Where hydrogen goes, platinum usually follows, and, since hydrogen is seen as a climate change solution, it is hoped that platinum demand is assured, in spite of the expected significant growth of battery electric vehicles, which do not use platinum.

Hydrogen-fuel-cell electric vehicles are seen as a 100% route to carbon-free driving.

It was made clear at this month’s Platinum Group Metals Industry Day that credible progress was being made in the development of the hydrogen economy across many geographies and latching on to that was platinum.

Hydrogen is said to be at the centre of climate change mitigation, and platinum, in turn, at the centre of hydrogen in that the metal catalyses the hydrogen into electricity which can drive cars, trucks, buses and trains cleanly, at a time when the world is legislating to put an end to harmful vehicle emissions.

There is ongoing tightening of anti-emission regulations to a point where battery electric vehicles may, in future, be found wanting. This is because battery electric vehicles take the electricity that is on offer, which may be coal-fired.

Envisaged for the fuel cell is clean hydrogen, produced by passing renewables-sourced electricity through water. This is then fed into the fuel cell. The platinum acts as a catalyst in the fuel cell to convert that hydrogen into electricity. Not a single gram of carbon dioxide is emitted in that process, which guarantees that the fuel cell electric vehicle is entirely decarbonised.

China, Japan, Korea and California are well aware of that, which has prompted those countries and the US State to support the hydrogen economy very strongly.

China is looking at the creation of a hydrogen corridor and Japan is looking to a Tokyo Olympics in 2020 that is already being dubbed the Hydrogen Olympics, because of the number of fuel cell electric vehicles that will be showcased, along with the widespread use of hydrogen to provide energy.

On the mining front, Anglo American hopes to have a truck running on hydrogen in the next 12 months and, on the consumer front, Hydrogen Fuel News.com is filling us in weekly about new hydrogen developments.

Honda, Toyota, Hyundai and Shanghai Automotive International Company (SAIC) Motor Corporation of China have fuel cell cars on the market. SAIC, which is the joint venture partner of General Motors and Volkswagen, the two market leaders in China, has the Roewe 950 fuel cell car.

Anglo American executive head of marketing Benny Oeyen tells Mining Weekly that many other automotive manufacturers are also looking at fuel cell electric vehicles.

All those developments create demand for platinum and South Africa is the main source of platinum-group metals, which puts the spotlight on platinum mining companies.

South Africa should also take firmer steps along the hydrogen road, as it has strong sun and prime wind to provide the electricity to produce hydrogen cleanly.

The more hydrogen is promoted, the more platinum is promoted, and the more platinum is promoted, the more the South African economy benefits.