On 29 December Canada’s minister of Natural Resources, Seamus O’Regan, launched the Hydrogen Strategy for Canada, an ambitious framework that seeks to “position Canada as a global hydrogen leader, cementing this low-carbon and zero-emission fuel technology as a key part of its path to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.”
The Strategy is underpinned by a federal investment of $1.5 billion in a Low-carbon and Zero-emissions Fuels Fund to increase the production and use of low-carbon fuels, including hydrogen. Low-carbon and zero-emission hydrogen has the potential to reduce our annual greenhouse gas emissions by up to 45 million metric tonnes a year in 2030 and could create up to 350 000 new jobs in Canada by 2050.
The Strategy is designed to spur investment and partnerships to establish Canada as a global supplier of hydrogen, and to increase domestic production, transforming the country’s energy sector. As one of the top 10 producers of hydrogen in the world, Canada will benefit from the growing global demand for hydrogen — a market that is expected to reach almost $12 trillion by 2050. The strategy will also be complemented by the Clean Fuel Standard, which is intended to further drive investment and growth in Canada’s fuels sector by incentivising the development and adoption of clean fuels such as hydrogen.
The Strategy is the result of three years of research and analysis, with input from 1500 experts and stakeholders including workers, industry, other levels of government, indigenous organisations and academia. It will support the government of Canada’s recently announced climate plan, “A Healthy Environment and a Healthy Economy”, and also builds on the development and launch of the hydrogen initiative by 23 countries at the 10th Clean Energy Ministerial meeting in May 2019. That initiative focused on accelerating the global commercialisation of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies across all sectors of the economy.
