Europe Needs Clean Hydrogen – and a Reality Check on the Policies to Deliver It

‘Clean hydrogen’ – hydrogen produced with low lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions – offers a critical pathway to decarbonise parts of the EU economy, particularly harder-to-abate sectors that are difficult or unable to electrify. As a zero-carbon energy carrier, it does not generate greenhouse gas emissions when burned, making it a uniquely useful means of decarbonising certain processes.

Yet, despite the EU publishing its bloc-wide Hydrogen Strategy four years ago, domestic ‘renewable’ hydrogen production remains woefully insufficient to meet decarbonisation goals. As we approach the halfway point to the EU’s 2030 clean hydrogen goals, a reality check is urgently needed on these goals and plans to ensure clean hydrogen is in fact developed and deployed in an optimal manner.

The new legislative term provides a critical moment to update the EU Hydrogen Strategy and spearhead a clean hydrogen roadmap toward 2050, so that implementation of a sustainable clean hydrogen market is achievable in and across Member States.