Dr. Tom Mason, CEO of Bramble Energy, explores the bold strategies driving green hydrogen success in nations like China, Australia, Germany and Japan – pinpointing what the UK should be mirroring to avoid lagging behind in the clean energy transition
There’s no denying that the UK’s newly announced emissions reduction target – an ambitious 81% by 2035 – puts it at the forefront of climate commitments. It’s a bold promise, but promises that aren’t followed through with tangible action run the real danger of being undermined.
While the UK has made good progress overall in terms of carbon budgets – and is even set to overachieve on Carbon Budget 4 – hydrogen production is, in my opinion, one such area lacking action.
With an urgent need to decarbonise high-polluting, difficult to electrify sectors such as transportation, heating and industry as quickly as possible, hydrogen, especially when produced from renewable sources, represents one of the most promising routes to pivot away from fossil fuels.
Despite this – as well as the fact hydrogen has a clear cut case for enhancing energy security and fostering economic growth – the UK has seen very little material changes in terms of accelerating its production of late.
Granted, there has been progress since the publication of the UK Hydrogen Strategy, supporting hydrogen hubs and clusters such as the HyNet North West. But from a government perspective, 2024 has been a year of stagnation rather than advancement of policy frameworks, and the UK still lacks a credible strategy for the implementation of hydrogen and other technologies to achieve true net zero in the economy.
While overall the global project pipeline has grown and there have been a number of technology advancements across the generation and consumption of hydrogen, several innovative companies developing hydrogen technologies have still struggled investment-wise. If the UK is to reach its hydrogen targets – to achieve 10 GW of hydrogen production capacity by 2030, with at least half from green hydrogen – the need for strategic roadmaps to connect early-stage projects with scalable solutions must be addressed.
Who is leading the green hydrogen race?
Meanwhile, other countries are pushing forwards with their hydrogen strategies, pouring billions into hydrogen production, infrastructure and technology, and making real, tangible progress.
China’s adoption of hydrogen stands out for me. Despite their efforts infrequently reported in the west’s media, China is the world’s largest producer and consumer of hydrogen, with their hydrogen fuel cell industry – particularly in the mobility sector – developing and expanding at an enormous rate compared to the activity in other nations. Interestingly, the long-term corporate commitment to hydrogen does not seem to have diminished here; if anything commitment seems to have grown.
Several key factors distinguish its approach from the likes of the UK, but the main one is a substantial resource commitment to green hydrogen. In fact, the Chinese government outlined a medium- and long-term development plan for hydrogen (spanning 2021-2035). By 2025, it aims to have 50,000 hydrogen fuel cell vehicles on the road, supported by an expanding network of hydrogen refuelling stations. The plan also targets green hydrogen production using renewable feedstocks to reach 100,000–200,000 tonnes annually by 2025, with applications extending beyond transport to energy storage, electricity generation, and industrial processes. For the UK – which only has seven hydrogen filling stations, which is a reduction from the 10 that existed in March 2022 – China’s scale, coordination, and speed serve as a powerful benchmark.
Similarly, Japan is also heavily investing in hydrogen fuel cell technology. Japan’s Toyota has created Mirai, one of the first mass-produced hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (FCVs) in the world, emitting only water vapour as a byproduct. The country has also recently updated its Basic Hydrogen Strategy to further promote green hydrogen initiatives, seeing the government commit around $98.8 billion over the next five years toward nine core technologies, including fuel cells and water electrolysis.
Australia too is another great example to look up to. Much like China, it has abundant renewable energy resources – enabling it to scale up green hydrogen production efficiently – and is investing heavily in green hydrogen infrastructure. The AUD $30 billion Australian Renewable Energy Hub, for example, is set to be one of the world’s largest green hydrogen production facilities once operational, aiming to produce around 1.6 million tonnes of renewables-based hydrogen annually. Again, it shows what kind of numbers strong financial backing, not just from companies and investors, but also the Government, can achieve.
Lessons to learn
Comparably, the UK’s approach to investment in hydrogen production, infrastructure and innovation has certainly been more cautious, but the UK is not the only one under the spotlight.
In the US for example, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) has been criticised for prioritising large-scale hydrogen production and consumption, particularly in industrial applications, while potentially overlooking a critical challenge: ensuring that hydrogen technologies are appropriate and effective for their intended uses.
In the rest of Europe – alongside the UK – the grants landscape has continued to be positive in terms of support for early stage to demonstration stage projects, however, the critical connection needed between successful demonstration and full-scale commercialisation still lacks.
To address this gap, several key actions are needed:
1: Increase scale-up funding
A clear commonality across some of the world’s hydrogen leaders is heavy investment specifically aimed at scaling production facilities. For the UK, matching the levels of financial backing and commitment seen across China, Australia and Japan is crucial for its hydrogen sector growth, scalability and competitiveness.
2: Develop strategic infrastructure
The UK recently announced plans for the first allocation rounds of the hydrogen transport and storage business models in 2024, which is a major step forward in the delivery of critical hydrogen infrastructure. However, it still lacks large-scale infrastructure for green hydrogen production and transport we’ve seen from the likes of Australia for example. Without the investment in the necessary infrastructure, such as hydrogen pipelines, storage facilities and refuelling networks, we cannot support large-scale production and distribution.
3: Encourage collaborations
Many of the world’s hydrogen leaders, such as Japan for example, have shown success through collaboration between governments, large corporations and innovative startups. Sharing risks, insights from demonstration projects, highlighting what works and pooling resources is one of the best ways to accelerate the transition from pilot to industrial-scale operations and an approach the UK could certainly benefit from.
Turning pledges into results
One thing the UK does have going for it is world-leading talent creating forward-thinking technologies in combating the impacts of climate change.
In fact, there are lots of exciting developments coming from the UK around lowering the capital and operating costs of electrolysers, so that green hydrogen production is cheaper than fossil-based hydrogen. Innovations in manufacturing processes, material selection, system integration and scale-up are all working to drive cost reductions across the entire value chain.
At Bramble Energy, for example, we are currently working on integrating printed circuit board (PCB) manufacturing techniques with AEM technology to create a more compact, efficient and less expensive electrolyser that allows reliable manufacturing at scale.
But to harness this talent and turn pledges into results, we must not forget the power of collaboration, targeted investment and a willingness to learn from global leaders. Otherwise, the gap between commitment and meaningful progress will only widen.
