In June 2023, Japan revised its national hydrogen strategy that envisages a carbon-neutral “hydrogen society.” Ironically, fulfilling this strategy could increase global greenhouse gas emissions as most of the global supply chains that the Japanese government is creating to import hydrogen rely on fossil fuels. Rather than a “hydrogen society,” Japan should aim to become […]

The post Japan’s ‘hydrogen society’ may do more harm than good appeared first on Asia Times.

Hydrogen fuel cell cars emerged as an alternative to both the electric and combustion engine vehicle in the early 2000s. They were widely considered an avenue toward universal green motoring. Powered through a chemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen, the only tailpipe emission they produce is water. The technology also promised a traditional driving experience. […]

The post The days of the hydrogen car are already over appeared first on Asia Times.

This week’s report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warns global warming is headed for dangerous levels unless greenhouse gas emissions halve this decade. This cannot be achieved without a huge effort from China, the world’s biggest emitter. The IPCC says limiting global warming will require, among other measures, a substantial reduction in […]

The post China gunning for supremacy in green hydrogen race appeared first on Asia Times.

In a major development, Australian green energy engineering company Fortescue Future Industries (FFI) announced in late December that it had designed and built its own electrolyzer to make hydrogen. Hydrogen is taking off as a new source of clean energy only a decade after a pioneering scheme, the world’s first municipal hydrogen energy project, was […]

The post Australia’s Fortescue punting big on hydrogen appeared first on Asia Times.

SEOUL – Ground was broken on Monday in South Korea by a local-German joint venture on what is claimed to be the world’s largest liquid hydrogen production facility. South Korean firm Hyosung Heavy Industries and German chemical multinational Linde Group have teamed up for the venture, providently set in the industrial city of Ulsan on […]

The post Korean-German JV presses button on world’s biggest hydrogen plant appeared first on Asia Times.

Tehran, 1943: Joseph Stalin, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill – hosted by the young Shah Reza Pahlavi – agree on plans for the two-front attack on Hitler while sketching out the east-west division of Europe. Holding the meeting in Iran, with separate consultations with the shah, was no mistake. Gulf oil was a critical resource to […]

The post A hydrogen future is closer than you think appeared first on Asia Times.

TOKYO – When Warren Buffett’s investment company Berkshire Hathaway announced last August that it had acquired more than 5% of the five largest Japanese general trading companies – Mitsubishi Corporation; Itochu; Mitsui & Co; Marubeni; and Sumitomo Corporation – most failed to notice that Buffet was buying into coal-fired power projects. Within three months, a […]

The post Japan Inc driving towards a hydrogen energy future appeared first on Asia Times.