Policy & Socio-Economics

A new assessment tool for evaluating decarbonization technologies that considers each technology’s sustainability security affordability readiness and impact for a specific country is proposed. This tool is applied to a set of decarbonization technologies for the power transport and industry sectors for the ten Southeast Asian countries that constitute ASEAN. This results in a list of the most promising decarbonization technologies as well as the remaining issues that need more research and development. This study reveals several common themes for ASEAN’s decarbonization. First carbon capture and storage (CCS) is a key technology for large-scale CO2 emission. Second for countries that rely heavily on coal for power generation switching to gas can halve their CO2 emission in the power sector and should be given high priority. Third hydropower and bioenergy both have high potential for the majority of ASEAN countries if their sustainability issues can be resolved satisfactorily. Fourth replacing conventional vehicles by electric vehicles is the overarching theme in the road transport sector but will result in increased demand for electricity. In the medium to long term the use of hydrogen for marine fuel and biofuels for aviation fuel are preferred solutions for the marine and aviation transport sectors. Fifth for the industry sector installing CCS in industrial plants should be given priority but replacing fossil fuels by blue hydrogen for high-temperature heating is the preferred long-term solution.

This brief explores recent momentum on hydrogen and evaluates potential implications for subsidies for fossil fuel-based hydrogen given the government's commitments on fossil fuel subsidies.

Spending on hydrogen has the potential to significantly influence the direction taken by the world’s energy systems. In December 2020 Canada unveiled a national hydrogen strategy following the announcement of a strengthened climate plan. The strategy emphasized both blue and green hydrogen. As the government considers whether to provide subsidies for hydrogen we recommend government:

• Ensure that any subsidies for hydrogen are in line with the government’s commitments to phase out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies by 2025 and meet net-zero by 2050.
• Thoroughly evaluate the potential efficiency of subsidies for hydrogen against robust social environmental and economic criteria. • Improve transparency by publicly reporting on direct spending and tax expenditures for hydrogen production.
• Follow international best practices being set by Canada’s peers. For example Germany and Spain have laid out hydrogen strategies prioritizing green hydrogen.

Based on IISD's analysis subsidies for hydrogen based on natural gas without significant levels of carbon capture and storage (CCS) should not be eligible for government assistance. Subsidies for blue hydrogen should only occur if blue hydrogen can meet the same level of environmental performance (including emission intensity) and is at or below the cost of green hydrogen.

This brief is one of three International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) policy briefs in its Recovery Through Reform series which assesses how efforts to achieve a green recovery from COVID-19 in Canada rely on—and can contribute to—fossil fuel subsidy reform.

Governments around the world are leveraging unprecedented amounts of capital to respond to the pandemic and bailing out struggling industries. Trends in energy-related spending indicate that despite the green push the world’s largest economies have still favoured fossil energy over clean energy.<br/><br/>We evaluate energy-related spending in Canada in 2020 (since the onset of COVID-19) using data from the Energy Policy Tracker. Trends in Canada are then compared to flagship policies in key jurisdictions with recent progressive climate policy announcements including France Germany and the United Kingdom. The brief ends with broad recommendations on how Canada can better align its recovery funding with climate action and fossil fuel subsidy reform.<br/><br/>This brief is one of three International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) policy briefs in its Recovery Through Reform series which assesses how efforts to achieve a green recovery from COVID-19 in Canada rely on—and can contribute to—fossil fuel subsidy reform.

These two joint reports required under the Environment (Wales) Act 2016 provide ministers with advice on Wales’ climate targets between now and 2050 and assess progress on reducing emissions to date. Our advice to the Welsh Government is set out in two parts:

Advice Report: The path to a Net Zero Wales provides recommendations on the actions that are needed in Wales including the legislation of a Net Zero target and package of policies to deliver it.

Progress Report: Reducing emissions in Wales looks back at the progress made in Wales since the 2016 Environment (Wales) Act was passed and assesses whether Wales is on track to meet its currently legislated emissions reductions targets.

This work is based on an extensive programme of analysis consultation and consideration by the Committee and its staff building on the evidence published last year for our Net Zero report. It is compatible with our advice on the UK’s Sixth Carbon Budget. In support of the advice in this report we have also published:

• All the charts and data behind the report as well as a separate dataset for the scenarios which sets out more details and data on the pathways than can be included in this report.
• A public Call for Evidence several new research projects three expert advisory groups and deep dives into the roles of local authorities and businesses.

When looking out to 2050 there is huge uncertainty surrounding how gas will be consumed transported and sourced in Great Britain (GB). The extent of the climate change challenge is now widely accepted and the UK Government has introduced a legislative requirement for aggressive reductions in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions out to 2050. In addition at European Union (EU) level a package of measures has been implemented to reduce greenhouse gas emissions improve energy efficiency and significantly increase the share of energy produced from renewable sources by 2020. These policy developments naturally raise the question of what role gas has to play in the future energy mix.



To help inform this debate the Energy Networks Association Gas Futures Group (ENA GFG) commissioned Redpoint and Trilemma to undertake a long-range scenario-based modelling study of the future utilisation of gas out to 2050 and the consequential impacts of this for gas networks. Our modelling assumptions draw heavily on the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) 2050 Pathways analysis and we consider that our conclusions are fully compatible with both DECC‟s work and current EU policy objectives.



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Decarbonization of the heating sector is essential to meet the ambitious goals of the Paris Climate Agreement for 2050. However poorly insulated buildings and industrial processes with high and intermittent heating demand will still require traditional boilers that burn fuel to avoid excessive burden on electrical networks. Therefore it is important to assess the impact of residential commercial and industrial heat decarbonization strategies on the distribution and transmission gas networks. Using building energy models in EnergyPlus the progressive decarbonization of gas-fueled heating was investigated by increasing insulation in buildings and increasing the efficiency of gas boilers. Industrial heat decarbonization was evaluated through a progressive move to lowercarbon fuel sources using MATLAB. The results indicated a maximum decrease of 19.9% in natural gas utilization due to the buildings’ thermal retrofits. This coupled with a move toward the electrification of heat will reduce volumes of gas being transported through the distribution gas network. However the decarbonization of the industrial heat demand with hydrogen could result in up to a 380% increase in volumetric flow rate through the transmission network. A comparison between the decarbonization of domestic heating through gas and electrical heating is also carried out. The results indicated that gas networks can continue to play an essential role in the decarbonized energy systems of the future.

Innovative renewable routes are potentially able to sustain the transition to a decarbonized energy economy. Green synthetic fuels including hydrogen and natural gas are considered viable alternatives to fossil fuels. Indeed they play a fundamental role in those sectors that are difficult to electrify (e.g. road mobility or high-heat industrial processes) are capable of mitigating problems related to flexibility and instantaneous balance of the electric grid are suitable for large-size and long-term storage and can be transported through the gas network. This article is an overview of the overall supply chain including production transport storage and end uses. Available fuel conversion technologies use renewable energy for the catalytic conversion of non-fossil feedstocks into hydrogen and syngas. We will show how relevant technologies involve thermochemical electrochemical and photochemical processes. The syngas quality can be improved by catalytic CO and CO2 methanation reactions for the generation of synthetic natural gas. Finally the produced gaseous fuels could follow several pathways for transport and lead to different final uses. Therefore storage alternatives and gas interchangeability requirements for the safe injection of green fuels in the natural gas network and fuel cells are outlined. Nevertheless the effects of gas quality on combustion emissions and safety are considered.

Hydrogen mobility is one option for reducing local emissions avoiding greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and moving away from a mainly oil-based transport system towards a diversification of energy sources. As hydrogen production can be based on a broad variety of technologies already existing or under development a comprehensive assessment of the different supply chains is necessary regarding not only costs but also diverse environmental impacts. Therefore in this paper a broad variety of hydrogen production technologies using different energy sources renewable and fossil are exemplarily assessed with the help of a Life Cycle Assessment and a cost assessment for Germany. As environmental impacts along with the impact category Climate change five more advanced impact categories are assessed. The results show that from an environmental point of view PEM and alkaline electrolysis are characterized by the lowest results in five out of six impact categories. Supply chains using fossil fuels in contrast have the lowest supply costs; this is true e.g. for steam methane reforming. Solar powered hydrogen production shows low impacts during hydrogen production but high impacts for transport and distribution to Germany. There is no single supply chain that is the most promising for every aspect assessed here. Either costs have to be lowered further or supply chains with selected environmental impacts have to be modified.

This study was aimed to define a methodology based on existing literature and evaluate the levelized cost of hydrogen (LCOH) for a decentralized hydrogen refueling station (HRS) in Halle Belgium. The results are based on a comprehensive data collection along with real cost information. The main results indicated that a LCOH of 10.3 €/kg at the HRS can be reached over a lifetime of 20 years if an average electricity cost of 0.04 €/kWh could be achieved and if the operating hours are maximized. Furthermore if the initial capital costs can be reduced by 80% in the case of direct subsidy the LCOH could even fall to 6.7 €/k

Since the UK’s Net Zero greenhouse gas emissions target was set in 2019 organisations across the energy systems community have released pathways on how we might get there – which end-use technologies are deployed across each sector of demand how our fossil fuel-based energy supply would be transferred to low carbon vectors and to what extent society must change the way it demands energy services. This paper presents a comparative analysis between seven published Net Zero pathways for the UK energy system collected from Energy Systems Catapult National Grid ESO Centre for Alternative Technology and the Climate Change Committee. The key findings reported are that (i) pathways that rely on less stringent behavioural changes require more ambitious technology development (and vice versa); (ii) electricity generation will increase by 51-160% to facilitate large-scale fuel-switching in heating and transport the vast majority of which is likely to be generated from variable renewable sources; (iii) hydrogen is an important energy vector in meeting Net Zero for all pathways providing 100-591 TWh annually by 2050 though the growth in demand is heavily dependent on the extent to which it is used in supplying heating and transport demand. This paper also presents a re-visited analysis of the potential renewable electricity generation resource in the UK. It was found that the resource for renewable electricity generation outstrips the UK’s projected 2050 electricity demand by a factor 12-20 depending on the pathway. As made clear in all seven pathways large-scale deployment of flexibility and storage is required to match this abundant resource to our energy demand.

Marine transport has been essential for international trade. Concern for its environmental impact was growing among regulators classification societies ship operators ship owners and other stakeholders. By applying life cycle assessment this article aimed to assess the impact of a new-build hybrid system (i.e. an electric power system which incorporated lithium ion batteries photovoltaic systems and cold-ironing) designed for Roll-on/Roll-off cargo ships. The study was carried out based on a bottom-up integrated system approach using the optimised operational profile and background information for manufacturing processes mass breakdown and end of life management plans. Resources such as metallic and non-metallic materials and energy required for manufacture operation maintenance dismantling and scrap handling were estimated. During operation 1.76 x 10^8 kg of marine diesel oil was burned releasing carbon monoxide carbon dioxide particulate matter hydrocarbons nitrogen oxides and sulphur dioxide which ranged 5–8 orders of magnitude. The operation of diesel gensets was the primary cause of impact categories that were relevant to particulate matter or respiratory inorganic health issues photochemical ozone creation eutrophication acidification global warming and human toxicity. Disposing metallic scrap was accountable for the most significant impact category ecotoxicity potential. The environmental benefits of the hybrid power system in most impact categories were verified in comparison with a conventional power system onboard cargo ships. The estimated results for individual impact categories were verified using scenario analysis. The study concluded that the life cycle of a new-build hybrid power system would result in significant impact on the environment human beings and natural reserves and therefore proper management of such a system was imperative.

The heat and buildings strategy sets out the government’s plan to significantly cut carbon emissions from the UK’s 30 million homes and workplaces in a simple low-cost and green way whilst ensuring this remains affordable and fair for households across the country. Like the transition to electric vehicles this will be a gradual transition which will start by incentivizing consumers and driving down costs.<br/>There are about 30 million buildings in the UK. Heating these buildings contributes to almost a quarter of all UK emissions. Addressing the carbon emissions produced in heating and powering our homes workplaces and public buildings can not only save money on energy bills and improve lives but can support up to 240000 skilled green jobs by 2035 boosting the economic recovery levelling up across the country and ensuring we build back better.<br/>The heat and buildings strategy builds on the commitments made in Clean growth: transforming heating our Energy white paper and the Prime Minister’s 10 point plan. This strategy aims to provide a clear direction of travel for the 2020s set out the strategic decisions that need to be taken this decade and demonstrate how we plan to meet our carbon targets and remain on track for net zero by 2050.

Gaseous fuels with low life-cycle emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) play a prominent role in the European Union’s (EU) decarbonization plans. Renewable and low-GHG hydrogen are highlighted in the ambitious goals for a cross-sector hydrogen economy laid out in the European Commission’s Hydrogen Strategy. Renewable hydrogen and biomethane are given strong production incentives in the Commission’s proposed revision to the Renewable Energy Directive (REDII). The EU uses life-cycle analysis (LCA) to determine whether renewable gas pathways meet the GHG reduction thresholds for eligibility in the REDII. This study aims to support European policymakers with a better understanding of the uncertainties regarding gaseous fuels’ roles in meeting climate goals. Life-cycle GHG analysis is complex and differences in methodology as well as data inputs and assumptions can spell the difference between a renewable gas pathway qualifying or not for REDII eligibility at the 50% to 80% GHG reduction level. It is thus important for European policymakers to use robust LCA to ensure that policy only supports gas pathways consistent with a vision of deep decarbonization. For this purpose we conduct sensitivity analysis of the life-cycle GHG emissions of a number of low-GHG gas pathways including biomethane produced from four feedstocks: wastewater sludge manure landfill gas (LFG) and silage maize; and hydrogen produced from eight sources: natural gas combined with carbon capture and storage (CCS) coal with CCS biomass gasification renewable electricity 2030 EU grid electricity wastewater sludge biomethane manure biomethane and LFG biomethane. For each pathway we estimate the life-cycle GHG intensity using a default central case identify key parameters that strongly affect the fuel’s GHG intensity and conduct a sensitivity analysis by changing these key parameters according to the range of possible values collected from the literature. Figure ES1 summarizes the full range of possible GHG intensities for each gaseous pathway we analyzed in this study—biomethane is depicted in the top figure and hydrogen is shown in the bottom. The bars represent the GHG intensity of the central case and vertical error bars indicate the maximum and minimum GHG intensity of each pathway according to our sensitivity analysis. The dotted orange horizontal line illustrates the fossil comparator which is 94 grams of carbon dioxide equivalent per megajoule (gCO2e/MJ) for transport fuels in the REDII. The dotted yellow line represents the GHG intensity of a 65% GHG reduction goal for biomethane used in the transportation sector or 70% GHG reduction for hydrogen. Pathways are situated from left to right in increasing order of GHG intensity of the central case. Comparing the central cases of the four biomethane pathways the waste-based biomethane pathways generally have negative GHG intensity. However considering the uncertainty in these GHG intensities manure biomethane might have more limited carbon reduction potential in the 100-year timeframe if methane leakage from its production process is high. In contrast wastewater sludge biomethane and LFG biomethane even after accounting for uncertainties retain relatively low GHG emissions. On the other hand biomethane produced from silage maize can have much higher emissions; in the central case we find that silage maize biogas only reduces GHG emissions by 30% relative to the fossil comparator—the low carbon reduction potential is due to the significant emissions emerging from direct and indirect land use change involved in growing maize. Taking into account the variation in assumptions silage maize biomethane can be worse for the climate than fossil fuels.

Sustainability transportation is characterized by a positive externality on the environment health social security land use and social inclusion. The increasing interest in global warming has caused attention to be paid to the introduction of the hydrogen bus (H2B). When introducing new environmental technologies such as H2B it is often necessary to assess the environmental benefits related to this new technology. However such benefits are typically non-priced due to their public good nature. Therefore we have to address this problem using the contingent valuation (CV) method. This method has been developed within environmental economics as a means to economically assess environmental changes which are typically not traded in the market. So far several big cities have been analyzed to evaluate the perceived benefit related to H2B introduction but to the best of our knowledge no one has performed a CV analysis of a historical city where smog also damages historical buildings. This paper presents the results obtained using a multi-wave survey. We have investigated user preferences to elicit their willingness to pay for H2B introduction in Perugia taking into account all types of negative externalities due to the traffic pollution. The results confirm that residents in Perugia are willing to pay extra to support the introduction of H2B.

This paper compares the well-to-wheel (WTW) greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of representative vehicle types–internal combustion engine vehicle (ICEV) hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) battery electric vehicle (BEV) and fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV)–in the future (2030) based on a WTW analysis for the present (2017) and an analysis of various energy policies that could affect future emissions. South Korea was selected as the target region because it has detailed energy policies related to alternative vehicles. The WTW analysis for the present was performed based on three sets of subordinate analyses: (1) life cycle analyses of eight base fuels; (2) life cycle analyses of electricity and hydrogen; and (3) analyses of the fuel economies of seven vehicle types. From the WTW analysis for the present the national average WTW GHG emissions of ICEV-gasoline ICEV-diesel ICEV-liquefied petroleum gas HEV PHEV BEV and FCEV were calculated as 225 233 201 159 133 109 and 55 g-CO₂-eq./km respectively. For calculating the WTW GHG emissions in the future two policies regarding electricity production and three policies regarding hydrogen production were analysed. Three cases with varying the degrees of improvements in fuel economies were considered. Six future scenarios were constructed and each scenario represented the case in which each energy policy is enacted. In the reference scenario for compact car the WTW GHG emissions of ICEVs-gasoline HEV PHEV BEV-200 mile FCEV were analysed as 161 110 97 86 and 91 g-CO₂-eq./km respectively. The differences between ICEV/HEV and BEV were predicted to decrease in the future mainly due to larger improvements of ICEV/HEV in fuel economies compared to that of BEV. The future life cycle GHG emissions of electricity and hydrogen were calculated according to energy policy. Both two policies regarding power generation were confirmed to increase the benefits of utilizing BEVs but current energy policy regarding hydrogen production were confirmed to decrease the benefits of utilizing FCEVs. Based on the comprehensive results of this study a framework was proposed to evaluate the impacts of an energy policy regarding electricity and hydrogen production on the benefits of using BEVs and FCEVs compared to using HEVs and ICEVs. This framework can also be utilized in other countries when they assess and establish their energy policies.

Existing studies of financing efficiency concentrate on capital structure and a single external environment or internal management characteristic. Few of the studies include the internal and external financing environments at the same time for hydrogen energy industry financing efficiency. This paper used the data envelopment analysis (DEA) model and the Malmquist index to measure the financing efficiency of 70 hydrogen energy listed enterprises in China from 2014 to 2020 from both static and dynamic perspectives. Then a tobit model was constructed to explore the influence of external environment and internal factors on the financing efficiency. The contributions of this paper are studying the internal and external financing environments and integrating financing cost efficiency and capital allocation efficiency into the financing efficiency of hydrogen energy enterprises. The results show that firstly the financing efficiency of China’s hydrogen energy listed enterprises showed an upward trend during the years 2014–2020. Secondly China’s hydrogen energy enterprises mainly gather in the eastern coastal areas and their financing efficiency is more than that in western areas. Thirdly the regional economic development level enterprise scale financing structure capital utilization efficiency and profitability have significant effects on the financing efficiency. These results can promote the achievement of “carbon neutrality” in China.

The actual start of the full-scale hydrogen energy infrastructure operations is scheduled to 2020 in Japan. The scope of factors and policy for the hydrogen infrastructure development in Japan is made. The paper provides observation for the major undergoing and already done projects for each link within hydrogen infrastructure chain – from production to end-user applications. Implications for the Russian energy policy are provided.

Achieving Net Zero Electricity Sectors in G7 Members is a new report by the International Energy Agency that provides a roadmap to driving down CO2 emissions from electricity generation to net zero by 2035 building on analysis in Net Zero by 2050: A Roadmap for the Global Energy Sector.

The new report was requested by the United Kingdom under its G7 Presidency and followed the G7 leaders’ commitment in June 2021 to reach “an overwhelmingly decarbonised” power system in the 2030s and net zero emissions across their economies no later than 2050. It is designed to inform policy makers industry investors and citizens in advance of the COP26 Climate Change Conference in Glasgow that begins at the end of October 2021.

Starting from recent progress and the current state of play of electricity in the G7 the report analyses the steps needed to achieve net zero emissions from electricity and considers the wider implications for energy security employment and affordability. It identifies key milestones emerging challenges and opportunities for innovation.

The report also underscores how G7 members can foster innovation through international collaboration and as first movers lower the cost of technologies for other countries while maintaining electricity security and placing people at the centre of clean energy transitions.

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Power-to-Methane (PtM) can provide flexibility to the electricity grid while aiding decarbonization of other sectors. This study focuses specifically on the methanation component of PtM in 2050. Scenarios with 80–95% CO₂ reduction by 2050 (vs. 1990) are analyzed and barriers and drivers for methanation are identified. PtM arises for scenarios with 95% CO₂ reduction no CO₂ underground storage and low CAPEX (75 €/kW only for methanation). Capacity deployed across EU is 40 GW (8% of gas demand) for these conditions which increases to 122 GW when liquefied methane gas (LMG) is used for marine transport. The simultaneous occurrence of all positive drivers for PtM which include limited biomass potential low Power-to-Liquid performance use of PtM waste heat among others can increase this capacity to 546 GW (75% of gas demand). Gas demand is reduced to between 3.8 and 14 EJ (compared to ∼20 EJ for 2015) with lower values corresponding to scenarios that are more restricted. Annual costs for PtM are between 2.5 and 10 bln€/year with EU28’s GDP being 15.3 trillion €/year (2017). Results indicate that direct subsidy of the technology is more effective and specific than taxing the fossil alternative (natural gas) if the objective is to promote the technology. Studies with higher spatial resolution should be done to identify specific local conditions that could make PtM more attractive compared to an EU scale.

Hydrogen represents a versatile energy carrier with net zero end use emissions. Power-to-Liquid (PtL) includes the combination of hydrogen with CO2 to produce liquid fuels and satisfy mostly transport demand. This study assesses the role of these pathways across scenarios that achieve 80–95% CO₂ reduction by 2050 (vs. 1990) using the JRC-EU-TIMES model. The gaps in the literature covered in this study include a broader spatial coverage (EU28+) and hydrogen use in all sectors (beyond transport). The large uncertainty in the possible evolution of the energy system has been tackled with an extensive sensitivity analysis. 15 parameters were varied to produce more than 50 scenarios. Results indicate that parameters with the largest influence are the CO₂ target the availability of CO₂ underground storage and the biomass potential.

Hydrogen demand increases from 7 mtpa today to 20–120 mtpa (2.4–14.4 EJ/yr) mainly used for PtL (up to 70 mtpa) transport (up to 40 mtpa) and industry (25 mtpa). Only when CO₂ storage was not possible due to a political ban or social acceptance issues was electrolysis the main hydrogen production route (90% share) and CO₂ use for PtL became attractive. Otherwise hydrogen was produced through gas reforming with CO₂ capture and the preferred CO₂ sink was underground. Hydrogen and PtL contribute to energy security and independence allowing to reduce energy related import cost from 420 bln€/yr today to 350 or 50 bln€/yr for 95% CO₂ reduction with and without CO₂ storage. Development of electrolyzers fuel cells and fuel synthesis should continue to ensure these technologies are ready when needed. Results from this study should be complemented with studies with higher spatial and temporal resolution. Scenarios with global trading of hydrogen and potential import to the EU were not included.

Comprehensive risk assessment across multiple fields is required to assess the potential utility of hydrogen energy technology. In this research we analyzed environmental and socio-economic effects during the entire life cycle of a hydrogen energy system using input-output tables. The target system included hydrogen production by naphtha reforming transportation to hydrogen stations and FCV (Fuel Cell Vehicle) refilling. The results indicated that 31% 44% and 9% of the production employment and greenhouse gas (GHG) emission effects respectively during the manufacturing and construction stages were temporary. During the continuous operation and maintenance stages these values were found to be 69% 56% and 91% respectively. The effect of naphtha reforming was dominant in GHG emissions and the effect of electrical power input on the entire system was significant. Production and employment had notable effects in both the direct and indirect sectors including manufacturing (pumps compressors and chemical machinery) and services (equipment maintenance and trade). This study used data to introduce a life cycle perspective to environmental and socio-economic analysis of hydrogen energy systems and the results will contribute to their comprehensive risk assessment in the future.

This paper analyzes the economic potential of Power-to-Gas (PtG) as a source of flexibility in electricity markets with both high shares of renewables and high external demand for hydrogen. The contribution of this paper is that it develops and applies a short-term (hourly) partial equilibrium model of integrated electricity and hydrogen markets including markets for green certificates while using a welfare-economic framework to assess the market outcomes. We find that strongly increasing the share of renewable electricity makes electricity prices much more volatile while the presence of PtG reduces this price volatility. However a large demand for hydrogen from outside the electricity sector reduces the impact of PtG on the volatility of electricity prices. In a scenario with a high external hydrogen demand PtG can deliver positive benefits for some groups as it can provide hydrogen at lower costs than Steam Methane Reforming (SMR) during hours when electricity prices are low but these positive welfare effects are outweighed by the fixed costs of PtG assets plus the costs of replacing a less expensive energy carrier (natural gas) with a more expensive one (hydrogen). Investments in PtG are profitable from a social-welfare perspective when the induced reduction in carbon emissions is valued at 150–750 euro/ton. Hence at lower carbon prices PtG can only become a valuable provider of flexibility when installation costs are significantly reduced and conversion efficiencies of electrolysers increased.

The aim of the paper is to analyze how regulatory design and its framework’s topics other than macroeconomic factors might impact green innovation by taking into consideration a brand-new renewable source of energy that is becoming more and more important in recent years: hydrogen and fuel cell patenting activities. Such activities have been used as a proxy for green technological change in a panel data of 52 countries over a 6-year period. A series of sectorial energy regulation and macroeconomic variables were tested to assess their impact on that technological frontier of green energy transition policy. As might have been expected the empirical analysis carried out with the model that was prefigured confirms significant evidence of lock-in effects on fossil fuel policies. The model confirms however another evidence: countries already investing in renewables might be willing to invest in hydrogen projects. A sort of reinforcement to the further development of green sustainable strategies seems to derive from having already concretely undertaken this direction. Future research should exploit different approaches to the research question and address the econometric criticalities mentioned in the paper along with exploiting results of the paper with further investigations.

The Covid-19 pandemic has dealt a massive blow to countries around the world choking economies and transforming daily life for billions of people. This extraordinary disruption has significantly impacted the energy sector with worrying implications for clean energy transitions. Some key clean energy technologies have been encouragingly resilient to the effects of the crisis but so far there is little to suggest that the dramatic structural progress needed to achieve long-term climate and energy goals will happen in the current turmoil. Unprecedented action and leadership from governments companies and other real-world decision makers will be required to put the world more firmly on a sustainable long-term pathway. The energy sector must achieve dramatic sustained emissions reductions through policy investment and innovation measures across all energy sectors and technologies.

Building on Tracking Clean Energy Progress 2020  and other COVID-19 analysis this article takes stock of how the crisis has affected energy sectors and technologies thus far and explores the potential implications for clean energy transitions over the medium and longer term.

Link to Document on IEA Website

China has promised to reach the peak carbon dioxide emission (ca. 10 billion tons) by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060. To realize these goals it is necessary to develop hydrogen energy and fuel cell techniques. However the high cost and low intrinsic safety of high-pressure hydrogen storage limit their commercialization. NH3 is high in hydrogen content easily liquefied at low pressure and free of carbon and the technology of NH3 synthesis has been commercialized nationwide. It is worth noting that the production of NH3 in China is about 56 million tons per year accounting for 35% of worldwide production. Hence with the well established infrastructure for NH3 synthesis and transportation and the demand for clean energy in China it is feasible to develop a green and economical energy roadmap viz. “Clean low-pressure NH3 synthesis → Safe and economical NH3 storage and transportation → Carbon-free efficient NH3-H2 utilization” for low-carbon or even carbon-free energy production.<br/>Currently the academic and industrial communities in China are striving to make technological breakthroughs in areas such as photocatalytic water splitting electrocatalytic water splitting mild-condition NH3 synthesis low-temperature NH3 catalytic decomposition and indirect or direct NH3 fuel cells with significant progress.<br/>Taking full advantage of the NH3 synthesis industry and readjusting the industrial structure it is viable to achieve energy saving and emission reduction in NH3 synthesis industry (440 million tons CO2 per year) as well as promote a new energy industry and ensure national energy security. Therefore relevant academic and industrial communities should put effort on mastering the key technologies of “Ammonia-Hydrogen” energy conversion and utilization with complete self-dependent intellectual property. It is envisioned that through the establishment of “Renewable Energy-Ammonia-Hydrogen” circular economy a green technology chain for hydrogen energy industry would pose as a promising pathway to achieve the 2030 and 2060 goals.