Hydrogen is a fuel drawing attention as a replacement for fossil fuels in the carbon neutrality era. Hydrogen is used as fuel in gas turbines or fuel cells and does not emit carbon dioxide in the combustion process. Green hydrogen, blue hydrogen, and gray hydrogen are named according to the differences in how such hydrogen is produced, and green hydrogen refers to hydrogen produced in a way that does not emit carbon dioxide during the production process.
[Green Hydrogen Ⓟ ESG.ONL/ESG Today]
Although hydrogen is a substance common enough to account for 75% of the mass of the universe, it does not exist in isolation in its natural state. Therefore, to obtain hydrogen, compounds such as ammonia and water must be decomposed. Different names are given depending on what kind of energy is used in this compound decomposition process. Green hydrogen, also known as water electrolysis hydrogen, uses electricity obtained from solar power, wind power, and the like for water decomposition, thus generating no carbon dioxide in the hydrogen production process.
Previously, the high unit cost of electricity produced by new and renewable energy was a disadvantage of green hydrogen, but as the volume of electricity produced by solar and wind power globally has surpassed the share of coal-fired power generation, it is projected that this limitation will also soon be overcome. According to the IEA’s 2025 Global Hydrogen Review, among the hydrogen production volume of 100 million tons in 2024, the production volume using low-emission hydrogen* technology is just over 1%, but it achieved 10% growth compared to the previous year. While gray hydrogen — collected from the hydrogen generated in the process of processing fossil fuels — still accounts for a large share, the technology and market related to green hydrogen are gradually growing.
*Low-emission hydrogen: A term encompassing hydrogen that captures carbon dioxide in the production process or water electrolysis hydrogen utilizing new and renewable energy, collectively referring to blue hydrogen and green hydrogen.
Ivana Jemelkova, CEO of the Hydrogen Council, who attended the 2025 APEC CEO Summit held in Gyeongju in 2025, likewise diagnosed the current situation as “the hydrogen industry is now in a period of learning and growth” and highly evaluated its future growth potential. She also saw South Korea as a key axis in the expansion of the global hydrogen ecosystem and identified Hyundai Motor Company as being at the center of it.
In fact, Hyundai Motor Company is building South Korea’s hydrogen value chain, recently constructing the nation’s first hydrogen fuel cell plant. It is worth paying attention to what strategic value Hyundai Motor Company and South Korea — which began hydrogen-related research and development in 1998, at a time when there was not even a conception of mass-producing electric vehicles — will realize on the journey to carbon neutrality.
by Editor O