This qualitative system study maps out the possible roles and value of hydrogen in 2050, what the transition pathway towards that year might look like, and what policy measures are required to initiate the first phase of the transition in a timely and effective manner. In doing so, this study provides both government bodies and private sector stakeholders with insight into the importance and urgency of the hydrogen transition, the necessary steps in the first phase towards 2035, and the additional policy support needed to facilitate this.
Hydrogen is a vital building block in all projected scenarios for a climate-neutral Dutch economy by 2050. In every scenario analysed for a climate-neutral energy system in 2050 (the so-called ‘end states’), large volumes of hydrogen are deployed. Even in the more conservative scenarios, substantial hydrogen use is still assumed — around 300 PJ/a, which is of the same order of magnitude as the current total industrial natural gas consumption in the Netherlands. This demonstrates both the magnitude of the hydrogen transition and the widespread recognition of hydrogen as an essential component of the future energy and raw materials system. However, the scenarios vary significantly in terms of the scale of hydrogen supply and demand in the Netherlands in 2050.
By 2050, hydrogen will serve multiple critical functions within the energy and feedstock system: