The government needs to align hydrogen thinking and policy between departments, as this will help to prevent delays or stagnation to projects, HyDEX has said.
Exploring how to accelerate hydrogen adoption across the economy, HyDEX held a series of roundtables across the key sectors of industry, aviation, road transport, construction, quarrying and farming. Building on these, it has since launched a white paper, setting out the importance of government articulating a clear vision for the hydrogen industry, which considers just how important market certainty is.
HyDEX is stressing the need to break down siloes across industries, with knowledge sharing holding the key to a faster, more efficient scaling up of the UK’s hydrogen industry. As well as greater alignment in government, there needs to be efforts to build better understanding with the public.
This can be done through a public communication campaign, helping to build understanding of the benefits and costs associated with hydrogen. The success of such a campaign will, in turn, help to increase sales and build confidence in the industry, driving demand, solving a “chicken-and-egg” issue.
Elsewhere, it wants to see comprehensive training programs developed to help address skills gaps and shortages – “a significant barrier” to hydrogen’s progression, see government build a comprehensive roadmap across sectors to give greater clarity on the deployment of hydrogen infrastructure, and for there to be more impactful financial incentives to deter continued reliance on fossil fuels, with cost cited as a key barrier across all four roundtable sessions.
