New report says hydrogen can meet 18 per cent of energy demand by 2050

The report was commissioned by the Hydrogen Council, a coalition formed earlier this year featuring the CEOs of automotive and energy giants including Shell, Air Liquide, General Motors, Statoil, BMW and Toyota. Entitled Hydrogen, Scaling up, it provides a roadmap for the expansion of the sector. By 2030, 10 to 15 million cars and 500,000 trucks could be hydrogen-powered. Overall, total demand could increase tenfold to almost 80EJ (around 22,000TWh) by 2050, according to the study.

The Nikola One hydrogen-electric truck 

Seven particular areas were identified by the council where hydrogen energy can play a key role:

“The world in the 21st century must transition to widespread low carbon energy use,” said Takeshi Uchiyamada, chairman of Toyota Motor Corporation and co-chair of the Hydrogen Council.

“Hydrogen is an indispensable resource to achieve this transition because it can be used to store and transport wind, solar and other renewable electricity to power transportation and many other things. The Council has identified seven roles for hydrogen, which is why we are encouraging governments and investors to give it a prominent role in their energy plans. The sooner we get the hydrogen economy going, the better, and we are all committed to making this a reality.”