Letter from Rotterdam: Somewhere over the rainbow
The ultimate prize for the low-carbon hydrogen sector is a significant share of the global energy mix, but multiple challenges stand in the way
“Is there a pot of gold at the end of the hydrogen rainbow?” That was the question posed by opening keynote speaker Nicola De Blasio, senior fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center, at the recent World Hydrogen Congress. Judging by the discussions that followed, the industry’s answer might go something like this: Maybe, but let us not get ahead of ourselves, because the immediate challenges are significant. The consensus is that the “pot of gold” for the nascent low-carbon hydrogen industry is a 10–15% share of the global energy mix by the second half of the century and, as a result, a significant role in the net-zero project. That is a long way off. The industry’s immediate foc

Also in this section
18 June 2025
The country’s green hydrogen sector can gain traction even as the global trade war rages and other headwinds hamper the sector, Mohsen al-Hadhrami, undersecretary of energy and minerals, tells Hydrogen Economist
18 June 2025
UK risks losing out on in race to secure hydrogen imports as its refusal to back ammonia cracking sinks $2.7b Immingham project
11 June 2025
China emerges as clear frontrunner as US growth stalls and Europe burdens its industry with labyrinthine regulations
30 May 2025
Pressure is growing on developers to prove the bankability of their projects in a challenging market for green hydrogen