The key pillars of decarbonising the global energy system are energy efficiency, behavioural change, electrification, renewables, hydrogen and hydrogen‐based fuels, and CCUS. The importance of hydrogen in the Net zero Emissions Scenario is reflected in its increasing share in cumulative emission reductions. Strong hydrogen demand growth and the adoption of cleaner technologies for its production thus enable hydrogen and hydrogen based fuels to avoid up to 60 Gt CO2 emissions in 2021-2050 in the Net zero Emissions Scenario, representing 6% of total cumulative emissions reductions.

Cumulative emissions reduction by mitigation measure in the Net Zero Scenario, 2021-2050

The momentum behind hydrogen remained strong over the past year. Nine countries – which cover around 30% of global energy sector emissions today – released their national strategies in 2021-2022.

On the supply side, electrolyser manufacturing capacity has doubled since last year, reaching nearly 8 GW per year; and the realisation of all the projects in the pipeline could lead to an installed electrolyser capacity of 134-240 GW by 2030, twice the expectations from last year.

Nonetheless, these laudable developments still are below what is needed to get on track with the Net Zero Emissions by 2050 Scenario. Faster action is required on creating demand for low-emission hydrogen and unlocking investment that can accelerate production scale up and deployment of infrastructure.

Global hydrogen demand by sector in the Net Zero Scenario, 2019-2030