15 October

Japan‘s industry minister has said the country will atttempt to set up a commercial hydrogen supply chain by 2030. To establish this, the minister has requested a budget of $800m for next year. The country’s basic hydrogen plan, released in 2017, said this would involve annual imports of more than 300,000 tonnes of hydrogen by 2030. Later this year, the country will receive its first liquefied hydrogen import from Australia

The consumption of electricity and gas in European Union (EU) nations declined by 10% and 11% respectively in the second quarter of this year. The Covid-19 lockdown significantly suppressed the region’s energy industry. Renewables generated 43% of energy in the EU across Q2, due to a rise in solar electricity consumption.

GOGLA, the association for the off-grid solar industry, stated that sale of lighting products declined 26% globally in 2020, from the corresponding period of last year. Prior to the Covid-19 crisis, the off-grid solar industry was expected to grow. However, Covid-19 has disrupted efforts to maintain a 13% annual growth rate required to achieve the goal of providing cheap and clean energy to all by 2030 globally.