- Hong Kong will seek to become China’s platform for developing hydrogen under new plans.
- The government would consider amending the Gas Safety Ordinance to distinguish hydrogen from other dangerous goods.
Hong Kong will seek to become China’s platform for developing hydrogen under new plans that will legalise the widespread use of the energy source for vehicles by next year in a push to cut carbon emissions, the city’s environment chief has said.
The city’s environmental authorities recently presented a street washer that ran on hydrogen as part of a road map to spur hydrogen innovation and introduce new legislation in the sector by 2025.
Unlike conventional vehicles that run on petrol and emit greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane, those that use hydrogen produce only water vapour during combustion.
Secretary for Environment and Ecology Tse Chin-wan said at a press briefing, “Our country already has a strong foundation in hydrogen development, which is a key component of our national energy sources.”
Also, the Secretary for Environment and Ecology noted, “If Hong Kong can seize this opportunity, the city will progress towards its goal of carbon neutrality, develop new quality products and maintain Hong Kong’s international competitiveness.”
Tse added the city should also leverage its unique advantages of “enjoying strong support of the motherland” while being “closely connected to the world” so that Hong Kong could be a touchstone that demonstrates the country’s development of hydrogen energy.
“It’s a little unrealistic for Hong Kong to pursue hydrogen development and usage on its own,” Tse said. “Developments on the mainland have already established a foundation and certain standards in terms of production, storage, refuelling, fuel cells and system developments.”
He noted that, according to its hydrogen energy strategy, the government would consider amending the Gas Safety Ordinance to distinguish hydrogen from other dangerous goods.
It would also submit legislative amendment proposals to the Legislative Council in the first half of 2025 and establish different types of hydrogen energy certification based on international standards before 2027.
Environmental authorities explained that hydrogen energy is a process of converting the gas into mechanical or electrical energy. There are currently three ways of obtaining it, deploying grey, blue and green technologies.
While the production of grey and blue hydrogen is from fossil fuels, the production of green hydrogen is from renewable energy sources with no carbon emissions.