Hydrogen is one of the most readily available and non-polluting resources on Earth. It has been considered the green energy source of the future since the 1980s. Still, it has only been used in a few industries, such as hydrogen cars and ships, because hydrogen has a low extractability and is not easy to store and transport. Since then, technical innovations have accelerated commercialization. In 2013, Hyundai Motor commercialized the world’s first hydrogen-electric vehicle, the TUCSON ix35 FCEV. In 2022, the world’s first passenger train powered by hydrogen fuel, the Coradia iLint, was launched in Germany. In 2023, the world’s first liquefied hydrogen carrier ship was launched in Norway.
The key reason for the recent rise in the importance of hydrogen is that the limitations of replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy have made hydrogen a critical energy source for achieving global carbon neutrality by 2050. The energy security crisis caused by the Russia- Ukraine war has also contributed to the rise of the hydrogen economy. Looking at the current energy system of the global economy, 20% of the energy used is electricity, and the rest is fossil fuels. Various renewable energies are replacing fossil fuels, and hydrogen is also expected to play an essential role. According to the Hydrogen Council, the cumulative number of hydrogen-related projects worldwide has increased sharply from 228 in February 2021 to 1,046 in January 2023.
Governments in major countries are actively building hydrogen economies. The South Korean government announced a plan to create a clean hydrogen ecosystem in November last year. The U.S. decided to deduct up to $3 per kg of clean hydrogen production tax for clean hydrogen without carbon emissions in the Inflation Reduction Act enacted last year. The Europe Union announced its REPowerEU plan last year, setting a target of 10Mt for green hydrogen production onshore and a 10Mt target for offshore imports by 2030.
The hydrogen industry is in a growth phase, and there are no international technical standards for hydrogen trading. The commercialization of hydrogen is also considered to be in its infancy.
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