The Minister of Business and Energy UK Kvashi Kupangha said that by 2030 the United Kingdom plans to reach five gigavatts “power of hydrogen production with low carbon content”. The words of the minister leads the CNBC TV channel.
Government of Great Britain on August 17 published a new strategy for the use of hydrogen, which states that the new industry of the country will help create up to 100 thousand jobs. By 2050, the market volume will be assessed at 13 billion pounds sterling (17.88 billion dollars). According to Minister of Quartenga, an increase in hydrogen’s production capacity to five gigavatt will allow it in an amount equivalent to the amount of gas consumed by three million households every year. In addition, such energy will be more environmentally friendly.
The target figure of five gigavatt was included in the Government Plan of the so-called “green industrial revolution”, published in November 2020. The authorities stated that by 2050, from 20 to 35 percent of the energy consumption of Great Britain can be provided with hydrogen. In the medium term, the UK hydrogen economy can attract four billion pounds of investment sterling and create more than nine thousand jobs by 2030.
The reaction to the government’s strategy against hydrogen was ambiguous. Director for the Association of Renewable Energy Sources and Clean Technologies Frank Gordon said that the British Government’s hydrogen strategy made a “long-awaited clarity”. In his opinion, the strategy offers a positive vision of the role of hydrogen in achieving environmental ambitions of the UK, which seeks to bring the amount of carbon emissions to zero.
Another opinion was expressed by Director General of the RenewableUk Association Dan McGray. He stated that the strategy was not sufficiently focused on the development of the British industry of the production of environmentally friendly hydrogen. McGrey also recommended the government to make changes to plans and clearly define goals before the COP26 climatic summit, which the UK is preparing to accept in November.