Alberta government's Hydrogen Roadmap accelerates goal of exporting globally by 10 years

Source: Lisa Johnson · EDMONTON JOURNAL · | November 5, 2021

Source: Associate Minister of Natural Gas and Electricity, Dale Nally. PHOTO BY CHRIS SCHWARZ /Government of Alberta

Alberta’s newly released hydrogen strategy accelerates the province’s goal of exporting its blue hydrogen globally by 10 years.

The Hydrogen Roadmap, released Friday, aims to see hydrogen integrated into the province’s energy system for transportation, heat, power generation and renewable energy storage as well as industrial use – with Alberta exporting the element by 2030, rather than by 2040 .

Natural gas and electricity associate minister Dale Nally said at a news conference Friday the plan is a signal the province is serious about diversifying its economy and energy sector, referring to Alberta’s blue hydrogen, which is made from natural gas, as “clean.”

“We are agnostic over the colour of the hydrogen, as long as it is clean,” said Nally, adding industry will decide what type of production they adopt.

While hydrogen is poised to provide emission-free energy applications across industries that are otherwise difficult to get off carbon — from transportation to heating — not all hydrogen is produced the same way. Cheaper-to-produce blue hydrogen is made from natural gas using carbon capture and storage, which has some carbon emissions, whereas green hydrogen is made using renewable power and creates zero emissions.