A recent study from Edinburgh Business School at Heriot-Watt University has found that while hydrogen production, storage and fuel cell technologies are advancing rapidly, the hydrogen distribution infrastructure is developing at half the speed, creating a critical bottleneck that could put billions in clean energy at risk.
The findings, published in the journal Sustainable Futures, are an important milestone in recognising that, while other hydrogen technologies improve and costs fall, distribution expenses could take up a large share of hydrogen system budgets, significantly limiting overall efficiency and growth of the hydrogen sector.
The research team analysed 777 000 patents and 1.3 million citations spanning 182 years of hydrogen technology development, revealing clear differences in progress across the system.
Dr David Dekker, a research fellow at Edinburgh Business School, Heriot-Watt University, and the paper’s lead author, said: “Distribution will become the dominant cost in any hydrogen system. Even as we get better at producing and using hydrogen, getting it where it’s needed stays expensive.
“The problem is structural. Distribution requires massive pipeline networks and liquefaction plants that need billions in capital investment. Safety regulations and permitting processes are complex, so progress is slow.
“Most distribution infrastructure sits with a handful of major companies. They tend to share less knowledge than innovators in other hydrogen fields. In capital-intensive sectors where competitive advantage matters, companies are far less likely to publish innovations openly. This slows progress across the entire sector.”
Co-author Professor Dimitris Christopoulos, director of research for the Edinburgh Business School and Heriot-Watt University’s School of Social Science, said: “We cannot have a hydrogen economy without the infrastructure to move it around. Right now, that is the fundamental missing piece.
“Hydrogen faces a classic chicken-and-egg problem”, said Professor Mercedes Maroto-Valer who leads the UK Industrial Decarbonisation Research and Innovation Centre. “industry won’t commit at scale without pipelines, terminals and reliable delivery, but those networks won’t be built at scale without firm industrial demand. What this new Heriot-Watt research adds is hard evidence that distribution innovation moves much more slowly than the rest of the hydrogen system, so without targeted action to de-risk infrastructure, the distribution costs and uncertainty will keep holding the market back.”
*Note: The work was supported by UKRI ISCF Industrial Challenge through the UK Industrial Decarbonisation Research and Innovation Centre (IDRIC), award number EP/V027050/1.
