IEA calls for hike in hydrogen investment

International Energy Agency (IEA) has called on governments to step up investment in hydrogen to meet a USD 1.2-trillion benchmark by 2030, the Paris-based organisation said on Monday.

In its Global Hydrogen Review 2021, the energy watchdog claims governments have spent around USD 37 billion and private entities around USD 300 billion in development and deployment of hydrogen strategies.

IEA said investments should be spent on including hydrogen in more sectors and developing technologies to make renewables less expensive.

“Almost all hydrogen produced today comes from fossil fuels without carbon capture, resulting in close to 900 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions, equivalent to the combined carbon dioxide emissions of the United Kingdom and Indonesia,” the IEA announced in the report.

There are now almost 400 global hydrogen projects in the works, which will supply 8 million tonnes of hydrogen per year by 2030, up from 50,000 tonnes in 2021. However, this is a tenth of what is needed to reach the IEA’s goal for net zero carbon emissions by 2050.