Green Hydrogen Demand Forecast | Deloitte
Clean hydrogen is now clearly recognized as a potential breakthrough technology to overcome these limits.2 Hydrogen is a versatile molecule,3 which can be used directly via fuel cells or for electricity generation, and as feedstock to produce more suitable derivatives—such as ammonia, methanol, or sustainable aviation fuels (SAF)—to specific industrial and transport applications. Hydrogen supply currently almost entirely relies on natural gas reforming and coal gasification, which are highly carbon intensive (more than 1 Gt of CO2 emissions per year). The real breakthrough is the potential of clean hydrogen to decarbonize current supply and develop new end uses at scale.4 Green hydrogen, produced from renewable electricity via electrolysis, is the most promising and truly sustainable technology. Blue hydrogen, produced via natural gas coupled with carbon capture and storage, can also be labeled “clean” provided it meets stringent methane emissions and carbon capture standards.
Deloitte’s outlook, leveraging a data-driven and model-based quantitative analysis, explores the emergence of a carbon-neutral, inclusive clean hydrogen economy in the coming years. This outlook relies on Deloitte’s Hydrogen Pathway Explorer (HyPE) model (see Appendix) and proposes a vision for a fast-tracked development of the clean hydrogen economy, highlighting the associated challenges and bottlenecks. It showcases a steady market growth, from US$642 billion in annual revenue in 2030 to US$1.4 trillion per year in 2050, a recognized milestone to reach climate neutrality.
