South America’s green hydrogen potential has been recognised for some time. Currently among the leading regions in renewable energy use, the continent has received growing interest from hydrogen developers thanks to its potential to produce large volumes of low-cost hydrogen for export.
Despite having lower carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions per capita by comparison to Western countries, low-carbon hydrogen can also play a significant role in Latin America’s own energy transition.
The region’s industrial and oil refining sectors required more than four million tonnes of hydrogen in 2019 – 5% of global demand – primarily for ammonia, methanol, steel and refined oil products1. “Low-carbon hydrogen could be one of the drivers of the next phase of Latin America’s clean energy transitions, by replacing fossil fuels in end uses that are not suitable for direct electrification,” the International Energy Agency (IEA) said.
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