20 countries to increase hydrogen production

The Japanese industry ministry said on Monday that more than 20 countries, led by Japan, have agreed to increase production of low-emission hydrogen to at least 90 million tons a year by 2030 from 1 million tons now.

The threat of gas supply disruptions at a time when global supplies are tight and spot prices are sky-high, and many countries, including resource-poor Japan, are facing a historic energy security risk due to Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

Tokyo said that we believe that strategically increasing the production and use of low carbon and renewable hydrogen can contribute significantly to energy security, resilience and climate goals, and that there needs to be more countries and regions to take concrete measures to increase hydrogen production.

Hydrogen is seen as the future green fuel of choice, and is key to decarbonising industries that rely on coal, gas and oil, such as steel and chemicals, in order to fight global warming. It is important to Japan's goal to achieve net-zero emissions by the year 2050.

The goal of producing 90 million tons of blue hydrogen from natural gas but eliminating emissions by capturing and storing carbon and green hydrogen extracted from water using electrolysis powered by renewable energy by 2030 is somewhat less than the 95 million tons that the International Energy Agency IEA says is required over the same time frame to achieve its 2050 net zero scenario.

In a recent report, the IEA said that more policy support is needed to drive new and cleaner uses of hydrogen in heavy industry and long-distance transport.

Japan hopes to increase its annual hydrogen supply by 3 million tons by the year 2030, from around 2 million tons now.