Letter from Rotterdam: Somewhere over the rainbow
The ultimate prize for the low-carbon hydrogen sector is a significant share of the global energy mix, but multiple challenges stand in the way
“Is there a pot of gold at the end of the hydrogen rainbow?” That was the question posed by opening keynote speaker Nicola De Blasio, senior fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center, at the recent World Hydrogen Congress. Judging by the discussions that followed, the industry’s answer might go something like this: Maybe, but let us not get ahead of ourselves, because the immediate challenges are significant. The consensus is that the “pot of gold” for the nascent low-carbon hydrogen industry is a 10–15% share of the global energy mix by the second half of the century and, as a result, a significant role in the net-zero project. That is a long way off. The industry’s immediate foc
Also in this section
23 January 2025
Russia, Poland and Romania are the biggest players when it comes to hydrogen projects in the region
23 January 2025
The UK leads Western Europe in terms of active hydrogen project market share, but developments are planned across Italy, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands and the Nordic countries
23 January 2025
The return of Donald Trump gives further evidence of ‘big oil’ as an investable asset, with the only question being whether anyone is really surprised
21 January 2025
The new president must put his cards on the table and tell the American people, and the world, if the US is formally abandoning the energy transition