In the first instalment of the series we looked at the key factors driving the competitiveness of hydrogen as a solution. Namely: Asset utilisation; Volume of Energy; and Mobility / ‘off-grid’ consumption of energy.

In this post we will be looking at applications which exist today where hydrogen is better than incumbent solutions. As before, we will be referring to the Hydrogen Council’s report “Path to Hydrogen Competitiveness” and their excellent chart “Exhibit 5” (see below).

Hydrogen, the star performer steals diesel’s show

For many applications hydrogen can outperform conventional options in terms of green credentials, cost and performance. While Exhibit 5 is the Hydrogen Council’s view for 2030, for some applications hydrogen is also the most competitive option today. Examples of current competitiveness include forklifts and certain instances of large off-grid or temporary use generators (although temporary use generators are not covered in the report). In short, for applications in the top right quadrant of the chart (being both the most competitive low-carbon solution, and more competitive than conventional options) we do not need to make sacrifices to go green, and hydrogen is the way to do it, even today.