Why hydrogen energy is the future and how you can be a key part of it

Decarbonization. We’re all familiar with the targets. Net zero by 2050, and substantial reductions by 2030, depending on your country and where you operate.

For the EU, its Climate Target Plan is to cut greenhouse emissions to at least 55% below 1990 levels by 2030. Eight years. Less than that really, if significant progress on the energy transition is going to be made in time.

The question, though, is how we are going to meet these critical emissions targets.

Hydrogen can play a leading role

Across the world, there is growing recognition of the key role hydrogen energy can play in cutting greenhouse emissions.

While solar and wind energy depend upon hours of sunlight and favorable weather conditions, hydrogen is a common element that can be found anywhere in nature.

Hydrogen energy is versatile. You can use it as a gas or in liquid form. It’s easy to store and conduct. It can be stored for a long time. And it can generate electricity, propel vehicles, and heat homes in winter.

Hydrogen is the energy of the future.

Investing in the right colors of the rainbow

But there are multiple ways to produce hydrogen as an energy source and not all of them capture greenhouse gases. The different hydrogen technologies involved are represented by a rainbow of colors.

For instance:

• Black hydrogen and brown hydrogen are made from fossil fuels
• Blue hydrogen – sometimes described as “low-carbon hydrogen” – is made from natural gas using a process called steam methane reforming
• Pink hydrogen is generated through electrolysis powered by nuclear energy
• The “holy grail” of green hydrogen is produced by using clean electricity from surplus renewable energy sources to electrolyze water

Green hydrogen is considered the cleanest and has no by-products that pollute the environment. But it is also the most expensive.

So if hydrogen is to become widely used, we need to work together and invest in technology that makes it truly reliable and sustainable.