Enabling Green Hydrogen: Industrial Policy, Certification Systems, and Inclusiveness

Green hydrogen has emerged as a viable solution for the decarbonisation of hard-to-abate sectors and as a key enabler of the energy transition. With a growing number of countries around the world committing to net-zero, green hydrogen has become a key aspect of their national strategies to move away from fossil fuels. Over the last three years, many countries have announced and/or put in place measures to support green hydrogen in post-COVID-19 recovery packages, as well as devised national green hydrogen strategies. Green hydrogen has also been gaining momentum due to more competitive renewable energy prices, ongoing technological improvements, and for the need of greater power-system flexibility.

The use of green hydrogen in industry is not only hampered by cost and technical barriers, but also by a lack of a market for green products, lack of sufficient ambitious policies, and carbon leakage risks. Policy makers will have to address these barriers to make sure green hydrogen can give its full contribution in the industrial sector. 

Furthermore, the establishment of national, regional and international green hydrogen markets will depend on the development and acceptance of tracking systems that will provide information on the origin of the production process and the greenhouse gas emissions produced. While tracking systems for green hydrogen present considerable benefits, their successful establishment will require addressing different challenges and barriers. 

Finally, as the green hydrogen market develops, policymakers must devise and implement strategies that are inclusive and just to ensure a fair energy and industrial transition among all members of society. 

This session of the Policy Talks 2022 provided insights from IRENA on the most relevant issues related to green hydrogen. It gathered top experts in the field of green hydrogen policy making to discuss the current status and the potential options to make green hydrogen move from niche to mainstream. 

It also served to present key findings of two new reports on green hydrogen from IRENA and the IRENA Coalition for Action:

• The IRENA report “Green hydrogen for industry: A guide to policy making” examines the challenges for the consumption of green hydrogen in hard to abate sectors, and the policies needed to support the switch of industry and the adoption of green hydrogen. The report present option to mandate or support a change in industrial practices. The report also presents a roadmap to adopt such policies in the right moment as the green hydrogen sector grows.
• The IRENA Coalition for Action brief on Green Hydrogen Certification, led by the members of the Decarbonising End-Use Sectors Working Group, provides an overview of technical consideration for green hydrogen tracking systems and the obstacles to be addressed for the creation of such instruments. In addition, the brief also puts forth key recommendations to policymakers in order to successfully establish tracking systems for green hydrogen based on internationally accepted standards.

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