From Grey to Green: The future of hydrogen

Hydrogen is emerging as a key enabler of sustainable manufacturing, with green hydrogen offering a clean alternative to fossil fuels.

- 

Overcoming challenges in storage, transport and integration is crucial. With technological advances and supportive policies, hydrogen can drive decarbonisation, energy security and resilience across the global manufacturing landscape.

The global manufacturing sector stands at a crossroads where there is an urgent need to decarbonise industrial processes. This is coupled with the increasing scarcity and volatility of fossil fuels which is driving a search for sustainable alternatives. Hydrogen, a versatile and energy-dense element, is emerging as a key player in this transition, promising to power a cleaner, more sustainable future for manufacturing. But realising this potential required overcoming significant technological, economic and regulatory hurdles.

The Hydrogen spectrum

Hydrogen production methods are broadly categorised into grey, blue, and green, based on their carbon footprint. Grey hydrogen, the most prevalent method currently, relies on steam methane reforming (SMR), a process that releases significant amounts of carbon dioxide. Blue hydrogen aims to mitigate these emissions through carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies, while green hydrogen represents the ultimate goal – production using renewable energy sources like solar and wind power.