Hydrogen Production Prospects in the Conditions of Climate Change in the Arctic

Abstract

The Arctic plays an important role in shaping the climate on the earth; in this regard, many experts are currently expressing concerns about the melting of ice and climate change in this area. Reducing the impact of black carbon on the Arctic is becoming an important task for most governments; this includes Russia, which has opportunities to take a leading role in the international arena. The global goals to ensure sustainable development and increase environmental friendliness create new challenges and prospects for governments, enterprises, and local communities. In addition, many experts note an anticipated decrease in the volume of oil exports and production in the near future, meaning now it will be necessary to form vectors for the development of energy transfer. The crisis of hydrocarbon markets during COVID-19 also instigated its own adjustments, affected business, and led to a certain change of consciousness in the oil and gas industry. In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, the oldest market participants - oil production pioneers like BP and Shell - announced their intention to become carbon neutral companies by 2050 (i.e., to reduce net carbon emissions to zero); total is going to achieve such measures by the same deadline for its European divisions. Besides the development of green generation, the most obvious way for oil and gas companies to diversify their business is hydrogen production. Under these circumstances, hydrogen may become an effective energy resource to replace hydrocarbons while contributing to solving the problem of climate change and the need for governments to reduce CO2 emissions. The issue of the “green economy” has been on the agenda for a long period of time, and still causes a lot of controversy, especially in the Arctic, and therefore the purpose of the chapter is to identify the main vectors of development of the Arctic region in terms of sustainable development, decarbonization and ecology. A distinctive feature of this chapter is to substantiate the need for the development of hydrogen energy in the Arctic as one of the current trends in the global energy market, as well as to disclose the backgrounds and prospects for the hydrogen energy development.