ICS: New hydrogen demand report reveals once in a generation opportunity

• The International Chamber of Shipping launches new report identifying that heavy Industry sector are expected to dominate global hydrogen demand to 2050, with South Korea, Japan and Europe being the first markets for hydrogen.
• However, analysis of current hydrogen demand scenarios shows tremendous volatility, increasing uncertainty for businesses and investors.
• Report highlights that to meet 30 million tonnes of annual global green hydrogen demand, the world would require 411 new hydrogen vessels and the equivalent of the yearly electricity production of South and Central America combined.

LONDON, Aug. 21, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) – publishes a new report, written by Dr Stefan Ulreich, Professor of Energy Economics at Biberach University of Applied Sciences, Germany, identifying hydrogen demand sectors, demand locations and the demand-pull timeline.

The report "Turning hydrogen demand into reality: Which sectors come first?" focuses on the potential of clean hydrogen to function as an energy carrier and feedstock to decarbonise multiple sectors, especially hard to abate sectors. The report identifies that to meet future hydrogen demand, the scale of renewable electricity demand for green hydrogen production is unprecedented and leads to once-in-a-generation opportunities and challenges. Infrastructure, demand support incentives, power supply access and an enabling environment with long-term certainty is required for 'new sectors' to uptake green hydrogen. 

Guy Platten, ICS Secretary General states:

"For global hydrogen demand to keep the net-zero by 2050 scenario within reach, demand for hydrogen-based fuel sources would need to scale five times from current levels to reach approximately 500 million tonnes from 2030 to 2050. One of the main takeaways in this report is the high variability in potential demand. Industry will dominate the hydrogen demand. Shipping however can play a key role as an enabler to the hydrogen economy."

The report highlights three economies as the main markets to initially drive hydrogen demand – South Korea, Japan and the EU. Europe has a target of 20 million tonnes of hydrogen per year by 2030, with half of that volume to come from imported sources.

Professor Ulreich added:

"What we are seeing is that the annual hydrogen demand would mean increasing the fleet to transport hydrogen by ship. To meet a global increase if 30 million tonnes of hydrogen traded worldwide, we could need up to 411 new hydrogen vessels (for long distances) or up to 500 vessels if transported as ammonia."

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