by 2050.