Please join the Atlantic Council Global Energy Center and Clean Air Task Force for an upcoming roundtable discussion on hydrogen development in the Middle East and North Africa and international collaboration to accelerate that development.

The session, to be held January 14th from 10:00am – 12:00pm GST, is part of the sixth annual Atlantic Council Global Energy Forum in Abu Dhabi (January 14-16, 2022). It is the first regional workshop in a new series examining opportunities for international collaboration on hydrogen development and deployment, and it will engage industry stakeholders and policymakers from the UAE, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia—along with those from the United States and Europe—to discuss the opportunities and challenges to hydrogen development in the region, broader hydrogen trade, and international cooperation on hydrogen development.

Non-OECD and developing countries are increasingly looking to hydrogen fuel as a potential pathway for leapfrogging in the energy transition to more quickly decarbonize while still enhancing their energy systems. Developing countries—from Brazil to Oman—have signaled their intention to make hydrogen a key part of their energy futures, but the resources available for the development of a hydrogen economy, as well as the envisaged roles that the fuel can play, vary significantly both within and across regions.

Some regions or countries may look to become hydrogen exporters and leverage significant production resources and growing global demand to spur economic development at home, while other countries may look to use the fuel—whether produced domestically or imported—to decarbonize their own hard-to-abate industries, particularly transportation, heavy industry, or fertilizers. And within those countries that are planning to become major hydrogen producers, available resources may dictate how they plan to produce that hydrogen, be it through electrolysis with renewable power (‘green’ hydrogen), methane reformation with carbon capture (‘blue’ hydrogen), or another production pathway.

This first regional workshop will engage industry stakeholders and policymakers from the UAE, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia—along with those from the United States and Europe—to discuss the opportunities and challenges to hydrogen development in the region, broader hydrogen trade, and international cooperation on hydrogen development.

This workshop is a private, off-the-record event, and Chatham House rules apply. It will be held in person at the Global Energy Forum in Abu Dhabi and on the web application Zoom, which is accessible through your web browser, the Zoom desktop or mobile app, and by phone. To join the discussion on Zoom, please register below.

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