Hydrogen, the primeval element forged in the Big Bang, is undergoing a renaissance. After periodic hype as an energy carrier, most recently under former US president George W Bush, it faded into the background. But now a rush of announcements has brought it back as the next big clean energy hope.
Nikola Motors, a US manufacturer of hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles, had its initial public offering on June 4. It has no revenue and has yet to make a sale but is valued at $17.6 billion (Dh64.6bn) – half as much as BMW.
On July 7, a consortium comprised of industrial gases company Air Products, Saudi-based private electricity developer Acwa Power and Neom, the new city planned in the kingdom’s north-west, agreed on a $5bn project to produce hydrogen using solar and wind power.
Shell and Dutch gas utility Gasunie unveiled plans to use offshore wind to produce hydrogen for distribution through existing gas pipelines.
Danish marine company Maersk, offshore wind leader Orsted and airline SAS joined forces to produce hydrogen for synthetic aviation and shipping fuels while BP is looking at a wind and solar-powered hydrogen facility in Australia.
Japan developed its hydrogen strategy as far back as 2017 and Germany unveiled its own approach last month.
On Friday, 11 European gas infrastructure companies presented a plan for a continent-wide hydrogen network consisting of 23,000 kilometres of pipelines.
These various initiatives have two common themes. Firstly, they focus on “green” hydrogen made by breaking down water through electrolysis, using low-carbon, renewable electricity.
This is used instead of making hydrogen from natural gas, the most common – and a much cheaper – method. Production from gas and the capture of the associated carbon dioxide gives low-carbon “blue” hydrogen.
Secondly, they follow the successful expansion of solar and wind power over the past two decades: to scale up and build large numbers of green hydrogen systems, bringing down their costs to parity with natural gas. Hydrogen from electrolysis currently costs about $2 per kilogram but has to fall to around $1 to make it viable – roughly comparable to long-term liquefied natural gas prices.
There are still other parts of the puzzle to crack. Electrolysers need cheap electricity but must run near-continuously to cover their capital costs.
Clever combinations of intermittent renewables are required to achieve this through night-time or less windy periods.
Hydrogen is tricky to transport because of its low density. Producers in North Africa could use existing gas pipelines to transport it to Europe.
Neom and the BP Australia project will produce ammonia, which can be used as a fuel or fertiliser directly or broken down to hydrogen at its destination. Still, this adds extra costs.
The element has several different uses: it is used mostly to make ammonia and methanol, the fuel and chemical feedstock, as well as being used in oil refining.
In the future, hydrogen could produce important industrial materials, such as steel, without carbon dioxide emissions. It can also be blended with natural gas for lower-carbon home heating and cooking, to help fuel trains, ships and aircraft or be used to store energy for later use.
The only product of burning hydrogen is water. This versatility and cleanliness explain the growing interest in hydrogen.
Indeed, we might wonder why hydrogen development went fallow before being revived so suddenly. Why were we not looking ahead a decade ago?
However, the current direction of hydrogen policy also poses a concern for the Middle East. Apart from Neom and a hydrogen distribution system in the kingdom’s industrial city of Yanbu that was built by French company Air Liquide, there are few large-scale projects in the region.
Adnoc and Masdar are launching a hydrogen-filling station while Dubai’s Expo 2020 site has a pilot solar hydrogen electrolyser.
The Neom site has some advantages: large scale, excellent sun and relative proximity to Europe through the Suez Canal. It has its challenges, too – such as not being near the kingdom’s existing industrial sites or other users of hydrogen.
If the region is to continue making use of its giant oil and gas resource, it needs to do so without contributing to climate change.
To meet the Paris Agreement’s target of no more than 1.5°C of warming above pre-industrial levels by 2100, humanity can emit a maximum of 464 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide.
The world’s current reserves of oil and gas would yield more than 1,100 billion tonnes, and that is without considering the much larger amounts of coal.
Converting oil and gas into hydrogen is one way to square this circle.
However, if large blue hydrogen projects do not go ahead soon, policy and supply will fixate on green hydrogen.
Countries such as Germany already have a natural inclination that way because of their surplus renewable generation and environmentalist mistrust of the fossil fuel industry.
As electrolyser costs fall, domestic production will seem more attractive than imports, which face the burden of transport costs anyway.
The Middle East was slow to the renewables revolution and only a few regional countries are truly taking advantage.
Saudi Arabia needs to push through the Neom project and other similar projects without delay.
However, the kingdom and other big petroleum producers in the region need a strategy for hydrogen – and some real blue and green hydrogen projects.
They should work with international partners such as Japan and Germany and encourage policies that would reward a decarbonised industry, transforming themselves into the clean workshop of the world.
The nascent competition to come up with the first hydrogen champions is already heating up. The region cannot afford to miss the hydrogen-fuelled bus.
Robin Mills is chief executive of Qamar Energy, and author of The Myth of the Oil Crisis
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
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Read more about the coronavirus
How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
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One-off T20 International: UAE v Australia
When: Monday, October 22, 2pm start
Where: Abu Dhabi Cricket, Oval 1
Tickets: Admission is free
Australia squad: Aaron Finch (captain), Mitch Marsh, Alex Carey, Ashton Agar, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Chris Lynn, Nathan Lyon, Glenn Maxwell, Ben McDermott, Darcy Short, Billy Stanlake, Mitchell Starc, Andrew Tye, Adam Zampa, Peter Siddle
Andor
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In-demand jobs and monthly salaries
- Technology expert in robotics and automation: Dh20,000 to Dh40,000
- Energy engineer: Dh25,000 to Dh30,000
- Production engineer: Dh30,000 to Dh40,000
- Data-driven supply chain management professional: Dh30,000 to Dh50,000
- HR leader: Dh40,000 to Dh60,000
- Engineering leader: Dh30,000 to Dh55,000
- Project manager: Dh55,000 to Dh65,000
- Senior reservoir engineer: Dh40,000 to Dh55,000
- Senior drilling engineer: Dh38,000 to Dh46,000
- Senior process engineer: Dh28,000 to Dh38,000
- Senior maintenance engineer: Dh22,000 to Dh34,000
- Field engineer: Dh6,500 to Dh7,500
- Field supervisor: Dh9,000 to Dh12,000
- Field operator: Dh5,000 to Dh7,000
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
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Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
Mina Cup winners
Under 12 – Minerva Academy
Under 14 – Unam Pumas
Under 16 – Fursan Hispania
Under 18 – Madenat
Key findings of Jenkins report
- Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
- Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
- Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
- Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
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What is the FNC?
The Federal National Council is one of five federal authorities established by the UAE constitution. It held its first session on December 2, 1972, a year to the day after Federation.
It has 40 members, eight of whom are women. The members represent the UAE population through each of the emirates. Abu Dhabi and Dubai have eight members each, Sharjah and Ras al Khaimah six, and Ajman, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain have four.
They bring Emirati issues to the council for debate and put those concerns to ministers summoned for questioning.
The FNC’s main functions include passing, amending or rejecting federal draft laws, discussing international treaties and agreements, and offering recommendations on general subjects raised during sessions.
Federal draft laws must first pass through the FNC for recommendations when members can amend the laws to suit the needs of citizens. The draft laws are then forwarded to the Cabinet for consideration and approval.
Since 2006, half of the members have been elected by UAE citizens to serve four-year terms and the other half are appointed by the Ruler’s Courts of the seven emirates.
In the 2015 elections, 78 of the 252 candidates were women. Women also represented 48 per cent of all voters and 67 per cent of the voters were under the age of 40.
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RESULT
Al Hilal 4 Persepolis 0
Khribin (31', 54', 89'), Al Shahrani 40'
Red card: Otayf (Al Hilal, 49')
