Hydrogen will play a pivotal role in efforts to reach net zero, and investment, collaboration and the roll-out of supportive government policies are intensifying to achieve this, directly benefiting platinum demand, says the World Platinum Investment Council (WPIC).

The council expects more than $300-billion worth of hydrogen investments to occur through to 2030 and demand for hydrogen to rise by seven times by 2050, with two-thirds of production coming from electrolysis.

Added to this, the WPIC anticipates China will have more than one-million fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) on its roads by 2035 and that one in eight newly registered commercial vehicles globally will be powered by hydrogen fuel cells by 2030.

As 30 countries have developed or are in the process of developing hydrogen plans central to their decarbonisation strategies, the yearly global export market for green hydrogen is also expected to be worth $300-billion by 2050.

Moreover, broad-based commercial adoption of FCEVs could add more than three-million ounces to yearly platinum demand in ten years, the WPIC states.

The council explains that the need to decarbonise is more acute than ever and platinum-based technologies have a significant role to play in the energy transition.

Platinum is key to unlocking the hydrogen economy, as proton exchange membrane (PEM) technology uses platinum catalysts in two key applications – electrolysers and hydrogen fuel cells to produce electricity.

FCEVs are a major market for hydrogen fuel cells.

The WPIC says platinum-based PEM technologies that enable the use of green hydrogen in decarbonisation could deliver up to 11% of global carbon dioxide emission reduction targets.

The Paris Agreement set 2050 carbon dioxide emission reduction targets to limit global warming to at least 2 °C or, better still, 1.5 °C above preindustrial levels. PEM technologies could help achieve these important goals, the council states.

Platinum demand from PEM electrolysers and FCEVs becomes a meaningful component of global demand by 2030 and potentially the largest segment by 2040, the WPIC notes.