Global Hydrogen Production Technologies 2021: Frost Radar Report

Driven by increasingly stringent environmental norms, growing environmental awareness, and policy-level initiatives, multiple stakeholders throughout the energy and power industry has begun adopting technology solutions adhering to zero-emission protocols. Among the several solutions, Hydrogen Production Technologies are garnering special interest due to their clean-combustion property (end products are just water and energy) and high energy density, when compared with traditional fossil fuel alternatives. Hydrogen Production Technologies can be categorized as grey, blue, and green hydrogen.

Grey hydrogen is produced via fossil fuel utilization or by steam methane reforming of natural gas, blue hydrogen is produced via the fossil fuel route coupled with carbon capture and storage technology, and green hydrogen (the ultimate goal for hydrogen economy) is the cleanest possible hydrogen produced using electrolysis processes coupled with renewable energy. Grey hydrogen accounts for nearly 6% of global natural gas consumption and its production process is the most cost-effective. However, the process emits carbon dioxide and hence defies the idea of a clean energy source.

To make the hydrogen production process environment friendly, industry participants have begun integrating carbon capture and storage technologies to grey hydrogen, i.e., blue hydrogen. The transition from grey to blue hydrogen is expected to continue until green hydrogen technologies become cost competitive.

Green hydrogen enables emission-free production of hydrogen that is potentially applicable for a wide array of end-use sectors, industries, and applications: industrial heating, automotive, steel manufacturing, chemical industries, refineries, fertilizer manufacturing, and energy generation. The publisher independently plotted the top 12 companies in this analysis. This includes - Siemens AG, Cummins Inc., Linde plc, Air Liquide, Nel Hydrogen, Asahi Kasei, Air Products, ITM Power, GHS, Mahler, HyGear, and HOELLER.