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Summary
- The Canadian government launched a framework called ‘Hydrogen Strategy for Canada’ on Thursday, December 16, that aims at making the country a hydrogen capital.
- The Hydrogen Strategy, an outcome of three years’ worth of research, was worked on by 1,500 experts and stakeholders.
- Canada will reportedly need near-term investments of somewhere between C$ 5 billion to C$ 7 billion in order to build its hydrogen industry.
Canada’s Natural Resources Minister Seamus O’Regan has just launched an “ambitious framework” which aims at making the country a top hydrogen producer in the world. The plan, called ‘Hydrogen Strategy for Canada’, was published on Thursday, December 16, and pitched a low-carbon and no-emission fuel technology that will help Canada get closer to its net-zero carbon emissions target by year 2050.
O’Regan said that the country will need near-term investments of somewhere between C$ 5 billion to C$ 7 billion in order to build its hydrogen industry. Earlier in December, the Canadian government announced an investment plan of C$ 1.5 billion for low-carbon fuels which includes hydrogen, though O’Regan did not pledge any new federal funding during the latest launch.
Canada As A Hydrogen Producer
Canada is currently the fourth largest producer of natural oil and gas in the world and the government has been working towards boosting its renewable energy sector as well. Also, while the COVID-19 pandemic having wreaked havoc on the fossil fuel sector, green alternatives were not has widely impacted.
According to the Transition Accelerator report released in November, hydrogen can fill about 27 per cent of the energy needs of Canada, reportedly one of the cheapest places in the world to produce hydrogen.
The report also showed that while Canada would be economically benefitted from producing hydrogen, it also reports a market potential of about C$ 100 billion a year.
A recent Industrial Heartland Hydrogen Task Force study had described Alberta as one of the ideal candidates to be Canada’s hydrogen hub because of its massive access to cheaper natural gas, which would fuel the production of blue hydrogen.
While ‘blue hydrogen’, obtained from natural gas, is considered an alternative potential, many critics feel that it say lead to a fossil fuel subsidy. Many environmental activist also pitch for ‘green hydrogen’ instead, which is sourced from renewable wells such as electricity.
Hydrogen Strategy for Canada
The Hydrogen Strategy, an outcome of three years’ worth of research, was worked on by 1,500 experts and stakeholders. While aiming to support the government’s recent climate plan, it also builds on the hydrogen initiative launched at the 10th Clean Energy Ministerial meet last year.
