Outlook 2024: Progress with growing pains – Developing a global hydrogen ecosystem
A competitive pricing structure, collaboration between public and private sectors and supportive policies all required to justify hydrogen development
Hydrogen is a key tool in decarbonising the world’s energy sector. It’s a fuel for the ‘hard-to-abate’ industrial sectors and for activities that cannot be readily electrified such as aviation, long-haul freight and international shipping. However, as we’re all aware, the cost of using it as an energy source is high—and in Europe, particularly, this is one of the main impediments to large-scale deployment. Since European electricity prices are driven by the cost of gas, the cost of carbon-free hydrogen produced by electrolysis has risen over the past two years. Fossil fuels are relatively cheap compared to hydrogen, but we pay the costs of their carbon emissions and subsequent effects on the
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25 February 2026
Low-carbon hydrogen and ammonia development is advancing much more slowly and unevenly than once expected, with high costs and policy uncertainty thinning investment. Meanwhile, surging energy demand is reinforcing the role of natural gas and LNG as the backbone of the global energy system, panellists at LNG2026 said
18 February 2026
Norwegian energy company has dropped a major hydrogen project and paused its CCS expansion plans as demand fails to materialise
4 February 2026
Europe’s largest electrolyser manufacturers are losing patience with policymakers as sluggish growth in the green hydrogen sector undermines their decision to expand production capacity
2 February 2026
As a fertiliser feedstock, it is indispensable, but ammonia’s potential as a carbon-free energy carrier is also making it central to global decarbonisation strategies
