Posted on November 23, 2021 by Rich Powell
This op-ed was originally published by the Washington Times on November 23, 2021. Click here to read the entire piece.
As countries tout their net-zero goals to decarbonize economies and mitigate the impacts of climate change, many in government and industry have assessed what meeting such pledges will take, and hydrogen has emerged as a promising energy solution.
Europeans and Japan view hydrogen as an essential tool to attain their decarbonization goals in the power, transport and heavy industry sectors. Still, they will struggle to meet their projected hydrogen demand if the energy transition scales up. To meet future demand, they will need to import hydrogen from other regions with abundant hydrogen production assets.
This hydrogen supply gap will present the biggest economic opportunity for energy exporters like Russia, Saudi Arabia and Australia. These nations are already centering their decarbonization strategies on the exportation of low- and zero-carbon hydrogen.
Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman al-Saud, has said that his country seeks to become the biggest hydrogen supplier in the world. The kingdom announced that a large segment of the $110 billion Jafurah development would be used for hydrogen production via steam methane reformation and carbon capture, utilization and sequestration (CCUS). The world’s biggest oil exporter (Saudi Arabia) projects hydrogen exports could reach 4 million tons by 2030.
The U.S. is currently the pre-eminent global energy leader through its vast natural gas, oil and coal reserves, and nuclear energy technology. To maintain and extend our leadership, the United States must turbocharge its innovative prowess to compete in the energy transition. Hydrogen will be a key pillar.
Click here to read the full article
