Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy Attends IPHE General Assembly... Cooperation to Revitalize Global Hydrogen Economy

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Haeyoung] The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on the 23rd that it attended the 35th International Partnership for Hydrogen and Fuel Cells in the Economy (IPHE) General Assembly.

During the two-day meeting held from the 22nd to the 23rd, IPHE member countries discussed each country's hydrogen economy policies newly announced since the last general assembly in December last year, as well as the status of ongoing research projects within IPHE. Considering the COVID-19 situation, the meeting was held in the form of a video conference.

The Ministry introduced the government's institutional foundation efforts, including the world's first enforcement of the "Act on the Promotion of Hydrogen Economy and Hydrogen Safety Management" in February this year, along with private sector investment plans totaling 43 trillion KRW in response.

It also explained the progress in promoting the introduction of a clean hydrogen certification system and the Clean Hydrogen Power Supply Obligation (CHPS) system to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. Additionally, it shared the establishment of a hydrogen product safety center that tests and verifies parts used in the hydrogen industry, as well as the current status of research and development (R&D) on technology to extract hydrogen from ammonia.

Leading hydrogen economy countries such as the United States, Japan, and the European Union (EU) also presented the latest hydrogen economy policy status each country is pursuing to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. The United States announced plans to reduce the price of hydrogen per 1 kg by 80% from the current price by 2030, aiming to supply it at 1 dollar. Japan revealed plans to lower the hydrogen price to 2 dollars per 1 kg by 2050, and member countries including Norway explained the status of establishing and progressing their national hydrogen roadmaps.

Subsequently, member countries reviewed the progress of tasks conducted by IPHE's working groups and special task forces (TF) on each subject and shared opinions. The hydrogen production analysis task force introduced the methods each member country has conveyed for calculating greenhouse gas emissions by hydrogen type.

During this general assembly, a hydrogen safety forum was also held, providing time to consider systems and policy establishment to support citizens in safely using hydrogen.

An official from the Ministry stated, "We confirmed that countries are intensively implementing hydrogen economy policies as a key means to achieve carbon neutrality," adding, "In the future, we plan to lead the global hydrogen economy by proactively introducing systems such as the clean hydrogen certification system during the transition to clean hydrogen."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.