Now is the time for Whitehall to back the UK’s hydrogen sector

英国政府是时候支持氢能行业的发展了

The Covid-19 crisis has created a need to rethink and renew our approach to achieving our Net Zero targets.

新冠疫情危机促使我们需要重新思考和更新我们实现零排放目标的方法。

Without doubt, there will be large amounts of political and public support for rebuilding our economy in a way that supports British jobs and innovation in all parts of the country. An added bonus would also be if, at the same time, we can create a position as world leader in a form of low carbon technology and industry that has massive potential to deliver the much needed growth for many years to come.

毫无疑问，疫情过后将来会出台大量的政策，对全英国全国各地的工作和创新的进行支持，从而促进经济复苏。如果我们能同时实现低碳技术全球领先，那么这将是一个额外的红利，它具有巨大的潜力，可以在未来许多年内实现急需的增长。

Hydrogen ticks these three boxes.

氢能符合以上的三个条件

The UK is already the one of the most advanced in its research, testing and demonstration of the potential of hydrogen energy, and we are home to world-leading businesses, such as ITM Power, BOC, Ceres Power, Johnson Matthey, Intelligent Energy, Air Products and my own company, ULEMCo, that have developed ground-breaking solutions across the hydrogen economy.

英国已经是全球氢能潜力研究/测试和示范领域最为先进的国家之一，并且我们拥有世界领先的企业，例如ITM Power，BOC，Ceres Power，Johnson Matthey，Intelligent Energy，Air Products和我自己的公司，目前我公司ULEMCo已经研发出了氢能经济领域的突破性解决方案。

Now is the time for the government to proactively back the sector. Of course, the overwhelming energy and focus of the Government is on dealing with the coronavirus pandemic and its impact on our economy, but we must also look to the future.

现在是政府积极支持氢能行业的时候了。当然，目前政府的绝对精力和重点都应放在应对冠状病毒疫情及其对我们经济的影响上，但与此同时我们也必须展望未来。

It won’t take much to kick-start the UK’s hydrogen economy to enable it to take a significant role in the post-Covid recovery. Sensible, strategic, policy decisions will help, such as having a clear joined up, whole energy system strategy across Government, with targets for decarbonised hydrogen production, and initiatives for scale-up across a range of applications, alongside  support within the existing mechanisms like the RTFO and public sector procurement. An appointment of a dedicated Minister for Hydrogen would also be a sound move.

启动英国的氢能经济以使其在新冠疫情后的复苏中发挥重要作用并不需要太多。明智的战略性政策决策将有所帮助，例如在整个政府范围内制定明确的整体能源系统战略规划，制定脱碳氢生产目标，以及在包括可再生交通燃油规范等现有机制和政府公共部门采购等在内的支持下，扩大各种应用的计划。任命专门的氢能部长也将是一个明智的举动。

Column: A Minister for Hydrogen – Yes please, Prime Minister

任命专门的氢能部长

Such steps will give innovative, entrepreneurial businesses, research institutions and local authorities the chance to deliver hydrogen technologies, such as buses, boilers, lorries, trains, ships and emergency vehicles over the coming years.

这些举措将为创新型企业/研究机构和地方政府提供机会，在未来几年内为诸如公共汽车/锅炉/卡车/火车/轮船和应急车辆等提供氢能。

This implementation of these technologies will bring significant benefits to keeping air pollution low, improving public health and meeting our 2050 net zero targets. Whilst they won’t all be rolled out by the time of COP26, the progress we can make by then will also give the UK Government an inspirational story to tell on the world stage.

这些技术的实施将为保持低空气污染，改善公共卫生和实现我们的2050净排放目标带来巨大的促进作用。尽管这些技术不会在第26届联合国气候大会时全部展开，但到那时我们可以取得的进展也能使英国政府在世界舞台上讲述一个鼓舞人心的故事。

Our concern is that if we don’t act now, we will also miss out on these opportunities to nations such as China, Japan, South Korea and Germany.

我们担心，如果我们现在不马上采取行动，我们还将错过中国，日本，韩国和德国等国家的这些机会。

In my role as chair of the UK Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Association I will look to do all I can over the coming months to engage positively with the Government to back our hydrogen sector, and give our members the tools we need to deliver green, skilled jobs and sustainable economic growth.

在担任英国氢能与燃料电池协会主席的过程中，我将尽一切努力在未来几个月内积极工作，以促进政府支持我们的氢能行业，并为我们的成员提供所需的工具以利于我们为社会提供绿色能源，创造就业岗位并促进经济可持续增长。