Hydrogen will play a pivotal rolein helping Europe to achieve its goals of climate neutrality. This was themessage of Executive Vice President Designate of the European Commission, FransTimmermans, at the Stakeholder Forum of ‘Fuel Cell and Hydrogen JointUndertaking (FCH JU)’ on 21 November. His comments come as discussionsintensify around the potential of hydrogen to support Europe’s transitiontowards climate neutrality, with falling renewable energy prices andadvancements in hydrogen production technologies.
Commenting on the recentdevelopments, Cefic Executive Director for Climate Change andEnergy, Charles-HenriRobert said:“We believe that the future of the European chemical industry – especially inthe transition towards climate neutrality – will be closely linked to thedevelopment of a hydrogen economy, as our industry is both a major producer andconsumer of hydrogen.”
For the chemical industry,hydrogen is already today a widely used raw-material. However, the climatepotential of hydrogen depends on its production method. “Today, the conventional hydrogen production(natural gas converted intohydrogen via Steam Methane Reforming) contributes largely to our sector’semissions. The industry has already today the technical abilities to produceclimate-friendly hydrogen via alternative production methods, but the cost ofproduction remains too high compared to the conventional hydrogen production.”
To unlock the potential of climate-friendly hydrogen, the European Union needs a Hydrogen Strategy that foremost supports alternative production methods, making climate-friendly hydrogen affordable. Once the business case for climate-friendly hydrogen is realised, with reduced production costs and supporting infrastructure, Cefic sees that climate-friendly hydrogen could also help to lower the greenhouse gas footprint of the chemical industry.
Developing and deploying climate-friendly hydrogen on a large scale will require carefully crafted policy support, but with the right conditions, the chemical industry can help make a European hydrogen economy a reality. “We live interesting times as the Commission is considering policy proposals, in which hydrogen could play a central role. At Cefic, we look forward to working with the next Commission to ensure the production and use of clean hydrogen across Europe will succeed,” Robert concluded.