Opportunities and Future Challenges in Hydrogen Economy for Sustainable Development

Hydrogen economy is thought as a sunrise industry which would contribute to reducing energy consumption and emissions, as well as stimulating economic growth and bringing about new jobs. However, the one who promotes hydrogen economy also has to face challenges including technical bottleneck, competition with optional technologies, and interrelation with technology strategies. To identify the opportunities and challenges toward hydrogen economy, this chapter will first conduct an overview of economic and environmental initiatives of developing hydrogen economy to identify the stages and path of technology innovation. Then, a board review on national strategies and related policies of main countries including Japan, the United States, European Union, and China is carried out to compare the differences between main markets in the world. According to these information, crucial factors influencing hydrogen economy are identified that provides a great reference value for decision makers to reflect the strategy to promote hydrogen economy.