The World Needs Lots of Cheap Clean Hydrogen

Hydrogen is the most abundant and prevalent clean energy in the universe. Approximately 73% of the Sun’s mass consists of hydrogen.

fuel

It can be used in fuel cells to power electric vehicles or cities.

gas-turbiness

It can be used as fuel in gas turbines or internal combustion engines.

clean-fuel

It is a zero-emission clean fuel and produces only water vapor when used.

fertilizer

It is the main ingredient in fertilizers that feed our hungry world.

hydrogen

Pound for pound, hydrogen contains 3X as much energy as natural gas or gasoline, and 200X as much energy as lithium-ion batteries.

Clean Hydrogen is a $12 Trillion “Once in a Lifetime” Market Opportunity

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Unfortunately, hydrogen does not exist in its pure form on Earth and must be extracted from sources that contain hydrogen, such as hydrocarbons (hydrogen + carbon) and water (hydrogen + oxygen). Nearly all the hydrogen today is made from hydrocarbons like coal, oil, and natural gas, which are dirty and limited resources. Water, on the other hand, is an infinite and renewable worldwide resource.

market

According to Grandview Research, hydrogen is a $155 billion market today and nearly all of it is made from natural gas. Goldman Sachs projected that hydrogen will be a $12 trillion market in the future if it can be made clean by using renewable resources such as sun, wind and water.

Clean hydrogen is crucial in meeting the greenhouse gas emission goals described in United Nation’s Paris Agreement. Solar, wind and batteries alone simply cannot be relied upon to decarbonize industries, such as aviation, maritime, steel, cement, fertilizers, oil refining and pharmaceuticals. The expected global drive towards “net-zero emission” by 2050 will create tremendous demand for clean hydrogen for decades to come.

$155 Billion

Market Today

$12 Trillion

Market Tomorrow

Global Net-Zero

by 2050

Hydrogen Demand By Segment

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By 2050 660 million tons per year of hydrogen needed for net-zero

220%

of global energy demand will be hydrogen

$3 Trillion

annual revenue across hydrogen economy

Asia: Where Hydrogen Demand Meets Scarce Supply

Four of Asia’s largest economies already account for a large share of the world’s hydrogen and ammonia use. Here is who uses it, how they get it today, and what they need next.

Country Hydrogen Profile Ammonia Profile
Japan Import Dependent ~2 Mt hydrogen used per year

Plans to grow hydrogen supply roughly tenfold, to 20 million tonnes a year by 2050. Iwatani, Japan’s top hydrogen supplier, leads merchant and liquefied hydrogen distribution. Refiner ENEOS intends to import hydrogen to supply power generation at its refineries and to local companies.

Japan uses about 1 million tonnes of ammonia a year. Mitsui Chemicals is the largest domestic producer at 314,000 tonnes a year, and imports are expected to rise from 2027. JERA aims to import around 2 million tonnes of fuel ammonia a year by 2030 for power plant co-firing. Trading houses Mitsubishi Corporation and Marubeni plan to bring about 1 million and 250,000 tonnes a year of low-carbon ammonia to Japan from Texas.
South Korea Import Driven ~2.4 Mt hydrogen used per year (2023)

Plans to supply 3.9 million tonnes of clean hydrogen a year by 2030 and 27.9 million tonnes by 2050, about 82% of it imported. POSCO plans to replace its blast furnaces with HyREX hydrogen-based ironmaking, starting at Pohang in 2033. KOGAS aims to supply 830,000 tonnes of hydrogen a year by 2030, including imported green hydrogen. SK Innovation E&S has proposed Korea’s largest blue hydrogen plant at Boryeong.

LOTTE Fine Chemical operates Asia’s largest ammonia terminal at Ulsan and completed its first commercial-scale green ammonia import in 2026, for power generation, marine fuel and hydrogen supply. State generator Korea Southern Power (KOSPO), a KEPCO subsidiary, won Korea’s first clean hydrogen power auction and plans ammonia co-firing at its Samcheok coal plant from 2028.
India Refineries and Fertilizer ~10 Mt hydrogen used per year (10% of global demand)

Mostly captive production inside refineries. Indian Oil Corporation produces hydrogen mainly from natural gas and targets 10% low-carbon hydrogen by 2029-30. Reliance Industries targets 3 million tonnes a year of hydrogen production capacity at Jamnagar by 2032.

Fertilizer majors IFFCO, with ammonia and urea complexes at Kalol, Phulpur and Aonla, and GNFC, with about 815,000 tonnes a year of ammonia capacity at Bharuch, anchor domestic supply. India still imported about 2.5 million tonnes of ammonia in 2024, led by Saudi Arabia at 33%.
China World’s Largest Hydrogen Consumer ~29 Mt hydrogen used per year (29% of global demand)

Dominated by state energy majors. Sinopec is China’s largest hydrogen producer, and CHN Energy has the largest coal-to-hydrogen production capacity in the world.

Large coal-based chemical production supplies urea and industrial chemicals, including Hubei Yihua’s coal-fed ammonia plant in Yichang.

Major Hydrogen and Ammonia Players by Country

Company roles: NewHydrogen summary of public company information. Listing does not indicate any relationship with NewHydrogen.

Japan

Hydrogen

  • Iwatani – Merchant and liquefied hydrogen supplier
  • Nippon Sanso Holdings – Industrial gas supplier of merchant hydrogen
  • Air Liquide Japan – Industrial gases for industry and mobility
  • ENEOS – Refiner; refinery hydrogen producer
  • Idemitsu Kosan – Refiner; refinery hydrogen producer
  • Cosmo Oil – Refiner; refinery hydrogen producer
  • Resonac – Hydrogen from recycled plastics

Ammonia

  • Mitsui Chemicals – Largest domestic ammonia producer
  • Resonac – Domestic ammonia producer
  • Nissan Chemical – Domestic ammonia producer
  • JERA – Fuel ammonia importer for power
  • Mitsubishi Corporation – Trading house; ammonia offtake
  • Mitsui & Co. – Trading house; overseas ammonia projects
  • Marubeni – Trading house; ammonia offtake
  • INPEX – Developer of hydrogen and ammonia hubs
  • MOL (Mitsui O.S.K. Lines) – Ammonia shipping and logistics

South Korea

Hydrogen

  • POSCO Holdings – Steelmaker; hydrogen-based ironmaking
  • KOGAS – State gas company; hydrogen supply and terminals
  • SK Innovation E&S – Liquid and blue hydrogen developer
  • Hyundai Motor Group – Fuel cell vehicles and hydrogen supply chain

Ammonia

  • LOTTE Fine Chemical – Ammonia importer; Ulsan terminal operator
  • LOTTE Chemical – Ammonia importer and distributor
  • Korea Southern Power (KOSPO) – KEPCO generator; ammonia co-firing
  • Korea Western Power (KOWEPO) – KEPCO generator; co-firing procurement
  • Korea Midland Power (KOMIPO) – KEPCO generator; co-firing procurement

India

Hydrogen

  • Indian Oil Corporation – Refiner; captive hydrogen producer
  • Bharat Petroleum (BPCL) – Refiner; captive hydrogen producer
  • Hindustan Petroleum (HPCL) – Refiner; captive hydrogen producer
  • Reliance Industries – Jamnagar refinery complex
  • NTPC – State power major; hydrogen projects
  • GAIL – State gas major; pipeline blending
  • Adani New Industries – Green hydrogen developer
  • JSW Energy – Green hydrogen developer
  • Larsen & Toubro (L&T) – Green hydrogen developer
  • Linde India – Merchant hydrogen supplier
  • Air Liquide India – Merchant hydrogen supplier
  • INOX Air Products – Merchant hydrogen supplier

Ammonia

  • IFFCO – Fertilizer cooperative; ammonia-urea plants
  • GNFC – Ammonia and urea producer, Bharuch
  • Chambal Fertilisers – Ammonia and urea producer, Rajasthan
  • Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers (RCF) – State fertilizer producer
  • KRIBHCO – Cooperative fertilizer producer
  • Coromandel International – Ammonia user and importer
  • Deepak Fertilisers – Ammonia producer and importer
  • FACT – State fertilizer producer and importer
  • MMTC – State trading importer

China

Hydrogen

  • Sinopec – Largest hydrogen producer in China
  • CHN Energy – Coal-to-hydrogen producer
  • CNPC – Refinery hydrogen producer
  • LONGi Hydrogen – Hydrogen equipment and project developer
  • Sungrow – Hydrogen equipment and project developer
  • PERIC – Hydrogen equipment manufacturer
  • Ningxia Baofeng Energy – Solar-to-hydrogen chemical producer

Ammonia

  • Hubei Yihua – Coal-based ammonia producer
  • Henan Energy – Ammonia producer
  • Luxi Chemical – Ammonia producer
  • Yunnan Yuntianhua – Fertilizer producer using ammonia
  • Sinochem Holdings – State ammonia importer and trader
  • Wanhua Chemical – Ammonia importer for chemicals
  • Zhejiang Satellite Petrochemical – Ammonia importer for chemicals

To Meet This Demand NewHydrogen is Developing a Breakthrough Technology to Produce the World’s Cheapest Hydrogen

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