What can green hydrogen be used for?

Practical uses of green hydrogen

Green hydrogen is a versatile energy carrier and industrial feedstock. Its low-carbon credentials make it attractive for sectors where direct electrification is challenging. Major uses include:

• Industry: as a feedstock and fuel in steelmaking, chemical production (ammonia, methanol), refining, and glass or cement processes.
• Transport: for heavy-duty trucks, buses, trains, shipping, and aviation via hydrogen fuel cells or by converting hydrogen into e-fuels.
• Power and balancing: in gas turbines or fuel cells for grid balancing, peak generation, and long-duration energy storage.
• Heating: for high-temperature industrial heat and potentially blended into gas networks for buildings, though blending limits apply.

Why it matters

Some industrial processes require high-temperature heat or specific chemistry that electricity cannot easily provide. Green hydrogen supplies both heat and chemical hydrogen atoms needed for reactions. In transport, hydrogen fuel cells offer quick refueling and long range for heavy vehicles compared with batteries. For long-term or seasonal energy storage, hydrogen can store large amounts of energy more economically than batteries for months.

Challenges to adoption

• Cost: green hydrogen is currently more expensive than fossil-derived hydrogen or direct electrification in many uses.
• Infrastructure: production, storage, transport, and refueling networks need major investment.
• Efficiency: converting electricity to hydrogen and back to power incurs losses, so use cases should match where hydrogen's strengths outweigh those losses.

Outlook

Policies, scale-up of electrolyzers, and falling renewable power costs are driving rapid growth. Markets likely to lead are industrial feedstocks, heavy transport, and long-duration storage. Over time, expanded hydrogen supply chains and innovative end-uses will broaden its role in decarbonization.