Hydrogen, the promised land of tomorrow's energy mix

Hydrogen has significant advantages in the energy mix of the future. The first one is its accessibility. It is widely available in our environment: the universe is composed of 90% hydrogen atoms (H). As an energy carrier like electricity, hydrogen allows us to transport energy from point A to point B. However, we use dihydrogen (H2) to achieve this feat and it is not found in its natural state. We must therefore produce and transport it. The second advantage of hydrogen is its high energy density. To talk about figures, 1 kilogram of hydrogen allows to store three times more energy than a kilogram of gasoline and 100 times more than the best electric batteries of the moment. This property makes it possible to consider hydrogen as a solid alternative in the transport sector, especially for heavy vehicles on long journeys (train, truck). Moreover, refueling from a gas is much faster than recharging from an electric vehicle: it only takes a few minutes in the case of an electric vehicle that runs on hydrogen.

If hydrogen is a clean energy carrier at its point of use, it is not necessarily so at its production stage. Hydrogen is still largely grey (from fossil sources such as oil), and should tend towards blue and especially green hydrogen (from decarbonated energy sources such as photovoltaic, hydraulic or wind power).

We have identified the main players in this energy transition who could disrupt the green energy market in the years to come. Among them are pure-players in hydrogen storage, vehicle recharging, hydrogen transportation, fuel cell manufacturers and clean energy generalists.