Global Hydrogen Review 2022

Abstract

Improving regulatory processes, such as licensing and permitting, can help shorten project lead times.Governments should work to increase the efficiency and co-ordination of these processes without compromising environmental standards and public consultation.This should apply also to enabling infrastructure projects, including renewable generation capacities and CO2 transport and storage.Mission Innovation (MI), the World Economic Forum (WEF) and the IEA Advanced Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Technology Collaboration Programmes (TCPs), all of which are part of the H2I Advisory Group and participate in various activities of the H2I.In addition, several industrial partners actively participate in the H2I Advisory Group's biannual meetings, including Ballard, Enel, Engie, Nel Hydrogen, the Port of Rotterdam Authority and thyssenkrupp nucera.Global hydrogen demand was nearly 94 million tonnes (Mt) in 2021, a 5% increase from the previous year.Most of this demand growth was from traditional uses of hydrogen, particularly in refining and industry.But some new applications are also seeing accelerated deployment, such as fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs).By end-2021, the global FCEV stock was more than 51 000, up from about 33 000 in 2020, representing the largest annual deployment of FCEVs since they became commercially available in 2014.Most FCEVs are passenger cars, but several demonstration projects for fuel cell trucks and a strong push in China put nearly 800 hydrogen fuel cell heavy-duty trucks into operation in 2021.In other areas, the pace was slower.For example, in carbon capture associated with hydrogen production.In 2021, 0.6 Mt of hydrogen were produced from fossil fuels with CCUS, capturing roughly 10 Mt.This was the same production and capture level as in 2020 as no new projects started operation.The outlook for 2022 is boosted by a project in China (with capacity to capture 0.7 Mt CO2 annually) that was commissioned in January 2022 and should start operation during the year.The project portfolio is increasing and if realised, the includes projects at very early stages of development, e.g.only a co-operation agreement among stakeholders has been announced. 5 This includes more than 70 Mt H2 used as pure hydrogen and more than 20 Mt H2 mixed with carbon-containing gases in methanol production and steel manufacturing.It excludes around 30 Mt H2 present in residual gases from industrial processes used for heat and electricity generation, as this use is linked to the inherent presence of hydrogen in these residual streams, rather than to any hydrogen requirement, these gases are not considered here as hydrogen demand.* Ranges given for the 24-, 46-, and 70-tonne configurations.

Topics & Concepts