HOUSTON—As emissions rise with growing industrial activity and populations, energy regulators say it is time to stop talking about hydrogen and start acting on steps needed to make development and production of the clean energy source at scale a reality.

“Leaders around the world—not just from the government side but from the private sector side—have put net-zero commitments on the table. The challenge is what are we doing in the near term?” said David Turk, deputy secretary for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), after referring to the latest report by the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. “Are we doing enough in the near term to be able to get us on a trajectory to be successful to those net-zero goals by 2050? The short answer is no. We’re not doing enough.”

Speaking virtually during the recently held World Hydrogen North America conference in Houston, Turk said there is no silver bullet or one technology that will solve emissions challenges in each sector and some technologies have broader applications than others.

“In that context, hydrogen becomes particularly attractive. If we can reduce those costs and actually get clean hydrogen at scale out there in the real world, [with] the versatility of hydrogen, it can be a part of the solution on the power side, on the transport side,” Turk said, “especially in those harder to decarbonize heavy-duty truck applications; on the industrial side, where we don’t have easy, cost-effective solutions for a number of industrial processes like steel manufacturing. Hydrogen can play a very versatile role.”

Hopes are high on hydrogen’s decarbonization ability. Plentiful in supply, hydrogen has near-zero greenhouse-gas emissions, and it generates electricity with water vapor and warm air being the only byproducts. However, the role of hydrogen in the world’s clean energy future depends on its ability to overcome challenges including cost, scale and demand.

“We’ve seen some phenomenal cost reductions in a range of cleaner technologies solar PV, wind, battery technology, etc. But if we’re going to have clean hydrogen … we need to really reduce that cost significantly,” Turk said. He later added: “You’ve got to build out and match the supply and demand.”

It’s the reason why the DOE launched the Energy Earthshot program targeting hydrogen last year, aimed at reducing the cost of clean hydrogen by 80% to $1 per kilogram within a decade, and a program called H2 Matchmaker. The online information resource, as explained by the DOE, helps hydrogen suppliers and users find ways to connect to establish regional hydrogen hubs.

“We know that hydrogen hubs bring together stakeholders from across the value chain and ensure supply [and] demand at the same pace are key to early deployment,” said Glenn Hargrove, assistant deputy minister, fuels sector, Natural Resources Canada, where such a hub is being created in Alberta’s Edmonton area.

More than 25 projects related to the production, transportation and end-use of hydrogen are underway at the hub, which Canada plans to use as a blueprint for other regions across the country, according to the hub’s website.

“This includes the largest clean hydrogen production facility in the world with existing CCUS technology and the hydrogen and dedicated CO2 pipeline, with new deployments planned for trucks and refueling infrastructure,” Hargrove said. “Production is growing across the country as well. Canada sees all pathways to clean, low-cost, low-carbon hydrogen as essential to grow the market.”

Additional investments include plans for 20- and 80-MW electrolyzers and seizing opportunities to produce hydrogen using the country’s natural gas reserves and renewable energy resources.

“Some studies have shown that there is significant wind and hydro capacity across the country that produce more than 40 megatons of renewable hydrogen every year, far exceeding Canada’s expected demand,” Hargrove said. “So, hydrogen will be available for export and our leading companies are already exporting the products around the world.”

The U.S. is also working to advance the hub concept after the DOE landed $8 billion in funds thanks to the bipartisan infrastructure plan, which became law in November. The dollars will fund at least four hydrogen hubs across the U.S. to improve clean hydrogen production, processing, delivery, storage and end-use. Hubs put supply and demand in close proximity.

Turk said the response to the $8 billion worth of cost share for hubs has been “overwhelming in a very positive way” as state and local leaders come together with businesses to put together “robust” proposals.

“That’s where the costs are cheaper right now. That’s where it’s easier to do this and certainly get it to scale,” he said of hubs’ potential. “Take advantage of the fact that we do have an awful lot of hydrogen in our system currently used for fertilizer production, among other things.”

Co-locating supply and demand reduces distribution and infrastructure challenges, he added.

In Canada, programs that can support hydrogen development include the $1.5 billion Clean Fuel Fund, which supports the buildout of new clean fuel production facilities. These include 10 hydrogen projects and the Net Zero Accelerator program, which invests more than $8 billion to drive down emissions from industrial sectors, Hargrove said.

Canada and the U.S. are among the countries that have unveiled hydrogen strategies. Others include Chile, Germany, Norway and Spain.

“The fact that there are more than 20 countries that have released their own hydrogen strategies and somewhere in the neighborhood of $80 billion in investments over the last 18 months speak to the momentum for hydrogen,” Hargrove said.

Clean hydrogen can be a source of dispatchable power as well as a form of energy storage, Turk added, noting it is also an opportunity for job creation.

“There is no doubt a huge amount of buzz not only in Canada, not only in the U.S., but countries around the world,” he said, “but what we need to do is not just talk about hydrogen. We actually need to act on hydrogen.”