Green Hydrogen Ladder

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦

I had been posting last couple of days on the characteristics and challenges with the emerging green hydrogen economy, with an India focus.

(See also: https://lnkd.in/gB_-tvDb & https://lnkd.in/gbt5VdGh for posts on GH2; also, all my decarbonization posts at 𝐍𝐞𝐭 𝐙𝐞𝐫𝐨 𝐛𝐲 𝐍𝐚𝐫𝐬𝐢 – https://lnkd.in/g84YZXWt )

As I had mentioned in those posts, while in future GH2 is likely to have a presence in many aspects of our economies and industries, it is going to take a while to get there. Don’t expect it to burst on us overnight such that in a couple of years we will all be using, burning and consuming GH2 everywhere, and in everything we do.

Rather, expect nuanced growth for perhaps a decade.

So, what are the nuances of this growth? Answering this question can result in a long story, but LinkedIn doesn’t have the generosity to allow long tales in posts.

Instead, I’m giving you all what is called the Hydrogen Ladder (see image at bottom). This thoughtful illustration has been a useful guide to my team and me during our analyses for green hydrogen consulting projects last couple of years.

I hope the Ladder is useful to you too.

If you spend some time on the ladder, you will realize why it is important to not just know how good a product is, but also how good it is compared to alternatives, before we can chart out the growth prospects for the product.

The image was originally done by Liebreich Associates (Michael Liebreich – thank you for such valuable work), and it has been used in many variants. I’m presenting the original version below – and the latest!

See also Michael’s detailed LinkedIn post on the latest Ladder version here – https://lnkd.in/gGsraxWq . It incorporates hydrogen trends, and contains promotions, demotions, edits, combinations…have fun!

Source credits under CC license: Source: Michael Liebreich/Liebreich Associates, Clean Hydrogen Ladder, Version 5.0, 2023. Concept credit: Adrian Hiel, Energy Cities. CC-BY 4.0