Hydrogen — third time's the charm?

Hydrogen is experiencing another wave of interest. We examine what distinguishes this revival, its industrial potential and the barriers to sustained adoption.

Hydrogen has been at the centre of controversies surrounding the sustainability movement over the past few decades. Interest in using hydrogen as the ultimate green fuel first emerged in the early 1970s in response to the oil crisis. The urgent need to reduce oil dependency and find an alternative fuel turned governments' attention towards hydrogen. Interest soon tapered off following the collapse of oil prices in the mid-1980s.

In the early 2000s, interest spiked again due to growing climate concerns and rising oil prices caused by conflicts in the Middle East and the rapid industrialisation of many developing nations. Since the mid-2000s, however, interest once again waned as fuel-cell vehicles struggled with high fuel-cell costs, the technoeconomic infeasibility of green hydrogen, and the absence of refuelling infrastructure. At the same time, battery-electric vehicles and battery technology developed rapidly, with batteries becoming higher in capacity, cheaper to produce, and more reliable.

Today, we are entering a third wave of interest in hydrogen, this time riding on the momentum of efforts to decarbonise difficult-to-electrify industries such as steel, chemicals, shipping, and aviation. This wave is also supported by increasingly cheap renewable energy, which is the main energy source for green hydrogen production. Will hydrogen finally have what it takes to capitalise on these developments and make its mark on decarbonisation, or will it fade again as yet another peak in the hype cycle?