Hydrogen is quickly emerging as a potential solution to help ease the global energy crisis and enable nations to increase energy security. Scotland is playing an integral role in harnessing the potential of this zero-carbon energy source. 

Due to the ongoing conflict, several nations have announced plans to end imports of Russian oil and gas as soon as possible – and there is a growing consensus that hydrogen is one of the most viable alternative fuels.

A key example of this drive toward hydrogen is that German officials recently visited Scotland to learn more about the country’s growing clean energy industry. Germany has been heavily dependent on Russian gas but is now taking a serious look at alternatives due to Russia’s actions in Ukraine. 

The delegation was led by Stefan Kaufmann, a former German government minister who is now a government advisor for innovation and hydrogen. Kaufmann and another German government official toured various hydrogen facilities and green energy sites around Scotland. Upon completing his visit, Kaufmann said he was impressed by the Scottish government’s commitment to producing green hydrogen to create jobs and decarbonise the economy. Kaufmann also expressed a desire to develop a close partnership with Scotland in hydrogen supply and development.

Scotland’s long history in oil and gas offers extensive experience in industrial processes, with the necessary pipelines for gases and transferrable skills of workers for hydrogen. In addition, the nation has all the infrastructure, R&D capabilities, test centres and natural resources to be a genuine world leader in green hydrogen production.

“We see Scotland having a key role in the development of the hydrogen economy globally,” says Jamie Robinson, a hydrogen specialist in the low carbon transition team at Scottish Enterprise. “That is where we want to position it, and it is something we can actually achieve.”