Hydrogen has become a key player in the energy transition towards a more sustainable model. It is considered essential for reducing dependence on fossil fuels and advancing towards a low-carbon economy. However, for hydrogen to play a central role in this new model, we need to overcome several technological and economic challenges related to its production, storage, and distribution.
Hydrogen can be produced in various ways, but not all are equally sustainable. Currently, 95% of hydrogen is derived from fossil fuels (“grey” hydrogen), a process that emits large amounts of carbon dioxide. For hydrogen to be truly sustainable, it must be produced through processes that do not generate greenhouse gases, such as water electrolysis using renewable electricity (“green” hydrogen). However, this process remains highly expensive and depends on a very high renewable energy generation capacity, which is not always easy to achieve.
In this context, one of the opportunities for businesses lies in developing technologies to reduce the cost of electrolysis, enabling large-scale green hydrogen production. This requires investments in research and development but can be highly profitable in the long term. Furthermore, the growth of green hydrogen may foster new partnerships across sectors, such as renewables and the automotive industry, creating synergies between companies that have not collaborated before.
Once produced, hydrogen presents challenges in storage. In its gaseous state, it is very light and requires large volumes, necessitating compression technologies and specific containers. Alternatively, it can be stored in liquid form, but this requires extremely low temperatures (around -253 °C), which complicates and increases the cost of the process. Additionally, hydrogen is a molecule that can weaken certain materials, presenting an additional challenge to ensure safety. Research into materials that can store hydrogen more efficiently and safely could become a market opportunity for technology companies. The development of new materials, such as some metal hydrides currently in their early stages, could revolutionise the sector and open new opportunities for companies dedicated to advanced material manufacturing.
Another barrier to hydrogen adoption is its distribution. Unlike electricity, which already has an established transport network, hydrogen requires its own infrastructure, as the existing natural gas distribution network often cannot be utilised due to issues with fragilisation, as it is not designed to handle hydrogen. To distribute it, a dedicated pipeline network must be deployed or the existing ones adapted. Hydrogen can also be transported by tanker trucks, but this is less efficient and more expensive.
Thus, another opportunity for businesses could be to participate in creating the first hydrogen transport and distribution infrastructures. However, deploying distribution networks will require significant investment, be subject to existing (and future) government regulations, and still face uncertainty about the real demand for hydrogen to meet energy needs.
Sectors such as heavy industry and long-distance transport (trucks, trains, or planes) are among the most interested in hydrogen as a sustainable alternative since electric batteries are not always viable in these cases. Therefore, companies in these sectors could benefit from the transition to hydrogen, especially if they get involved from the early stages, as there is still room to design new devices that could influence future standards and regulations.
On the other hand, hydrogen also presents opportunities in emergency electricity generation and in isolated locations, such as islands or areas without a stable grid connection. The ability to store energy in the form of hydrogen could be useful for balancing the supply and demand of renewable electricity, and companies in the energy sector could see this as a field for expansion.
At CER-H2, eleven research groups work together in a multidisciplinary manner across various fields of science and engineering to support industries, businesses, and governments in developing R&D&I projects that facilitate the path towards decarbonising the current energy model through the implementation of hydrogen technologies, which are crucial in the current context of the climate crisis. To conclude with a specific example, our research group, NEMEN , develops heterogeneous catalysts for hydrogen production, purification, and transformation reactions, such as biomass reforming, ammonia decomposition, or the so-called P2X processes to transform hydrogen and carbon dioxide (CO2) into value-added products like methane (CH4) or methanol (CH3OH), among others.
LLUÍS SOLER, group leader and “Ramón y Cajal” researcher of the NanoEngineering of Materials Applied to Energy group (NEMEN UPC). Deputy Director of the Specific Centre for Hydrogen Research (CER-H2) at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya – BarcelonaTech (UPC).