The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government on Thursday gazetted a bill to regulate the safe use of hydrogen fuel as part of the city’s efforts to transition to clean energy.

The Gas Safety (Amendment) Bill 2025 aims to amend the Gas Safety Ordinance to establish a regulatory framework governing the importation, manufacture, storage, transport, supply and use of hydrogen that is used or intended to be used as fuel.

"The government has been actively promoting the development of hydrogen energy in Hong Kong," said a spokesperson for the HKSAR government.

"Establishing a comprehensive and holistic regulatory framework to regulate the use of hydrogen as fuel can enhance public confidence in hydrogen safety and create an environment conducive to the local development of hydrogen energy in Hong Kong.” 

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The spokesperson said the framework covers a range of safety aspects, including gas quality, safety of installations and facilities, and personnel and emergency handling. 

The bill will also provide a clear legal framework and stable regulatory environment for the local hydrogen energy industry, enabling both local and international investors to develop hydrogen-related businesses in Hong Kong with greater confidence, the spokesperson added.

As part of the city's plan to attain carbon neutrality by 2050, Hong Kong aims to slash its carbon emissions to 50 percent of its 2005 levels by 2035, a target that includes ending coal use for daily electricity generation; promoting electric vehicles; and achieving zero landfill use.

The HKSAR government promulgated the Strategy of Hydrogen Development in Hong Kong in June 2024, setting out the four major strategies to capitalize on the environmental and economic opportunities brought about by the development of hydrogen energy in the country and around the world.

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Hong Kong has already made some progress in promoting the application of hydrogen energy in recent years. Citybus introduced Hong Kong’s first double-deck hydrogen bus and built a hydrogen filling station in West Kowloon.

In late November last year, the Environment & Ecology Bureau said that the Inter-departmental Working Group on Using Hydrogen as Fuel approved four more applications of trial projects on hydrogen fuel technology.

These included a project submitted by Sinopec (Hong Kong) involving the production of hydrogen with solar energy at the restored Pillar Point Valley Landfill in Tuen Mun.