French and German industry associations (France Industrie, MEDEF, BDI) are insisting on the importance of integrating low-carbon hydrogen into negotiations over the gas and hydrogen market regulation, in a joint non-public document obtained by EUROPE on Tuesday 6 December.
The signatories want to secure the entire low-carbon hydrogen value chain, from the integration of low-carbon production to the hydrogen transport infrastructure via public and private structures.
There is a fear among German industrialists that co-legislators in particular will favour fossil-free hydrogen. “However, this exclusive focus on renewable hydrogen puts the rapid uptake of a hydrogen market in the EU at risk and ignores the fact that both renewable and low-carbon hydrogen can efficiently help decarbonise the existing hydrogen consumption”, the joint paper reads.
Indeed, according to the latter, many European countries already have a low-carbon electricity mix, which they believe to be a “considerable” advantage for the production of low-carbon hydrogen by means of electrolysis. “Considering the emergency of limiting global warming, the European Commission shall not limit the hydrogen market to renewable hydrogen”. All three organisations believe that all technologies that enable the production of renewable and low-carbon hydrogen should be allowed.
To consult the document: https://aeur.eu/f/4i8 (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)