Hydrogen is at a similar stage of development to solar and wind ten years ago, the head of the International Energy Agency has said.
Giving evidence to the PRASEG all party parliamentary group’s virtual inquiry into energy and the recovery yesterday (25 June), the IEA’s executive director Dr Fatih Birol was quizzed about the prospects for the gas as a source of energy.
He said hydrogen is the one technology that all governments and businesses agree is part of the energy future
“Hydrogen is a very promising technology and is ready for the big time: hydrogen is where solar or wind were ten years ago.”
Birol said that low-carbon hydrogen remains expensive to produce because electrolysers, which comprise 60 per cent of the cost of production, remain expensive.
But the costs of electrolysers will reduce as they become more commonplace, he said: “It’s not rocket science: learning by doing can bring costs down and make hydrogen affordable.”
The IEA boss said at least three countries are putting a “lot of money” into the mass manufacture of electrolysers to reduce costs.
Germany has recently announced significant investment in hydrogen technology as part of its post-coronavirus lockdown stimulus package.
Birol said the “beauty” of hydrogen is that it is a “very versatile” source of energy, which can be rolled out to decarbonise other aspects of the economy such as heating and industry which are difficult to entirely electrify.
While noting that the electricity sector had been substantially cleaned up, it is only part of the decarbonisation picture, he said: “Electricity is only 20 per cent of total energy use: 80 per cent still needs to be decarbonised.”
Birol also said that the UK had a potentially strong advantage in developing a carbon, capture and storage (CCS) industry.
“CCS very important technology: if there are countries that can push it strongly, one is the UK.”
He also outlined the IEA’s three priorities for a green recovery: increased rollout of renewables, improved energy efficiency of buildings and grid modernisation.
Birol added that progress on these three fronts will not require new technology, legislative frameworks or institutions.
Energy efficiency in particular is a “job creating machine”, he said, adding that governments should calculate how many jobs green stimulus measures will create.
“It is very important for UK decision makers to make sure that people understand that energy related measures are going to boost economic growth and create jobs.”