Global Action Agenda a principle that guides actions towards a hydrogen-based society and mobilizes global efforts to expand RDD&D of hydrogen – was launched, and since the Meeting, more and more countries and regions are considering the potential of hydrogen as a clean, secure and affordable source of energy. Many countries – Australia, European Commission, France, Germany, Korea, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal and Spain – unveiled national strategies or visions to expand the use of hydrogen, and more countries are lined up to develop such nationwide polices. In July this year, at the IEA’s Clean Energy Transitions Summit, Ministers representing 80% of global carbon dioxide emissions convened and many of them reaffirmed their commitment to hydrogen despite the outbreak of Covid19. There is also growing momentum and concrete actions being taken to unlock the potential of hydrogen in the private sector. The Hydrogen Council, a global industrial body actively exploring the use of hydrogen in the world, was established in 2018. Much research and analysis done by international organizations, for example by the International Energy Agency, has shown that hydrogen is an essential element towards the path to carbon neutrality and decarbonization. In addition, at the 2nd Hydrogen Energy Ministerial, the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) launched a report on hydrogen, which highlights the key role of hydrogen as an enabler to integrate renewables in global energy systems. All these developments means that hydrogen has now established a very strong status as a crucial component that enables clean energy transition.

Global Action Agenda

The Global Action Agenda is composed of the following six pillars of items concerning hydrogen:
  • Formulating strategies and roadmaps
  • FC mobility across applications
  • Hydrogen Supply Chains
  • Sector Integration
  • Study and evaluations of hydrogen’s potential
  • Communication, education and outreach
The major developments in countries, international organizations and regions are summarized along these six pillars below. These are by no means exhaustive, especially as there are many developments made in the private sector, which are outside of the scope of this report. Nonetheless, these actions listed provide evidence of hydrogen being globally acknowledged as a critical element in the clean energy transition.
  1. FORMULATING STRATEGIES AND ROADMAPS
    • Australia published a national hydrogen strategy, with a goal to be in the global top 3 exporters of hydrogen to Asian markets. This was followed by the release of a low emissions technology statement, which identifies hydrogen as a priority technology for Australia, along with an economic goal to produce hydrogen at under AUD$2 per kilogram. Australia has also announced a AUD$1.9 billion investment package for future technologies to lower emissions, including hydrogen. This builds on over AUD$500 million funding already committed to support hydrogen industry growth.
    • Canada also published their “2019 Hydrogen Pathways” with 10 recommended actions such as forming an advisory council involving a range of stakeholders and identifying and resourcing research priorities.
    • National Energy Administration in China released an announcement on public solicitation on “Energy Law of the People’s Republic of China (Draft for Comment)”, in which hydrogen energy was classified as an energy category. This is the first legal confirmation of hydrogen energy in China.
    • The European Commission also published a region-wide strategy for hydrogen, with an ambitious target of having 40GW of installed electrolysers by 2030, together with an economy recovery package that includes the support for hydrogen. In addition, Clean Hydrogen Alliance was launched to foster the deployment of hydrogen technologies.
    • France published its national hydrogen strategy, with an ambitious numerical target of 6.5 GW for the capacity of electrolysers by 2030.Under the strategy, 7 billion euros are invested for low carbon hydrogen production through electrolysis as well as for commercial mobility focusing on heavy duty vehicles and fleets and research, innovation, training and education.
    • Germany published its national hydrogen strategy, with an ambitious numerical target of 5 GW for the capacity of electrolysers by 2030. The strategy also states that 9 billion euros will be invested, of which 2 billion euros will be allocated for international cooperation.
    • Korea has released their H2 roadmap, including targets on FCEV, HRS, stationary FC and power generation
    • Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry in Japan made a hydrogen related budget request of around USD 800 million for fiscal year 2021.
    • The Netherlands has launched its national hydrogen strategy, with an ambition of 3 – 4 GW of electrolysis capacities by 2030.
    • New Zealand published a vison for hydrogen, Green Paper, looking at the potential of hydrogen in the country based on the abundant renewable resources.
    • Norway also presented the government’s hydrogen strategy that announces an explicit goal of increasing the amount of pilot- and demonstration projects in Norway. On May 29 the Norwegian Government announced NOK 120 million (USD 13 million) to innovation projects including hydrogen technologies through the ENERGIX-programme under the Norwegian Research Council, as well as NOK 2 billion (USD 220 million) to the state enterprise Enova to support technology development in industry, including technology development for hydrogen. The Norwegian Government is also developing a roadmap for hydrogen focusing on the development of infrastructure and supply-chains where collaboration across sectors and users of hydrogen is possible.
    • Poland, since joining the Tokyo Declaration on Hydrogen in 2018, has focused on creating instruments to support new hydrogen technologies.During the meeting on July 7th 2020, representatives of the Ministry of Climate together with the most important energy and transport sector companies signed the Letter of intent on establishing a partnership for the creation of a hydrogen economy and the sectoral hydrogen agreement.
    • Portugal also published a national hydrogen strategy, with various objectives such as 5% share of hydrogen in final energy consumption, 50 to 100 hydrogen stations and 2 GW of installed electrolysers by 2030.
    • Spain has published a H2 Strategy, with targets for FCEV electrolysis (4GW), FCVs, HRS and in percentage of electrolytic H2 in industrial uses
    • Joint political declaration of the pentalateral energy forum, consisting of Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Switherland was published to affirm their commitment to strengthen their cooperation on hydrogen produced in a CO2 reducing manner with the aim of contributing to the full decarbonization of the energy system.
    • In the United States, the Office of Fossil Energy in the DOE published a hydrogen strategy for fossil fuels that includes a variety of initiatives such as those for carbon neutral hydrogen production.
    • The 2020 budget for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies (HFTO) Office is USD 150 million (compared to USD 120 million for 2019) covering hydrogen and fuel cells R&D infrastructure, technology acceleration, systems analysis and safety, codes & standards activities. Stakeholder feedback through a Request for Information is underway to update the DOE strategic program plan on hydrogen.
    • Further countries, including U.K., Chile, and South Africa are also in preparation of national hydrogen policies.

2. FC MOBILITY ACROSS APPLICATIONS

The second pillar of Global Action Agenda concerning hydrogen includes:

  • Mobility infrastructure development and market expansion
  • Harmonization of regulations, codes, and standards (RCS) in FC mobility
  • Research and development (R&D) for next generation FC systems
  • Ensuring hydrogen safety
3. HYDROGEN SUPPLY CHAINS The third pillar of Global Action Agenda concerning hydrogen includes:
  • Research and development and sharing information
  • Promoting investment and demonstration projects that work as models for hydrogen deployment and scale-up, and help prepare the regulatory environment
Support the development of effective hydrogen trading markets.
4. SECTOR INTEGRATION The forty pillar of Global Action Agenda concerning hydrogen includes:
  • Research and development
  • Demonstration
  • Expanding the use of hydrogen in various sectors
5. STUDY AND EVALUATIONS OF HYDROGEN’S POTENTIAL The fifty pillar of Global Action Agenda concerning hydrogen includes:
  • Energy Technology perspectives
  • Evolve and scale up electrolyser technologies
  • Reaching zero with renewables
  • Hydrogen competitiveness and cost perspectives
6. COMMUNICATION, EDUCATION AND OUTREACH The sixty pillar of Global Action Agenda concerning hydrogen includes:
  • Communication (form and social media platforms)
  • Education (University and student events student awards)
  • Outreach (brochures and webinars on IPHE country profiles initiatives)
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