The UK's destination? Net Zero. Its arrival time?
2050. The Climate Change Act 2008 (as amended in 2019) set this
target, but will, Lucinda Robinson asks, the UK achieve
it? The government's Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial
Revolution, published in November 2020, set out a commitment to
channelling £12 billion of public money, and three times that
amount of private investment, to generate a green recovery. The
second of the Ten Points is "Driving the Growth of Low Carbon
Hydrogen", cementing hydrogen's place as a key part of the
UK's journey to Net Zero.
The UK Hydrogen Strategy (released in August 2021) is the
self-proclaimed roadmap, directing the UK towards unlocking the
potential of hydrogen as a major sustainable energy source this
decade. It is certainly ambitious. Currently, there is almost no
production of, or demand for, hydrogen. The vision for 2050 is a
"booming" hydrogen market, supporting over 100,000 jobs
and providing around 35% of the UK's