Hydrogen is expected to grow sevenfold to support the global energy transition, eventually accounting for 10 percent of total energy by 2050.
A scale-up of this magnitude will affect demand for critical materials, including minerals and metals, needed for hydrogen technologies— electrolyzers for renewable hydrogen, carbon storage for clean hydrogen, or fuel cells using hydrogen to power transport.
In December 2022, the World Bank and the Hydrogen Council launched the global report Sufficient, Sustainable and Circular: Critical Materials For Scaling Up Hydrogen, which uses new data to estimate the amount and overall footprint of critical minerals needed to scale up clean hydrogen.
Drawing on this research, a webinar was organised recently to address the following overarching questions:
- What’s the likelihood of supply constraints for the materials needed for clean hydrogen?
- What are the environmental implications (GHG, water footprint) from mining and processing materials for clean hydrogen?
- How can mineral-rich governments identify and leverage the opportunities created by the demand for minerals associated with the deployment of clean hydrogen?
- How can governments and the private sector promote the adoption of sustainable practices to reduce material intensities—such as increasing the use of recycled materials, enhancing water efficiency, promoting climate-smart mining, and innovation in design?
Access the video here
