The Periodic Table of Scarcity and Abundance H Hydrogen
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Hydrogen: What we use it for

Where does it go, and why this element?

Almost all hydrogen goes into oil refining, ammonia for fertilizer, methanol and steel. In each case hydrogen is a chemical building block. New uses, mostly for making biofuels, are just over 1% of demand.

Last updated 3 October 2026.

Where it goes

Where it goes (World)
Oil refining 43%
Ammonia (mostly for fertilizer) 33%
Methanol 16%
Direct reduced iron (steel) 5.5%
New uses (biofuels 1.1%
2025. Shares computed by us from IEA figures for 2025: refining 44 Mt, ammonia 34 Mt, methanol 16 Mt, steel 10% of 57 Mt industry use (5.7 Mt), all out of 103 Mt. New uses: 1.1% (IEA chart). The rows add to 97.8%; the IEA's own figures do not add exactly (methanol is 16 Mt on p. 19 but 30% of 57 Mt on p. 56)1

In 2025 the world used about 103 million tonnes of hydrogen. Oil refineries used 44 million tonnes, about 43%1. Industry used 57 million tonnes. About 60% of that went to ammonia, 30% to methanol and 10% to direct reduced iron for steel1. In tonnes, ammonia took about 34 million and methanol about 16 million1.

The US Geological Survey counts 160 million tonnes of nitrogen in world ammonia in 20252. Ammonia (NH3) holds 3 hydrogen atoms for each nitrogen atom. By our sum, 160 million × 3.024 ÷ 14.007 is about 34.5 million tonnes of hydrogen, close to the IEA figure. IRENA gives a higher share, about 45% of hydrogen demand for ammonia3. IRENA does not say what total it uses, so we cannot compare the two shares directly.

Most ammonia becomes fertilizer1. Methanol is made into other chemicals, such as the olefins used in plastics1. Smaller uses include hardening vegetable oils, and a protective gas in glass and microchip factories4. The IEA does not count those smaller uses1.

New uses passed 1% of demand in 2025, mostly for biofuels1. About 130,000 fuel cell vehicles were on the road1.

Why this element

In ammonia (NH3) and methanol (CH3OH), hydrogen is part of the molecule. No other element can take its place in these products. The first industrial plant that joined nitrogen and hydrogen into ammonia started in 19135.

In refining, hydrogen removes impurities, mainly sulfur, from fuels. It also breaks heavy oil into lighter products, which is called hydrocracking64. In steelmaking, hydrogen can take the oxygen out of iron ore. The IEA counts direct reduced iron made with hydrogen alone as a new use1.

As a fuel, hydrogen holds 120 megajoules per kilogram, almost three times as much as petrol. But a liter of liquid hydrogen holds only 8 megajoules, a quarter of a liter of petrol7. It is light to carry but bulky to store, and that limits it as a fuel.

What could replace it

For ammonia, methanol and refining there is no substitute for the element. The choice is between ways of making it. Hydrogen from unabated natural gas can be replaced by hydrogen from electrolysis or from gas with carbon capture14. Those routes cost more today. Carbon capture adds USD 0.4 to more than USD 1 per kilogram, and renewable electrolysis can cost several times more1.

Less refining would mean less hydrogen in refineries. Less nitrogen fertilizer would mean less ammonia. Those are changes in demand, not substitutes.

The IEA expects hydrogen use to stay very small in some new uses, because more efficient options exist1. Under current policies, the IEA expects renewable hydrogen in parts of northern China to cost less than USD 2 per kilogram by 20301.

Where demand is going

In its 2026 review, the IEA forecasts that world demand could pass 110 million tonnes by 2030 under policies already in place. New uses would make up one third of the growth and more than 4% of demand1.

Low-emission hydrogen demand could pass 5 million tonnes by 2030. The IEA states that this is far from the targets governments announced in the early 2020s1. Announced projects for 2030 have shrunk to 27 million tonnes a year. Projects likely to run by 2030 fell from 10 to just over 6 million tonnes a year1.

According to the IEA, the war in the Middle East, which began on 28 February 2026, could have a large effect on the outlook1.

Sources

  1. 1

    International Energy Agency, 2026. Global Hydrogen Review 2026 , Executive summary pp. 9-14; Middle East effects p. 21; Box 1.1 p. 20; targets p. 31; geological hydrogen pp. 36-42; demand pp. 44-57; transport p. 62; production pp. 83-85, 106; costs pp. 110-116; RED transposition p. 133; trade p. 143; policy p. 194; definitions pp. 257-258.

    Hydrogen demand, production routes, costs, emissions, trade and natural hydrogen for 2025.

    • global hydrogen demand in industry reached 57 Mt in 2025 ... about 60% of this demand was for ammonia production, 30% for methanol and 10% to produce direct reduced iron (DRI)
    • Global hydrogen demand in refining reached 44 Mt in 2025
    • Global hydrogen demand in industry reached 57 Mt in 2025 … about 60% of this demand was for ammonia production, 30% for methanol and 10% to produce direct reduced iron (DRI)
    • global production of ammonia required around 34 Mt of hydrogen … global methanol production corresponded to a hydrogen demand of 16 Mt in 2025
    • the majority of the ammonia was used to produce fertilisers
    • Methanol is used for the production of other chemicals, such as olefins used in plastics
    • We do not include estimations of historical use of small amounts of hydrogen in applications like glassmaking, electronics and metal processing
    • New applications such as biofuels production, transport, power generation or new industrial uses surpassed 1% of global demand for the first time … biofuels production accounts for almost three-quarters
    • fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) stock grew 20% in 2025, to almost 130 000
    • the use of hydrogen as a reducing agent in 100%-hydrogen DRI
    • global production of low-emissions hydrogen from fossil-based pathways reached 0.7 Mt in 2025
    • increases costs from USD 0.4/kg H2 to more than USD 1/kg H2 … from over USD 3/kg H2 to values that can reach well above USD 10/kg H2
    • hydrogen use is expected to be very small due to the existence of more efficient
    • production costs for renewable hydrogen below USD 2/kg H2 by 2030 in several regions in northern China
    • By 2030, global hydrogen demand could reach more than 110 Mt, with new applications accounting for one-third of the growth … more than 4% of global demand
    • potentially reaching over 5 Mt by 2030. However, this is still far from the targets that governments announced in early 2020s
    • has shrunk to 27 Mt by 2030 … declined from 10 Mt to just above 6 Mt
    • the conflict in the Middle East that began on 28 February 2026 could have a significant impact on this trend
  2. 2

    U.S. Geological Survey, 2026. Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026: Nitrogen (fixed), ammonia , World ammonia production table.

    World ammonia production in 2025, in nitrogen content.

    • Data in thousand metric tons, nitrogen content … World total (rounded) … 160,000
  3. 3

    International Renewable Energy Agency and World Trade Organization, 2024. Enabling global trade in renewable hydrogen and derivative commodities , Introduction; Market overviews (hydrogen, ammonia).

    World hydrogen production of about 95 Mt a year and emissions of about 1.3 Gt CO2-eq.

    • about 45% of global hydrogen demand used in ammonia production
  4. 4

    Royal Society of Chemistry, 2026. Hydrogen: element information, properties and uses .

    History, uses and biological role.

    • hydrogenate oils to form fats, for example to make margarine … a protective atmosphere for making flat glass sheets … a flushing gas during the manufacture of silicon chips
    • It is also used to remove sulfur from fuels during the oil-refining process
    • Hydrogen can also be produced by the electrolysis of water
  5. 5

    BASF, 2026. 1913: First ammonia synthesis plant .

    Start of the first ammonia synthesis plant at Oppau.

    • The task is accomplished in 1913 when the first ammonia synthesis plant goes into operation
  6. 6

    International Energy Agency, 2025. Global Hydrogen Review 2025 , pp. 42, 80, 112, 218.

    Production in 2024, refining uses and the US 45V deadline.

    • Hydrogen is primarily used to hydrotreat products to remove impurities (especially sulphur) and in hydrocracking to upgrade heavier oil fractions into lighter products
  7. 7

    U.S. Department of Energy, Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office, 2026. Hydrogen Storage .

    Energy content of hydrogen per kilogram and per liter.

    • 120 MJ/kg for hydrogen versus 44 MJ/kg for gasoline … liquid hydrogen has a density of 8 MJ/L whereas gasoline has a density of 32 MJ/L