NATIONAL PETROLEUM COUNCIL | Harnessing Hydrogen A Key Element of the U.S. Energy Future

NATIONAL PETROLEUM COUNCIL

Report

A Key Element of the U.S. Energy Future

Finding 1: LCI hydrogen could account for 8 ⁰ 0 of Unites States’ emissions reductions, primarily in hard-to-abate applications in the Industrial, Transportation, and Power sectors. Addressing these emissions without leveraging LCI hydrogen would cost society approximately an additional 0.5-1% of GDP.

Finding 2: Current policies and anticipated cost reductions for LCI hydrogen could increase total hydrogen demand by nearly 2x by 2050. However, current policies and anticipated economics are not sufficient to catalyze the nearly 7x demand growth required by 2050 to reach LCI hydrogen deployment at scale and support U.S. net zero ambitions at a lower cost to society. Achieving this goal will require significant and immediate action to support the growth and scale-up of all aspects of the hydrogen market: supply, infrastructure, and demand.

Finding 3: The Industrial sector is projected to be the largest demand segment, but deploying LCI hydrogen at scale requires demand growth in hard-to-abate sectors, including heavy-duty transportation and dispatchable power.

Hydrogen America