Expanding the use of hydrogen fuel in Europe and the United States may require an investment exceeding $1 trillion, according to a senior executive at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.

This substantial infrastructure development could drive the increased demand necessary for the widespread adoption of hydrogen.

Emmanouil Kakaras, an executive vice president at Mitsubishi, posits that the sizeable investment needed to bridge the current gap in infrastructure falls into the $1 trillion range. His comments came amidst discussions at the CERAWeek by S&P Global energy conference.

With European governments pledging $750 billion and potential funding from the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act, sufficient financial resources could be at hand to transition from fossil fuels to cleaner energy alternatives.

Kakaras further hinted at an expedited uptake of hydrogen use in Europe by 2035, aided by new infrastructure. Furthermore, paralleled with carbon capture and storage in the U.S. to neutralize greenhouse gas emissions, the shift towards cleaner energy sources could be realized.

Contrarily, Amin Nasser, CEO of Saudi Aramco, argued that focusing on minimizing carbon emissions from existing oil and gas sources should be the priority over transitioning to other energy forms and technologies. He observed that the ongoing transition strategy seems to be failing on most fronts due to the considerable costs of hydrogen, which ranges from $200 to $400 per barrel of oil equivalent.