According to the World Platinum Investment Council (WPIC), hydrogen will be crucial in efforts to attain net zero, and investment, cooperation, and the introduction of supportive government policies are intensifying to achieve this, directly helping platinum demand.
The council predicts that investments in hydrogen will total more than $300 billion by 2030, and that by 2050, demand would have increased by a factor of seven, with electrolysis accounting for two-thirds of production.
In addition, the WPIC predicts that by 2035, China will have more than a million fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) on its roads and that by 2030, hydrogen fuel cells will power one in every eight newly registered commercial cars worldwide.
The annual global export market for green hydrogen is anticipated to be worth $300 billion by 2050, since 30 nations have created or are developing hydrogen programmes that are essential to their decarbonization goals.
Furthermore, according to the WPIC, widespread commercial adoption of FCEVs might increase the demand for platinum by more than three million ounces every year in ten years.
The council explains that the energy transition depends heavily on platinum-based technology and that the need to decarbonize is more pressing than ever.
Proton exchange membrane (PEM) technology uses platinum catalysts in two crucial applications, electrolysers and hydrogen fuel cells to generate power. Platinum is crucial to opening up the hydrogen economy.
A significant market for hydrogen fuel cells is FCEVs. According to the WPIC, platinum-based PEM technologies that enable the use of green hydrogen in decarbonization might meet up to 11% of the world’s targets for reducing carbon dioxide emissions.
The Paris Agreement established 2050 carbon dioxide emission reduction goals to keep global warming to 1.5 °C or less over preindustrial levels, at the very least. According to the council, PEM technologies could aid in achieving these crucial objectives.
According to the WPIC, the demand for platinum from PEM electrolysers and FCEVs becomes a significant part of the world demand by 2030 and may be the largest segment by 2040.
