Britain’s hydrogen strategy is ambitious, if imperfect

One of the most complex problems that Britain faces is climate change. The simplest element in the periodic table is increasingly seen as part of the answer. Low-carbon hydrogen can be made either from natural gas, with the carbon that results captured and stored underground (“blue hydrogen”), or from water, using an electrolyser powered by renewable energy (“green hydrogen”). Hydrogen can help decarbonise activities such as steelmaking, in which fossil fuels act as chemical reagents as well as sources of energy, and also forms of transport, including shipping, that require greater ranges than battery-driven vehicles can manage.

Last year Britain became the 12th country to release a hydrogen strategy. It called for 5gw of low-carbon hydrogen-production capacity by 2030—enough for around 2% of current energy demand. In April the government doubled that goal. Britain, it thinks, can build a “thriving hydrogen economy”, both domestically and by exporting new technology.