Dr. Chock Karuppaiah is the Chief Technology Officer at Ohmium.
Green hydrogen is a versatile clean energy solution produced by splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen using electrolyzers that can be powered by renewable energy. This produces an abundant, flexible clean energy source that can produce electricity, heat or both, and can be easily stored and transported. These factors make it uniquely suited to helping hard-to-abate industries cut their carbon emissions.
Despite the recent buzz around hydrogen, it has been used as an energy source and chemical feedstock for decades. However, most industries currently use hydrogen derived from natural gas or coal—the older cousins of green hydrogen.
Green hydrogen presents a profound opportunity to drive deep decarbonization around the world. According to the IPCC, if global CO2 emissions continue at current rates, the remaining carbon budget for limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius will likely be exhausted before 2030 (pg. 274). Alongside renewables, green hydrogen can play a crucial role in cutting emissions by 45% before 2030. As a result, this clean fuel has become a crucial pillar in many countries’ net-zero strategies.
According to Bloomberg NEF, installed electrolyzer capacity is expected to grow from 2 GW to more than 240 GW by 2030, with around $130 billion spent on electrolyzer technology through 2030.
Scaling up the manufacturing of green hydrogen electrolyzers to meet this need will require a monumental shift over the next six years. To stay on track with the IEA’s Net Zero Emissions by 2050 (NZE) Scenario, it will require the sector to reach more than 550 GW of installed electrolysis capacity by 2030.
To realize the full decarbonizing potential of green hydrogen, we need to deploy hydrogen electrolyzers at scale, today.
Unified Standards To Support The Scale-Up Of Green Hydrogen
This rate of hydrogen electrolyzer deployment by 2030 is only likely to be achieved under a clear set of unified and comprehensive industry standards—providing the blueprint for the fast and efficient scale-up of manufacturing to deliver products that are fully compliant across all jurisdictions.
The current patchwork of requirements, which often differ by region, industry and application, is a major challenge for electrolyzer manufacturers to navigate, potentially slowing deployment, adding significant cost and putting the delivery of our climate goals at risk.
The Good News
The good news is that a unified, comprehensive industry standard already exists: ISO 22734 (“Hydrogen generators using water electrolysis: Industrial, commercial, and residential applications”). The ISO standard provides a consistent approach for the development of green hydrogen projects around the world, offering manufacturers a clear set of robust requirements to meet.
It acts as a universal and comprehensive template for the green hydrogen industry, clarifying the expectations for stakeholders—including manufacturers, customers and regulators—when manufacturing and deploying electrolyzers.
Since it was released in 2008, the ISO standard has gone through several updates as electrolyzer technology has evolved. The most recent ISO standard is based on learnings and insights from real-world deployment over the past 15 years and provides a robust and comprehensive blueprint for the high-quality, safety-oriented scale-up of the hydrogen electrolyzer industry globally.
The Bad News
Although the ISO standard has been around for over a decade, it must also be adopted by national bodies to be enforceable across particular jurisdictions—something only a handful of countries have done.
In most regions of the world, manufacturers are therefore exposed to a patchwork of differing standards for electrolyzer production. These disparate requirements across different countries are likely to impede the cost-effective and safety-first scaling necessary to fully deliver the decarbonization potential of green hydrogen.
North America: Leading The Charge
In February 2023, the United States and Canada adopted a new binational standard for the design of hydrogen electrolyzers, harmonized with the established ISO standard. The U.S. and Canada’s move to cut through the patchwork of requirements and base their national standards on the unified ISO standard indicates that they are seizing the initiative and leading the charge to rapidly expand the hydrogen sector and streamline the deployment of green hydrogen electrolyzers.
(My company was involved in the development of this standard alongside other diverse industry stakeholders through participation in the Standards Development Working Group led by the CSA Group.)
This proactive approach to the development of comprehensive standards demonstrates a clear desire to scale up the domestic green hydrogen sector in North America in a high-quality and safety-centric way. The binational standard makes it easier to integrate electrolyzer technology into existing operations and can unlock huge potential for growth in clean, renewable hydrogen energy.
Safety First, Deployment Second
The U.S. and Canada’s national standard also clearly communicates what’s required from a safety and design perspective, resulting in increased safety planning and deployment of green hydrogen projects. The ISO standard sets out universal safety rules for the electrolyzer industry, removing barriers to deployment that were rooted in outdated ideas about electrolyzer safety.
This validation means that green hydrogen electrolyzers are now treated the same as fuel cell and inverter technology when it comes to safety, unleashing green hydrogen as a mainstream climate technology to decarbonize hard-to-abate sectors.
Next Steps For Businesses Interested In Green Hydrogen
The adoption of the unified standards makes it easier and more attractive than ever for businesses to adopt green hydrogen, or participate in green hydrogen projects, within the United States.
Green hydrogen provides a unique opportunity for businesses to meet their climate goals. It’s a ready-to-deploy solution that can unlock deep decarbonization in emissions-intensive sectors like energy, transport and heavy industry (including ammonia production, steel processing and petroleum refining).
Businesses can actively embrace green hydrogen by incorporating it into their energy strategies. This can involve investing in on-site green hydrogen production facilities, utilizing green hydrogen for industrial processes or incorporating it into their vehicle fleets as a clean energy source.
Additionally, companies can participate in green hydrogen projects by collaborating with government initiatives, research institutions or clean energy companies to develop and promote green hydrogen technologies. By integrating green hydrogen into their operations and supporting related projects, businesses can contribute to a more sustainable and environmentally friendly future while potentially reducing long-term energy costs.
Forbes Technology Council is an invitation-only community for world-class CIOs, CTOs and technology executives. Do I qualify?
Read the full article here