Canada wants to be a global leader in hydrogen and has launched an ambitious road map to make hydrogen a key part of its path to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Clean hydrogen could be worth CAD 50 billion ($39.2 billion), create 350,000 jobs, produce 30% of Canada’s power by 2050 and help the country meet its net-zero emissions goal, Kallanish reports.

The new plan, the Hydrogen Strategy for Canada, was released this week by Minister of Natural Resources Seamus O’Regan. It is designed to spur investments and partnerships to establish Canada as a global supplier of hydrogen and to increase domestic production. The new plan was developed over three years with input from 1,500 experts and stakeholders.

“The interest in hydrogen is growing throughout the world. Canada needs to act now to ensure we are no left behind,” the report says.

“Hydrogen’s moment has come. The economic and environmental opportunities for our workers and communities are real. There is global momentum, and Canada is harnessing it,” O’Regan says in a statement.

The use of hydrogen across Canada will reduce the emissions of sectors like resources extraction, transportation, power generation and manufacturing, the new strategy says.

Canada is one of the top 10 hydrogen producers globally and that market is projected to reach CAD 12 trillion by 2050.

The new strategy will also be complemented by Canada’s Clean Fuel Standard which will further drive investment and growth in Canada’s fuels sector by boosting the development and adoption of clean fuels including hydrogen.

The new plan is backed by a CAD 1.5 billion to increase the production and use of low-carbon fuels including hydrogen. That plan was released last week. But Canada will need CAD 5 billion to CAD 7 billion in short-term investments to boost its hydrogen industry, according to some estimates.

Alberta, Canada’s top energy province, is interested in blue hydrogen produced from natural gas while environmentalists instead support green hydrogen produced by renewable power sources.