China and India are emerging as the global leaders in clean hydrogen momentum, while North America is increasingly viewed as losing ground, according to a survey of industry executives.
The survey, included in the Hydrogen Council’s Global Hydrogen Compass 2026, gathered responses from nearly 70 leaders within the organization’s membership and asked whether clean hydrogen development across major regions was slowing or accelerating.
China recorded the strongest outlook, with 94 per cent of respondents describing the country’s hydrogen sector as steady or accelerating. India followed closely at 92 per cent.
Europe, Japan and South Korea received more mixed assessments, although a majority of executives still saw momentum building. The Middle East and Australia, by comparison, were generally viewed as cooling.
Government support drives China and India
Industry leaders attributed much of China and India’s momentum to strong government-backed signals designed to stimulate demand and accelerate development.
Nicholas Loughlan, managing director of Cellcentric, described China as moving “full speed ahead,” saying the country’s progress has increasingly demonstrated the commercial potential of hydrogen technology.
Despite similarly positive perceptions surrounding India, however, the scale of committed investment remains substantially smaller than in other leading markets.
China added approximately $11.8 billion in committed investment over the past year, bringing its total to about $45 billion.
Europe added $7.9 billion to reach approximately $30 billion, while North America committed another $3.1 billion, bringing its total to $26 billion.
India added only about $500 million, taking its total committed investment to approximately $6 billion.
That means India’s committed investment is equivalent to roughly 13 per cent of China’s total, 20 per cent of Europe’s and 23 per cent of North America’s, despite executives ranking India second globally for perceived momentum.
North America seen as losing momentum
North America’s weaker outlook was largely attributed to regulatory uncertainty in the United States.
Executives pointed particularly to the accelerated phase-out of the U.S. 45V clean hydrogen production tax credit, which offered incentives of up to $3 per kilogram and had been considered critical to the industry’s development.
Introduced under the Biden administration, the credit is now scheduled to end five years earlier than originally legislated following changes under the Trump administration.
Projects must begin construction before 2028 to remain eligible for the subsidy.
The policy shift has contributed to concerns among developers about the long-term economics of planned hydrogen projects and the stability of the U.S. regulatory environment.
Europe faces uneven policy implementation
Europe’s clean hydrogen outlook remains more complicated.
Executives cited the European Union’s Renewable Energy Directive III and carbon-pricing framework as positive signals, but uncertainty remains over whether regulations will generate sufficient demand for producers.
A major concern is the uneven implementation of RED III among EU member states.
Only six countries have so far incorporated into national law the requirement that renewable fuels of non-biological origin account for 42 per cent of energy used in industry.
The directive also does not impose a corresponding purchasing obligation on industrial consumers, limiting the certainty producers have about future demand.
As a result, the survey points to an increasingly uneven global clean hydrogen landscape: China and India are perceived as accelerating rapidly, Europe continues to make progress despite regulatory challenges, while North America faces growing concerns that policy uncertainty could slow investment and development.
