Investing in Climate Action: The Case for Hydrogen
On Tuesday, June 29th, EFI Founder and CEO Ernest Moniz chaired a roundtable discussion at private investment house Ardian’s 2021 Virtual Summit: The Case for Hydrogen. Roundtable panelists included Klaus Bonhoff, Director-General for Policy Issues at the German Federal Ministry for Transport and Digital Infrastructure, Musabbeh Al Kaabi, CEO of Mubadala’s UAE Investments platform, and Noé van Hulst, Chair of IPHE.
The Summit, the latest in a series of climate-focused events hosted by Ardian, convened industry and government leaders to discuss how stakeholders can partner to drive investment in hydrogen globally. “Investment must be a force for good,” said Ardian President Dominique Senequier, who described hydrogen as a key part of the energy transition.
Secretary Moniz’s roundtable discussion kicked off with a keynote from Fatih Birol, Executive Director of the International Energy Agency. Birol, noting the numerous recent pledges to meet net-zero emissions from governments and businesses, emphasized the widening gap between rhetoric and reality. While the past year saw a record number of new climate commitments, it was also the second-largest increase in global carbon dioxide emissions.
“Low carbon electricity will need to be complemented by a fuel and by negative carbon technologies”
— Secretary Moniz
Secretary Moniz’s roundtable delved into the future roles of hydrogen and the national strategies and policies that can support investment. “Low carbon electricity will need to be complemented by a fuel and by negative carbon technologies,” said Moniz, noting that some hard-to-decarbonize sectors are unlikely to be practically and economically electrified. Hydrogen, he said, is emerging as the “most likely candidate” for this fuel, flexibly serving multiple sectors while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. “The promise of hydrogen as a critical enabler of the low carbon energy transition must now be met by the realities of building a major global industry at scale, with a combination of government policy and incentives, support, and private sector capital,” said Moniz.
Watch a recording of the discussion here.
