The European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA), Hydrogen Europe, and the International Road Transport Union (IRU) called on the European Union to increase investment in hydrogen refuelling infrastructure for fuel cell electric vehicles, in a joint statement issued on 10 October.
The three organisations “came together to sign a statement urging the next European Commission and newly-elected MEPs to provide the right framework to support the roll-out of hydrogen infrastructure across the entire EU”, the statement said.
This declaration calls in particular for a revision of the European directive on the deployment of alternative fuel infrastructure (2014/94), to include mandatory targets for hydrogen, to develop new financial instruments for investments in hydrogen-related infrastructure and to put in place a strategic plan for the pan-European deployment of hydrogen vehicle infrastructure.
According to ACEA's Director-General Eric-Mark Huitema, while fuel cell vehicles show “strong potential to help make the transition to zero-emission mobility”, this potential can only be fully achieved if a “a network of hydrogen refuelling stations [is built] right across Europe”. “Today, there are just 125 hydrogen stations in the EU, so there is much work to be done in the coming years”, he emphasised.
For Jorgo Chatzimarkakis, Secretary General of Hydrogen Europe, in order for hydrogen to contribute to lowering the carbon footprint of the transport sector, it is necessary to establish in advance “the right legal framework to incentivise the production of low carbon or renewable hydrogen, and the respective fuelling infrastructure”.
Indeed, while it is widely accepted that there is significant potential for hydrogen to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, it will only be fully utilised if hydrogen is produced mainly from renewable energies and not from carbon sources. (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)