Mapped: Global Hydrogen Production by Region

Blue and Green Hydrogen Production by Region in 2023

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Hydrogen production is becoming increasingly important for decarbonization efforts as it offers a clean and versatile alternative to fossil fuels, helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

In this visualization, we map the total kilotons of hydrogen produced by each region in 2023, broken down by blue and green hydrogen.

Hydrogen production data comes from Energy Institute’s 2024 Statistical Review of World Energy report.

Blue and Green Hydrogen Explained

Hydrogen doesn’t exist freely in nature and must be produced from other energy sources, making it an energy carrier rather than an energy source.

As a clean-burning fuel, hydrogen generates heat and electricity when combined with oxygen in a fuel cell, producing only water vapor as a by-product.

Blue hydrogen production involves generating hydrogen from natural gas and steam, with carbon capture technology used to capture the resulting carbon emissions.

Green hydrogen production uses renewable energy to power electrolysis, a process that splits water into hydrogen and oxygen, resulting in no carbon emissions.

Along with blue and green hydrogen, there are a few other “colors” of hydrogen that denote differences in their production processes and energy sources.

Blue Hydrogen Dominates Global Production

Blue hydrogen production is currently much more prevalent than green hydrogen because it leverages existing natural gas infrastructure, making it easier and more cost-effective to produce compared to green hydrogen.

As a result, the world produced significantly more blue hydrogen than green hydrogen in 2023, with 4,687.3 kilotons of blue hydrogen produced and only 147.6 kilotons of green hydrogen produced.

Green hydrogen is expensive primarily due to the high costs of renewable energy needed for electrolysis and the current inefficiencies in the technology. Additionally, the electrolysis process itself is energy-intensive, contributing to overall costs.

North America and the Asia Pacific regions are neck and neck when it comes to blue hydrogen production, both producing around 2,000 kilotons as of 2023. However, Asia Pacific is ahead in the green hydrogen race with 93.6 kilotons, far more than any other region.

China is scaling up green hydrogen production significantly. Sinopec, a Chinese oil and gas company, has made multiple billion-dollar investments into green hydrogen projects in Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang.

In 2024, Japan-based Mitsubishi Corporation announced plans to invest $690 million in partnership with Dutch renewable energy company Eneco to develop the Eneco Electrolyzer, the world’s largest green hydrogen production plant in the Netherlands.

Learn More on the Voronoi App

To learn more about regional energy production over time, check out this graphic that shows the growth of renewable energy capacity over time by region.