Why Small Hydrogen Markets Are Likely to Shrink - CleanTechnica

The article from CleanTechnica examines the future of small, distributed hydrogen markets and the potential role of imported green methanol as a hydrogen source. While methanol offers advantages in transport and storage due to existing global shipping infrastructure and the ability to produce hydrogen onsite via catalytic cracking, the economic viability of such supply chains depends on the scale and durability of hydrogen demand in smaller markets. Currently, the global hydrogen market is about 95 to 100 million tons annually, dominated by two major sectors: oil refining and ammonia production. Other uses, including methanol synthesis, steel production, transportation, heating, and various smaller applications, represent a much smaller share of demand. A critical issue highlighted is that nearly all current hydrogen production relies on fossil fuels, mainly through steam methane reforming and coal gasification, releasing roughly 900 million to 1 billion tons of CO2 annually—comparable to the global aviation sector’s emissions. Therefore, decarbonizing existing large-scale hydrogen production in refining, ammonia,