The Norwegian Government’s hydrogen strategy
Hydrogen is an energy carrier, not an energy source. Just like other energy carriers such as petrol, electricity and district heating, hydrogen must be produced from an energy source. These production processes require energy and involve energy losses. This makes hydrogen more expensive than the direct use of energy carriers, for example electricity. Hydrogen can store energy in a flexible and compressed manner. Around 70 million tonnes of hydrogen are used annually globally, mainly in the chemical industry and in oil refining. Around 90 per cent of the hydrogen used in Europe is currently produced from natural gas, which generates significant emissions. If hydrogen is to be a low or zero emission energy carrier, it must be produced with zero or low emissions.
This can be achieved either through electrolysis of water using renewable electricity, or from steam reforming processes involving natural gas or other fossil fuels combined with CCS. In this strategy, low and zero emission hydrogen is described as clean hydrogen or simply hydrogen. Interest in hydrogen solutions internationally has been increasing in recent years. In the EU’s low emission strategy towards 20501hydrogen is presented in several scenarios, and many nations including the Netherlands, Germany, Japan and Australia have developed or are developing their own hydrogen strategies.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) points out in an analysis of the hydrogen market2 that there has never been more interest shown by businesses or the authorities in commercialising hydrogen, and that the conditions for developing scalable, cost-efficient solutions have never been more ideal.
