A group of 13 energy, transport and hydrogen industry companies have launched a global initiative, the Hydrogen Council, to help drive humanity’s energy transition to a hydrogen-based economy and keep global temperatures within the 2°C target set by the 2015 Paris Agreement.
Hydrogen is a versatile energy carrier that does not release any CO2 at the point of use, potentially positioning it as part of a clean, low-carbon energy system. At the same time, hydrogen technologies are rapidly reducing in cost and approaching largescale economic viability.
The Hydrogen Council plan to work with key industry stakeholders, including policy makers, business and hydrogen players, international agencies and civil society to further their collective goals.
Its members have also confirmed their ambition to accelerate investment into the development and commercialisation of the hydrogen and fuel cell sectors, beyond the present value of $1.49bn a year.
The Council is made up of top executives from Air Liquide, Alstom, Anglo American, BMW Group, Daimler, ENGIE, Honda, Hyundai Motor, Kawasaki, Royal Dutch Shell, The Linde Group, Total and Toyota – with France’s Air Liquide and Japan’s Toyota currently installed as co-chairs.
“The 2015 Paris Agreement to combat climate change is a significant step in the right direction but requires business action to be taken to make such a pledge a reality,” said Benoît Potier, CEO of Air Liquide.
“Our call today to world leaders is to commit to hydrogen so that together we can meet our shared climate ambitions and give further traction to the emerging hydrogen ecosystem.”
A report commissioned by the Hydrogen Council entitled How hydrogen empowers the energy transition further explores the key actions it considers fundamental for policy makers to implement to facilitate the contribution of hydrogen to the energy transition.
Jochen Hermann, VP for e-drive development at Daimler, adds: “Fuel cell technology has huge potential for the energy and mobility sector. The benefits for us are obvious: long operating range and short refuelling stops, as well as a broad spectrum of uses from passenger cars to urban buses.”
Daimler plans to have more than ten fully electric vehicles in the passenger segment alone by 2025.
The members of the Hydrogen Council collectively represent total revenues of $1.14tn and 1.72 million employees around the world.
