Policy options for the integration of Hydrogen Exploration into the provincial economy

The hydrogen industry has grown to prominence in recent years with numerous jurisdictions releasing hydrogen strategies and promising ready incorporation into hard to decarbonize sectors. This is particularly true for British Columbia who released a hydrogen strategy in 2021 and has been making continual efforts to grow their local hydrogen economy. However, there are many difficulties when attempting to integrate hydrogen into pre-existing economic sectors, and even more issues arise when evaluating the performance of the hydrogen sector overall. The provincial government does not share the tools that other involved jurisdictions have available, namely the ready availability of federal financing. Regardless, through adjustments to administrative attention, and current financial support for the development of alternative energy technologies the province can support the scale up of their domestic industry and contribute to the development of solutions to other major barriers to hydrogens integration.