Dale Edwards, a Green Energy Strategic Consultant with national law firm Clarke Willmott LLP, comments on the UK Government’s eagerly awaited launch of its hydrogen plan.

Following on from the Government’s 10-point plan for a Green Industrial Revolution, significant prominence has been placed in the role that hydrogen could play in driving the growth of low carbon economy. In the Energy White Paper, a stated objective of producing 5GW capacity by 2030 was announced, along with Government analysis suggesting that 20-35% of the UK’s energy consumption by 2050 could be hydrogen-based, raising expectations.

With a vision to kick start a world-leading hydrogen economy, which has the potential to support over 9,000 UK jobs and unlock £4 billion investment by 2030, there is a significant commercial carrot, which could increase exponentially. From a pure environmental perspective, a low-carbon hydrogen economy could deliver emissions savings equivalent to the carbon captured by 700 million trees by 2032, an opportunity that cannot be ignored.

Clarke Willmott welcomed the plan presented by the Government and funding to aid these objectives. In certain respects, the UK could be considered to be ahead of the curve in terms of the production of renewable hydrogen projects. To maintain competitive advantage globally, it will be interesting to see how the plan will develop in the future including the public consultation period on which a hydrogen business model will be adopted.

The Green Energy Sector Group at Clarke Willmott have been actively discussing and planning for the future low carbon economy. Keeping clients updated with developments both legal and sector-wide, along with writing articles and hosting and participating in events.

Many Clarke Willmott clients have expressed interest in finding out more about how their business could benefit from the commercial and environmental development of hydrogen including commercial and passenger transport firms, engineering firms working in the green energy sector, developers considering district heating schemes and investors to name but a few.

With over twenty years of experience in the green energy sector our cross disciplinary team of solicitors are here to support our clients and achieve their goals.

Clarke Willmott is a national law firm with offices in Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, London, Manchester, Southampton and Taunton.

For more information visit www.clarkewillmott.com