Ottawa launches hydrogen strategy to meet 2050 carbon emissions target

Ottawa has launched the Hydrogen Strategy for Canada, an ambitious framework that seeks to position Canada as a global hydrogen leader as a key part of the path to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
The Strategy is underpinned by a federal investment of $1.5 billion in a Low-carbon and Zero-emissions Fuels Fund to increase the production and use of low-carbon fuels, including hydrogen.
“Hydrogen’s moment has come. The economic and environmental opportunities for our workers and communities are real. There is global momentum, and Canada is harnessing it,” Seamus O’Regan, Canada’s Minister of Natural Resources said.
Low-carbon and zero-emission hydrogen has the potential to reduce our annual greenhouse gas emissions by up to 45 million metric tonnes a year in 2030 and could create up to 350,000 new jobs in Canada by 2050, adds O’Regan.
The Strategy is  designed to spur investment and partnerships to establish Canada as a global supplier of hydrogen, and to increase domestic production.
As one of the top 10 producers of hydrogen in the world, Canada will benefit from the growing global demand for hydrogen — a market that is expected to reach almost $12 trillion by 2050. The strategy will also be complemented by the Clean Fuel Standard, which will further drive investment and growth in Canada’s fuels sector by incentivizing the development and adoption of clean fuels such as hydrogen.
The Strategy is expected to support the Ottawa’s recently announced climate plan, A Healthy Environment and a Healthy Economy, and also builds on the development and launch of the hydrogen initiative by 23 countries at the 10th Clean Energy Ministerial meeting in May 2019. That initiative focused on accelerating the global commercialization of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies across all sectors of the economy.
(CNW)