The first and foremost of all the drivers for creating national hydrogen strategies is decarbonisation, with Irena attributing the start of a renewed interest in hydrogen down to the signing of the Paris Agreement in 2016, which aims to keep the rise in global temperatures by 2050 below 1.5°C.

The report points out that 90% of the countries with a hydrogen strategy also have a commitment to reach net-zero emissions or climate neutrality, with clean H2 an option to solve the problem of CO2 from hard-to-electrify industries.

However, Irena also notes that hydrogen can bolster industries, whether through allowing hard-to-decarbonise sectors to stay in markets with carbon taxes, bringing in local manufacturing of electrolysers and other equipment, or even drawing new industries such as green steelmaking to be set up in the Global South, where renewable electricity and H2 can often be produced extremely cheaply.

Similarly, the report adds that hydrogen for export is on the minds of several governments, particularly for countries that traditionally produce and ship vast quantities of oil and gas to global markets, as more and more traditional importers seek to move away from fossil fuel consumption and potentially increase their demand for H2 and its derivatives.

However, it also notes that that a major focus on exports could present a significant risk if demand from importers never materialises or if infrastructure is not built.

The report also highlights energy and food security as potential drivers, noting that green hydrogen can be domestically produced or imported from a range of countries to reduce the dependence on imports of natural gas, grey hydrogen or fertilisers from a single supplier, and thereby reducing risk should these important commodities be cut off due to global conflict.

Irena also notes that H2 can be used for long-duration energy storage of renewable electricity in future energy systems, while its use in transport could improve air quality in urban areas.

The differences between good and bad national green hydrogen strategies, according to Irena