The inquiry will involve the Committee looking at various aspects of the UK Government’s renewable energy strategies, including its hydrogen strategy, the investment in hydrogen in Scotland, and how the country can become a world leader in green hydrogen for domestic use and export.
It will also assess the potential for a ‘just transition’ from oil and gas and the training required for a hydrogen ready workforce.
It follows the 2021 release of the UK Government’s Net Zero Strategy and Hydrogen Strategy, which revealed ambitions to create five gigawatts of low carbon hydrogen production capacity by 2030.
The inquiry’s focus on green and blue hydrogen will also see an investigation into carbon capture in Scotland.
Last year the UK Government was accused of a ‘complete betrayal’ of the northeast of Scotland after it rejected the country’s Acorn Project – a carbon capture and storage (CCS) operation – in an initial round of funding.
Commenting on Scotland’s net zero ambitions, Pete Wishart, Chair, Scottish Affairs Committee, said, “As we identified in our recent report on Renewable Energy in Scotland, there are endless opportunities with wind and tidal energy.”
“We are going to look at low carbon hydrogen production, and this will mean considering the use of carbon capture to lock away carbon emissions.”
As part of the inquiry, the Committee will accept written submissions from people and organisations who are either involved in hydrogen production or those with the potential to work on hydrogen production.
The deadline for written submissions is Friday 1st March 2022.