Going Beyond Electrolysis: A Perspective on Establishing a Diverse Portfolio of Low-Carbon and Renewable Pathways to Support the Hydrogen Economy

Hydrogen is now widely recognized as a critical energy carrier to support decarbonization across industry, transportation, and power systems. While renewable-driven water electrolysis has emerged as a flagship pathway for low-carbon hydrogen production, an exclusive focus on electrolysis risks constraining scale, resilience, and cost competitiveness in the near- to medium-term. This perspective and mini-review explores this issue with a view toward establishing a diverse portfolio of low-carbon and renewable hydrogen production pathways to robustly support the emerging hydrogen economy. The paper reviews the current hydrogen landscape shaped by an electrolysis-centric strategy to highlight the need for and importance of emerging and novel production routes. This includes complementary pathways such as biomass-derived hydrogen, waste-to-hydrogen routes, and biological processes. The paper emphasizes the importance of the Power-to-X concept as a framework to assess hydrogen energy systems and consider alternative conversion technologies to support the drive toward production targets. In the view of the authors, it is vital that technological diversity is embraced rather than focusing on a single dominant solution, to ensure the hydrogen sector can accelerate deployment, enhance supply security, reduce costs, and improve alignment with regional resources. This portfolio-based approach is essential to rapidly scale hydrogen to meet Net Zero targets while supporting innovation and long-term sustainability.