Green hydrogen: Energizing the path to net zero
Deloitte’s 2023 global green hydrogen outlook
Deloitte’s new economic analysis shows how green hydrogen can play a paramount role to achieve net-zero targets by 2050. It can give us a meaningful chance to decarbonize the planet, overcoming the existing limitations and challenges posed by fossil fuels and technologies that add to greenhouse gas emissions.
Those who act now can reap the benefits, both economic and environmental.
Recognized as a global leader in the hydrogen and fuel cell sector, Canada is a hub for technical expertise, intellectual property, and leading products and services. Canada is also one of the top ten global producers of hydrogen today, producing an estimated three million tonnes (Mt) annually via steam methane reformation (SMR) of natural gas. While SMR is not considered a means to clean hydrogen without carbon capture and storage (CCS), Canada is well placed to transition to clean pathways going forward. While there is a strong push globally to produce hydrogen through electrolysis, given the regional energy mix and policy variations in Canada, there will likely be diversified methods of hydrogen production technologies for each province. For instance, in provinces where there are large deposits of natural gas like Alberta and Saskatchewan, hydrogen production will likely be through SMR+CCS technology to leverage the natural resources of that sector. In provinces like British Columbia, where more than 98% of the electricity generated is from hydro and there’s a vast amount of NG reserves, there will likely be a combination of hydrogen production pathways, including methane pyrolysis, depending on the end use application. In Ontario, there will likely be production through renewable sources such as hydro, and in the Atlantic, there is a strong push for renewable hydrogen production through offshore wind for export.
Governments, executives, researchers, and other parties around the world are looking to accelerate the ongoing energy transition to reach carbon neutrality. Aligning economies with the targets laid out in the Paris Agreement—limiting global warming to well below 2 °C, while pursuing efforts to limit the increase to 1.5 °C—means replacing legacy systems powered by fossil fuels with low-carbon energy sources such as renewables.1
Green hydrogen could overcome these limits and become the key clean hydrogen supply option in the long run, being both economically viable and truly sustainable.
Either in its pure gaseous form or in the form of derivative molecules—ammonia, methanol, and synthetic aviation fuels (SAF)—green hydrogen can lead to significant emission savings in hard-to-abate sectors like heavy industry (such as steelmaking and chemicals) and heavy transport (such as aviation and shipping). Moreover, if wind and solar power continue to expand, hydrogen can provide flexibility and network stability to the power systems.
Emerging green hydrogen market to redraw the global energy and resource map as early as 2030, creating a $1.4 trillion per year market by 2050.
Download the full report and visit our Global Hydrogen Center of Excellence.
