Green hydrogen predicted to be a top 2021 renewable energy

The cost and demand for the source will be worthwhile, say experts in the industry.

Alternative fuel source, green hydrogen, experienced a sharp global resurgence and has been identified as a primary 2021 renewable energy source for bringing the world toward its net-zero emissions targets.

H2 was originally placed in the US spotlight during President George W. Bush’s first term.

At that time, hydrogen received the nickname “freedom fuel.” From there, it slipped into virtual invisibility until taking off far more sharply over the last couple of years and 2020 in particular. Now, it appears that it will be one of the most important 2021 renewable energy forms in the country and the rest of the world. President-elect Joe Biden has promised that the United States will gain green hydrogen access at the same cost as conventionally produced H2 inside a decade. This is a part of Biden’s clean energy plan.

Last year, a number of countries kicked their investments into hydrogen into high gear. These included Australia, Japan, Chile, Germany, Saudi Arabia, China, and Canada released its own strategy in the second half of December.

Green hydrogen is predicted to see exponential growth starting as a 2021 renewable energy.

A recent ABC report predicted that green hydrogen would experience a decade of exponential growth.

“It puts the spotlight on [hydrogen] gas for the first time,” said a July 2020 study published in the Nature journal. “And the gas industry is turning to hydrogen for a new lease of life.”

That said, as promising as green hydrogen may be, it is important to recognize that it has its disadvantages, said Michael Liebreich, Bloomberg New Energy Finance (NEF) analyst in an October essay. According to estimates from Bloomberg NEF, by 2050, there will be a global $11 trillion investment into production and storage. Moreover, even if it produced the amount of electricity that the world currently needs, it would only have reached one quarter of what they will be in 2050.

Furthermore, when compared with the natural gas fossil fuel, green hydrogen carries only one quarter of the per-unit amount of energy, it is highly combustible, and can embrittle metal, said Liebreich in his essay. The current production and investment figures are not high enough to keep up with the expected demand.

Still, the world is shifting in a direction that promises 2021 renewable energy spotlights will be aimed directly at green hydrogen and that it is the alternative fuel to watch this year.