25/01/2024 (Agence Europe) – In an interview with the German newspaper Handelsblatt on Tuesday 23 January, the Executive Director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), Fatih Birol, warned against optimism about the production of green hydrogen. He stated that “only 7% of the world’s hydrogen projects will be completed by 2030” and that the costs will remain very high. He acknowledged that “hydrogen will certainly become more important, but first we have to create the demand for it in order to reduce costs”. He also warned against excessive expectations, which could distract attention from the more important issues to be resolved. During the interview, Mr Birol also returned to Germany’s decision to close all its nuclear power plants (the last of which close in 2023), describing it as a “historic mistake”. (PLD)