This study outlines a comprehensive and quantified roadmap to scale deployment and its enabling impact on the energy transition. Developed by the Hydrogen Council with support from McKinsey and launched as global leaders gathered at COP 23 in Bonn (November 2017), it presents the first comprehensive vision of the long-term potential of hydrogen and a roadmap for deployment. This ambitious yet realistic approach would deliver deep decarbonization of transport, industry, and buildings, and enable a renewable energy production and distribution system. To realize this vision, investors, industry, and government will need to ramp up and coordinate their efforts. Hydrogen is a central pillar of the energy transformation required to limit global warming to two degrees Celsius. To achieve the two-degree scenario, the world will need to make dramatic changes year after year and decrease energy-related CO2 emissions by 60% until 2050 – even as the population grows by more than 2 billion people and billions of citizens in emerging markets join the global middle class.
Hydrogen can play seven major roles in this transformation:
Enabling large-scale renewable energy integration and power generation
Distributing energy across sectors and regions
Acting as a buffer to increase energy system resilience
Decarbonizing transportation
Decarbonizing industrial energy use
Helping to decarbonize building heat and power
Providing clean feedstock for industry
Video presentation: https://goo.gl/se9qLD
Executive summary Methodology
Our vision. The hydrogen economy in 2050
Hydrogen is a central pillar of the energy transformation required to limit global warming to two degrees
In all seven application areas, hydrogen can offer economically viable and socially beneficial solutions
Achieving the hydrogen vision would create significant benefits for the energy system, the environment, and businesses around the world
Getting there. A roadmap to the hydrogen economy.
Transportation. Hydrogen and fuel cells are critical elements in the decarbonization of the transportation sector.
Industry energy. Hydrogen can provide decarbonized high-heat for industrial processes.
Building heat and power. Hydrogen can help decarbonize building heat and power.
Industry feedstock. Hydrogen as feedstock can be decarbonized and used to replace fossil feedstock.
Energy system. Hydrogen is a versatile energy carrier that can enable the renewable energy system.
What needs to be done. A call to action.
Building the hydrogen economy would require annual investments of about $20 to 25 billion for a total of about $280 billion until 2030
Industry has to bring down costs of hydrogen and applications through scale
To begin the journey, we propose large-scale deployment initiatives supported by long-term policy frameworks
Glossary Bibliography
Published in November 2017 by the Hydrogen Council.
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