TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Green hydrogen is an essential element of the National Development Council’s (NDC) 2050 Net-Zero Emissions Plan.
The NDC sees green hydrogen as playing a major role in Taiwan by at least 2040. Also called renewable hydrogen, green hydrogen is obtained by electrolysis of water. The most crucial thing is that this process is powered entirely by renewable energy, so it generates no polluting emissions into the atmosphere and is the cleanest and most sustainable hydrogen.
Whilst green hydrogen is produced using renewable energy, it is generally considered distinct from pink hydrogen, which is produced from the use of nuclear power in electrolysis. The link to nuclear power would explain why references to pink hydrogen are limited.
Taiwan views hydrogen as one of the key building blocks of the transition to a cleaner energy future, particularly for sectors with difficult-to-abate emissions, in which renewable energy solutions such as wind or solar are less practical. However, the development of clean hydrogen capacity still requires massive investments in areas including infrastructure, electrolysis, transport, and storage before it becomes a viable part of the solution and moves towards net-zero emissions.
Green hydrogen is already being used to power fuel-cell vehicles and this application of green hydrogen gets a lot of attention as one of the most often cited uses of a renewable energy source. However, in our rush towards reduction or elimination of emissions, we must also be practical and acknowledge that green hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles have yet to gain significant traction in the automotive market.
The need for massive investments has not deterred the attraction of green hydrogen. This has increased manifold since the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26). Ever since the United Nations released a special report on climate change, green hydrogen stocks have gained significant attention from both public and private investors.
As a result, many individual investors are also considering investing in hydrogen companies' stocks as part of their ESG portfolios or to participate in the disruptive energy sector.
Although the green hydrogen industry is still in its early stages and not yet widely adopted, falling costs due to innovative technologies and the emergence of more countries and entities with clean hydrogen targets show promising potential. Some major international companies, such as FuelCell Energy Inc., Bloom Energy Corp., Plug Power Inc., and the aptly named Air Liquide S.A. are already positioning themselves as early leaders in the sector.
The production of green hydrogen is of global interest and this effort is evidenced by the Hydrogen Council, which was launched at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January 2017. The Hydrogen Council provides unifying momentum to mobilize industry, investors and public decision-makers around a common goal of green hydrogen.
Comprised initially of 13 leaders from the energy, transportation, and manufacturing sectors, the Council now includes close to 150 multinational companies representing the entire hydrogen value chain.
The Hydrogen Council’s studies and reports are used as a reference by international institutions in the area of new energies. However, most importantly, its impact can be measured by the importance of hydrogen in post-Covid stimulus plans and government decarbonization strategies. Globally, 40 national hydrogen strategies, including Taiwan’s, have been announced, as countries set up pathways to tap into hydrogen’s potential to decarbonize, ensure energy security, and spur sustainable economic growth from stranded energy resources.
By 2050, an important target date for Taiwan, it could account for up to 22% of total global energy demand. It will be interesting to watch how Taiwan meets its stated energy goals and green hydrogen’s importance to those goals.
