PARIS: ‘Green hydrogen’ produced using renewable energy will soon plunge in cost, becoming cheaper than natural gas in many areas, according to a study released by the research group BloombergNEF (BNEF).
Hydrogen is considered a leader in the race to develop sustainable energy sources and slash carbon emissions.
But it is expensive to produce and the electricity needed generates a lot of carbon dioxide emissions or other pollutants.
Green hydrogen is produced via electrolysis — an electrical current passing through water — with wind, solar or hydroelectric power providing the electricity.
BNEF researchers forecast its cost will fall steadily in the future, in large part due to lower prices for solar photovoltaic power (PV).
“We now think that PV electricity will be 40 per cent cheaper in 2050 than what we had thought just two years ago,” BNEF specialists said.
“The costs of producing ‘green’ hydrogen from renewable electricity should fall by up to 85 per cent from today to 2050,” they concluded.
In the majority of 28 markets covered by the study, green hydrogen production could cost less than one US dollar per kilogramme by 2050. — AFP
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