Post-oil economies: Can hydrogen save the Gulf?

Since the discovery of oil in Bahrain in the 1930s, the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) states have come to depend heavily on oil and gas revenues to fund government spending and underpin the social contract between the rulers and their populations.

Now global efforts to reduce carbon emissions threaten to undermine that economic model, leaving Gulf governments scrambling to develop alternative industries and sources of revenue. One possible solution is the development of hydrogen – an idea that is being pursued by Oman, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and others.