By Tim Stickings
Hydrogen has been a "fuel of the future" for so long that you might start to worry it's the next nuclear fusion – always 30 years away.
But at a World Hydrogen Summit we attended in Europe this week there was real excitement that things are starting to happen.
Just listen to Masdar, the Abu Dhabi clean energy company, which hopes to produce a million tonnes of climate-friendly hydrogen by 2030, much of it in the UAE.
The goal is ambitious but it is "definitely one that we aim to meet and to exceed", Masdar's head of business development for green hydrogen in the UAE, Faye Al Hersh, told us.
Her grounds for optimism include a pledge made at Cop28 in the UAE last year to treble the world's clean energy firepower – as you need spare wind and solar power to split off clean hydrogen from water.
Masdar also believes technology will improve to bring down costs and thinks demand will be high because some industries, such as shipping, aviation and steelmaking, will have "no other option" than hydrogen to go green.
At the summit in Rotterdam you couldn't move for stands and pavilions telling you that some part of the world – a Canadian coastline, a Brazilian state – is the perfect place to make hydrogen.
But there are reasons to think the Middle East and North Africa will be big players in the market and not only because they are well suited for solar power.
Morocco was pitching itself as a seller to Europe because it already has connections such as a power cable to Spain and the Maghreb-Europe gas pipeline.
A hydrogen supply route from Egypt to Rotterdam could take shape after Europe's biggest port signed a working agreement with the Suez Canal Zone Authority.
And the UAE has the advantages of open space, enthusiasm for net zero and a reputation as an aviation hub and reliable partner, Dr Al Hersh said.
"We also have a commitment towards the global community, to support their decarbonisation efforts," she said.
Middle East bears brunt of heatwave deaths
Deaths due to heatwaves have risen faster in the Middle East than anywhere else in the world, scientists have found.
A new study finds Kuwait, Lebanon and Syria are among the countries facing increasingly deadly summers.
The western Asia region including the Middle East and nearby countries recorded about 4,300 heat deaths per year in the 2010s.
That was up from a typical death toll of 2,400 in the 1990s, according to research by Australia's Monash University, China's Shandong University and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
Meanwhile in India, an estimated 32,500 people die due to extreme heat every summer, more than a fifth of the world's total.
Researchers said the area covering North Africa, the Arabian Peninsula and South Asia was a “region with high vulnerability”.
Climate change means heatwaves are increasing “not only in frequency but also in severity and magnitude”, they said.
The regional variations mean "there should be localised adaptation planning and risk management across all government levels”, said lead author Yuming Guo.
Our full story is here.
The eco cost in the push for electric vehicles
Scrapping older cars for newer eco-friendly models could have a limited effect on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and could drive up costs and material use, a study has found.
Researchers this week said emissions from light vehicles are responsible for 17 per cent of annual greenhouse gas emissions in countries such as the US.
To meet net-zero emission targets, some have called for older vehicles to be retired early to accelerate the adoption of emerging technology that lowers emissions.
But a University of Toronto study found that lifespan caps could exacerbate the negative effects of electric vehicle production, including increased usage of critical materials and increased ecotoxicity related to battery production.
Our full story on the pros and cons of EVs is here.
The big fact
Trading hydrogen across borders could save $3.7 trillion compared to everyone making their own, according to findings by the Hydrogen Council and McKinsey. That's roughly the size of India's economy.
Jargon buster
Electrolysis: This is a way to split up chemical compounds using electricity. In climate terms, it usually means splitting water (H2O) into hydrogen and oxygen.
You do that because you want to use hydrogen as fuel – and if your electricity comes from a renewable source you get to call it green hydrogen.
Our full guide to understanding climate jargon is here.
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