Japan and Europe as the pioneers in promoting national strategic policies for hydrogen energy

Due to lack of energy and suffering from the Fukushima nuclear disaster, Japan was the first country to invest in the development of hydrogen energy and the establishment of an industrial chain. At the end of 2017, Japan's cabinet meeting announced the basic strategy for hydrogen energy, set action plans and goals before 2030, and drew up the future vision for 2050, hoping to lead the world in realizing a hydrogen energy society. In March 2019, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry announced the new version of the hydrogen and fuel cell strategic roadmap formulated by the Hydrogen Fuel Cell Strategic Agreement to ensure the realization of the goal of a hydrogen energy society. Its planned project's items are huge and meticulous, and it is the most refined hydrogen energy development plan in the world. In 2022, the budget of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan to accelerate the implementation of the hydrogen ammonia society is 98.9 billion yen. The budget in recent years has roughly fallen between 70 billion to 100 billion yen, and each year has its own development focus. Taking 2022 as an example, focus on the development of basic technologies for fuel cells and water electrolyzers, so as to expand the scope of use in the construction of hydrogen energy social models such as demonstration plants and ports by 2030; demonstration of ammonia-mixed combustion in coal-fired power generation, which aims to be completed in the mid-2020s; and support projects for hydrogen, fuel ammonia and other supply bases. The above funds do not include subsidies of 47.3 billion yen for lithium electric vehicles, hydrogen vehicles and charging stations and hydrogen refueling stations.

In autumn 2018, the European Commission and Member States signed the European Hydrogen Initiative, which established hydrogen technology and its systems as a plan to create a strategic value chain to replace fossil fuels. Although the agreement is non-binding, the actions taken by EU countries will have different priorities, but they affirm the necessity of developing hydrogen energy. Of course, the movements of Germany and France are the most noteworthy. In June 2020, the national hydrogen energy strategy promulgated by the German government determined that green hydrogen produced by renewable energy is sustainable, and the goal is to lock in the development of green hydrogen to expand the market. In the initial period between 2020 and 2023, the main goal is to establish a hydrogen energy production chain and lay a solid foundation in the domestic market; then between 2024 and 2030, efforts will be made to consolidate the domestic market, establish European and international markets, and activate the German economy. And it was decided to invest 7 billion Euros for the market promotion of hydrogen energy technology in Germany, and 2 billion Euros for international cooperation. Following Germany's above-mentioned investment of 9 billion Euros in hydrogen energy development plan, France announced a new hydrogen energy policy in September of the same year, and is expected to invest 7.2 billion Euros in development funds by 2030, with the goal of building France to become the world's leading country in the hydrogen energy industry chain; and first, from the biennium 2021, 2 billion Euros will be allocated from the funds in its revitalization plan to accelerate the implementation of hydrogen energy applications and strengthen cooperation with EU partners.

References
 

• Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, United Kingdom, 2021-08-17, Policy paper: UK hydrogen strategy
• Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action Germany, 2020-06-10, The Natural Hydrogen Strategy
• C enter for Strategic and International Studies, 2022-03-28, Jane Nakano, China Unveils its First Long-Term Hydrogen Plan
• 2021-10-12, Macron pushes nuclear, hydrogen power in €30 billion plan to reverse industrial decline
• Nature Gas Intelligence, 2022-03-08, Morgan Evans, Four Rocky Mountain States Proposing Regional Hydrogen Hub
• Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Japan, 2019-09-18, Strategy for Developing Hydrogen and Fuel-Cell Technologies Formulated