Promising Directions for Hydrogen Energy Development in Russia

Abstract

In recent decades, interest in hydrogen energy has undergone significant fluctuations. The current round of development is associated with the growing concern about climate change and the emerging trend of decarbonization of the world economy, including transport and energy, which are one of the main sources of atmospheric pollution with carbon dioxide emissions. Moreover, in several countries there is a widespread introduction of renewable energy sources with a stochastic nature of power output, requiring redundancy and the use of efficient energy storage devices to regulate energy generation and consumption schedules. The article presents a brief analysis of the trends in the development of hydrogen energy in the world and in Russia. Attention is drawn to the fact that the prospects and scale of hydrogen energy development will largely depend on the features of the proposed hydrogen sources, primary energy sources and hydrogen production technologies, environmental consequences when using different approaches to hydrogen production (“carbon footprint”), expected costs for hydrogen production, potential consumers and volumes of hydrogen consumption within the country and abroad, technologies for storing and delivering hydrogen to consumers, and the competitiveness of hydrogen as an energy carrier in the domestic and foreign markets, taking into account all necessary costs and a potential “trans-border carbon tax.”