The ongoing climate crisis, coupled with the COVID-19 pandemic, has spurred many countries to adopt green recovery measures and policies that have the potential to drive a lasting shift in the global energy mix. As of December 2020, over 120 countries – responsible for nearly two-thirds of the world’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions – have announced commitments to reach net-zero emissions (Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit, 2021).

To meet these commitments, countries will need to pivot from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources and pursue widespread decarbonisation of all enduse sectors. While renewable electricity generation capacity has been outpacing new installed capacity in fossil fuels for the past decade (IRENA, 2020a), not all sectors can be easily electrified.

Green hydrogen – hydrogen produced from renewable energy – can provide the critical link between renewable electricity generation and hard-to-abate sectors such as industry and heavy transport (IRENA, 2018). It has become a versatile energy carrier suitable for decarbonising applications without electricity grid access or as a carbon dioxide (CO2)-neutral feedstock for chemical processes. Green hydrogen can also be leveraged to provide grid balancing services in systems built on very high shares of renewable energy (IRENA, 2019).

Today, green hydrogen makes up less than 1% of global hydrogen produced (IRENA, 2021c).

However, with the production cost of green hydrogen reducing rapidly due to falling technologycosts and the availability of cost-competitive renewable power, countries are increasingly seeing green hydrogen as a smart long-term investment.

Over the last two years, at least 11 countries and the European Union (EU) have launched national hydrogen strategies, with many more countries set to follow suit. A number of national post-COVID recovery packages have also included support measures for green hydrogen.

According to IRENA’s 1.5°C Scenario, by 2050 hydrogen and its derivatives will account for 12% of final energy use worldwide. Two-thirds of this demand will be met by green hydrogen (IRENA, 2021c). In anticipation, investors and the private sector are making strategic investments in green hydrogen and forming cross-sectoral partnerships to drive down cost curves and create greater economies of scale for this emerging technology.

In addition to investments in electrolysers, the production of green hydrogen in high quantities will require significant additions of dedicated renewable generation capacity.

While the global market for green hydrogen is just beginning to develop, both public and private sectors are proceeding with demonstration and at-scale deployment of projects to build technical capacity and showcase the potential to scale up green hydrogen uptake in energy-intensive, hardtoabate sectors. This white paper developed by the IRENA Coalition for Action showcases projects across different end-uses and offers recommendations to policy makers on how to accelerate green hydrogen development.