Hydrogen: A climate game-changer?

With less than six months to go before the next big climate conference (COP26) in Scotland, the world's major polluters are under pressure to significantly increase their ability to cut greenhouse gas emissions. One of the solutions being discussed is to increase the production of clean hydrogen. At present most of the world's hydrogen has a high carbon footprint, but engineers are coming up with innovative ways to produce the gas with the help of renewable energy. They say it will allow for a faster reduction of carbon emissions without the need to overhaul existing industrial infrastructure. It’s also claimed that hydrogen-powered cells can drastically cut pollution from aviation and transportation.

But others argue that using large amounts of wind and solar power to create ‘green hydrogen’ is wasteful and that governments should instead focus on improving the supply of renewables. So how clean can hydrogen get and how valuable could it be in the fight against climate change? Will the high costs involved in developing the industry pay off in the long run, or does the technology give us all false hope? Ritula Shah and a panel of experts discuss the role of hydrogen in attempts to cut greenhouse gas emissions.