EU Commission to unveil 2050 carbon neutrality strategy
The European Commission will present its hydrogen strategy today in Brussels, aimed at meeting the EU’s target of carbon neutrality by 2050.
The strategy intends to boost the EU’s current $2.2 billion hydrogen market turnover to an ambitious $157 billion by 2030. It is part of the larger EU Green Deal and will serve as a roadmap with a two-track hydrogen focus. The first is on ‘green’ hydrogen—non-carbon fuel output from electrolysis. However, as only 4% of EU’s output is ‘green’, the key strategy is to stimulate ‘blue’ hydrogen production—generated through carbon capture from fossil fuel usage—as a bridging mechanism. The Clean Hydrogen Alliance, announced early this year, will supplement this by strengthening transnational supply chains through six CEO roundtables.
With Germany’s leadership, the strategy is likely to increase EU energy security, elicit regulatory commitments from members and focus on decarbonising industries like aviation and shipping. The resultant increase in demand and investment in these sectors is projected to create 140,000 jobs by 2030. However, this will require immediate bankable projects that present mid-term investment opportunities. Environmental lawmakers are concerned that the pivot towards ‘blue’ hydrogen as the scalable option puts the future of hydrogen renewables in the hands of the fossil fuel industry, slowing the switch to cleaner ‘green’ hydrogen. While pilot projects have demonstrated infrastructural impediments, it is likely that iron and steel industries will provide huge demand as they rely less heavily on pan-regional frameworks.
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