In a joint statement on Monday 23 June, 17 industrial players called on the European Commission to urgently correct the latest copy of the draft delegated act on low-carbon hydrogen (see EUROPE 13643/12), arguing that it would make the production of low-carbon hydrogen and fuels “excessively difficult, if not practically impossible”.
This delegated act, resulting from the Gas Directive (see EUROPE 13455/26), defines a method for calculating greenhouse gas emissions for low-carbon hydrogen and its derivatives. In particular, the signatories believe that the copy does not fully highlight the best performance in terms of GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions, pointing out the high default values for the GHG footprint.
They also raise other points of concern, such as the accounting of hydrogen emissions from methane separation, the implementation of provisions relating to the methane regulation, the recognition of carbon capture and storage in third countries and the inclusion of low-carbon fuels in the EU database.
In their view, the EU should learn the lessons of the ‘RFNBO’ delegated act defining renewable hydrogen (see EUROPE 13220/35), which has created “a lot of uncertainty, instability and delay”.
To see the statement: https://aeur.eu/f/hi6 (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)