One of the main hurdles Canada faces in the hydrogen energy market is competition from south of the border, a Canadian public policy consultant says.
The passage of the Inflation Reduction Act in the U.S. Congress last year provides a number of incentives for clean energy projects including hydrogen, Ed Whittingham told CTV's Your Morning on Monday.
The federal government, meanwhile, has also tried to make moves on hydrogen energy, most recently in Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland's fall economic update.
"The U.S. government is moving very aggressively to subsidize the cost so we get more hydrogen and it drives down the cost of production. That's making it a very strong and attractive place for investment," Whittingham said.
"So our biggest challenge here in Canada in commercializing our own hydrogen and getting that cost down is the competition that we face coming from the United States for that investment dollar."
Hydrogen fuel is notable for its capacity to burn cleanly, with the only byproduct being water.
Its ability to power vehicles, generate electricity and heat, and capacity for long-term storage also makes it a versatile energy source, Whittingham said.
"It's useful for backup power and other uses where energy storage is needed — and perhaps the best thing going for it in the future is that it can be produced from renewable energy sources like wind and solar power," he added.
"So it's going to be clean energy at the point of production."
Some major hydrogen energy projects have already been announced in Canada in recent years.
In August 2022, the Canadian and German governments signed an agreement to create a hydrogen alliance between the two countries.
The company World Energy G2 has applied to the Newfoundland government to build a hydrogen plant powered by a three-gigawatt wind farm near the western port town of Stephenville.
And in the summer of 2021, the company Air Products Inc. announced it had signed a memorandum of understanding with all three levels of government for a $1.3-billion net-zero hydrogen plant east of Edmonton, Alta.
The plant would produce "blue" hydrogen derived from natural gas, while capturing CO2 emissions and storing them underground.
If it meets expectations, the plant would "provide a lot of momentum to what is still a fairly young low-carbon industry here in Canada," Whittingham said.
Watch the full interview with Ed Whittingham at the top of the article. With files from former CTV News Edmonton videojournalist Jay Rosove, The Canadian Press and The Associated Press
