G7 member countries should take action in five key areas to develop a hydrogen ecosystem in their respective economies, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency’s (Irena’s) Accelerating hydrogen deployment in the G7 report.

In May 2022, G7 members officially launched the Hydrogen Action Pact (HAP). Its objectives include strengthening joint action on power-to-x as well as hydrogen and its derivatives.

“The analysis undertaken by Irena to assist the development of the HAP resulted in the recommendations presented in this report,” says Francesco La Camera, director general of Irena.

“The recommendations presented in this report mark the start of this journey for the policymakers and stakeholders who will facilitate a new hydrogen trade.”

Pillar scheme

The recommendations are grouped into five pillars. Under the first pillar, G7 nations are encouraged to establish common sustainability criteria for hydrogen, align certification methodologies and set harmonised technical standards. Currently, the US has a definition for ‘low-carbon’ hydrogen under the Inflation Reduction Act while the EU is still agreeing its separate certification standards for green hydrogen under a process in the European Parliament.

“The recommendations presented in this report mark the start of this journey for policymakers” La Camera, Irena

The second pillar encourages nations to collaborate internationally and share lessons from early projects, particularly with nations in the Global South.

“The G7 represents almost 90pc of the public R&D budget for hydrogen and fuel cells, and about 73pc of international inventions across hydrogen technologies,” says the report.  This provides the G7 with valuable knowledge of hydrogen technologies from which other countries will benefit and which could lead to the acceleration of global decarbonisation.

The third pillar encourages nations to look at demand as well as supply creation. The current focus of most policymakers is on the supply side of hydrogen generation. But members need to create bulk demand for hydrogen in hard-to-abate sectors, agree on common actions to decarbonise shipping and aviation, and coordinate simultaneous supply and demand growth.

The fourth pillar revolves around policies in the industrial sector. Here nations must test and implement new policies for the uptake of green products such as green steel and green ammonia, address carbon leakage concerns and support disruptive technologies— for example in the steelmaking industry.

The fifth pillar is a coordinated public outreach scheme, an area Irena says is often neglected by agency reports.

G7 nations must adopt a unified message around hydrogen to increase awareness, involve civil society in the governance of the hydrogen sector, and introduce and sponsor an international labelling scheme for hydrogen-based products.

Working together

For all recommendations, G7 members will need to find the most suitable initiatives and platforms, according to the report.

“The Irena Collaborative Framework on Green Hydrogen—the intergovernmental platform with the widest global membership coverage—can serve as the platform for information sharing and collaboration on all issues related to green hydrogen,” it says.

---

Author: Tom Young