What role will hydrogen play in the global energy transition‪?‬ Foresight Sustainability Series

Hydrogen is increasingly being recognised as a key player in the transition towards a low-carbon future. As a clean energy carrier, it has the potential to decarbonise a wide range of sectors including transportation, industrial processes, and heating. Hydrogen can be produced using renewable energy sources, such as wind or solar, and can be stored and transported as required. Its versatility and flexibility make it a useful alternative to direct electrification, particularly in hard-to-abate sectors such as heavy industry, aviation and shipping. However, scaling up the use of hydrogen requires significant investment in infrastructure and technology, and regulatory support from governments to enable its widespread adoption. In this episode, Joe Davis, Associate Director at Foresight Group and William Mezzullo, Head of Hydrogen at Centrica explore the development of hydrogen as a vital part of the energy transition, what stands in its way, and what needs to be done to realise its full potential. Key Takeaways include: Understanding the importance of the UK government’s new suite of policies addressing the drive to net zero. Understanding why a country’s hydrogen policy framework is one of the most important factors for informing investment decisions. Addressing whether the UK government is on the right track for supporting increased investment into hydrogen and whether this is competitive with other countries.  Understand what is meant by hydrogen blending, and some of the main opportunities and challenges associated with it. William Mezzullo is Head of Hydrogen at Centrica Energy Markets & Trading, and Chair of the Renewable Energy Association’s Green Gas & Hydrogen Forum. William is responsible for commercialising hydrogen development opportunities for Centrica. Prior to joining Centrica, he was a Fund Lead at JLEN, a FTSE 250 environmental fund. William has worked in the renewable energy industry since 2010, developing and building commercial-scale green gas anaerobic digestion plants, where he was Head of Projects at Future Biogas, one of the largest anaerobic digestion companies in the UK.  He holds a PhD from the University of Bath in bioenergy. Joe Davis is an Associate Director at Foresight Group and a member of the Supervisory Board for HH2E AG.  Prior to Foresight Group, Joe was an Investment Manager at Pensions Infrastructure Platform Ltd, and a member of the financial modelling and advisory team at DWPF. Joe has an MSci in physics from Nottingham University and is a CFA Charterholder. Joe Davis [00:00:04] Hello, and welcome to Foresight's Sustainability Podcast, a series that explores the sustainability themes that will play a crucial role in shaping our world in the current period of accelerated change. In this series, we'll be sitting down with industry experts to explore some of the major developments in sustainability related fields, and consider the challenges facing businesses in a new decade of climate action. With these sessions, we aim to inform and promote dialogue around the mainstreaming of sustainability. I'm your host, Joe Davis. I'm an Associate Director in the Infrastructure Investment Team here at Foresight. Today I'm joined by Will Mezzullo. Will is Head of Hydrogen at Centrica. Welcome Will, would you like to begin by telling us why Centrica is so interested in hydrogen, and about your role with the company?  Will Mezzullo [00:00:45] Hi Joe. Yeah, thanks very much. And really good to be here and thank you for the invitation. It's always really lovely to speak to you and the Foresight team. So yeah, I look after Centrica's hydrogen activities, across sort of the family of businesses that Centrica owns and looks after. So that's all the way from the whole value chain, from production of energy. So we manage 12 gigawatts of renewables across Europe and we're also building our own, all the way to sort of storing of energy, whether that's in gas or electricity form. We've got