UK government says thousands of hydrogen fuel jobs are on their way

UK government says thousands of hydrogen fuel jobs are on their way

August 25, 2021 1 By Bret Williams

Officials stated that investment in low-carbon energy will lead to a wealth in new employment opportunities.

Thousands of new hydrogen fuel jobs could be created through investment into low-carbon H2 for powering vehicles and to provide home heating, says the UK government.

The recently released strategy to move the H2 industry forward could mean a lot to employment.

Ministers from the UK government recently unveiled their new hydrogen strategy. Though somewhat controversial and low in details so far, it has indicated that it could attract billions of pounds in investment and could generate thousands of new high-quality hydrogen fuel jobs.

Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng also underscored that the focus on this zero-emission fuel is central to the country’s efforts to achieve its net zero carbon targets. He added that it has the potential to cover a third of the UK’s energy needs in the not-too-distant future.

Among the challenges to transitioning to H2 is in the cost of its production when compared to the cost of conventional fossil fuels. As a result, one of the leading proposals to overcome that challenge is with subsidies. The UK government has already launched a consultation to further examine this type of strategy.

The hydrogen fuel jobs are a considerable selling point for the strategy, in the UK’s recovering economy.

The Labour party has also stated that it sees the potential of using H2. That said, it has criticized the government for its failure to invest as much into the zero-emission fuel as other countries have done.

Hydrogen fuel jobs - H2 Green

Using H2 as a fuel to power vehicles or for home heating does not produce any greenhouse gas emissions. The main issue determining the total emissions of its use has to do with the way in which it is produced. The cleanest form of H2 is known as green hydrogen, and its production is powered by renewable energy such as solar or wind power. That said, there are many other far more polluting forms of production, which are powered by anything from natural gas to coal.

The hydrogen fuel jobs created in the UK government’s H2 strategy will begin to grow along with investments. The country is pursuing an initial 2030 goal of 5GW of H2 production capacity. It estimates that by then, the industry will be worth £900 million and will be supporting over 9,000 jobs.

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