Canada Launches Federal Hydrogen Strategy
The government of Canada on December 16 announced a new hydrogen strategy for the country, underpinned by a C$1.5bn (US$1.18bn) low-carbon and zero-emission fuels fund to increase the production of low-carbon fuels, including hydrogen.
Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) characterised the strategy as an “ambitious framework” that would position Canada as a global hydrogen leader and cement the technology as a key part of its aspiration to reach net-zero by 2050.
“Hydrogen’s moment has come,” Natural Resources Canada minister Seamus O’Regan said. “The economic and environmental opportunities for our workers and communities are real. There is global momentum, and Canada is harnessing it.”
Increasing the production of low-carbon and zero-emission fuels, the strategy says, has the potential to lower Canada’s annual greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by up to 45mn mt/yr by 2030 and create up to 350,000 new jobs by 2050.
“As one of the top 10 producers of hydrogen in the world, Canada will benefit from the growing global demand for hydrogen – a market that is expected to reach almost C$12 trillion by 2050,” NRCan said. The hydrogen strategy will also be complemented by the coming federal clean fuel standard (CFS); last week, Ottawa announced that gaseous and solid fuels would be removed from the CFS, which seeks to lower the carbon impact of all fuels sold in Canada.
Alberta, where most of Canada’s grey hydrogen is produced, is supportive of the federal strategy and is in a “strong position” to supply new heating, transportation and power generation technologies using clean-burning hydrogen. And it is already developing its own hydrogen roadmap, Dale Nally, the province’s associate minister of natural gas and electricity, said in a statement.
“To ensure we’re positioned to capitalise on opportunities in this emerging sector, the government of Alberta included hydrogen as one of five key growth areas in our Natural Gas Vision and Strategy, which also clearly stated our intent to deploy clean hydrogen across the provincial economy and to export clean hydrogen to international markets,” Nally said. “Our road map will build upon the work in the federal strategy, while leveraging what gives Alberta a competitive edge in the future of hydrogen: namely the leadership, expertise and long-standing experience of our energy industry.”