The journey to climate neutrality will not be easy and the ability to produce zero emissions gases (largely ‘green’ hydrogen) isan important part of the decarbonisation toolbox. The European Commission aims to address the future of hydrogen in an ‘EU Hydrogen Strategy’. Current policy and regulatory processes are not well suited to making meaningful decisions on this issue. The hydrogen strategy should be seen as an opportunity for a new regulatory and planning approach.
Significantuncertainty over future cost,availability of and need for hydrogenmakes it difficult to take planning and market regulation decisions. Many studies published cloud this uncertainty by presentingsingle point estimates for costs and volumesor omitting crucial factors(e.g. methane emissions or CCS infrastructure costs).
The prospect of risky binary decisionsmeans there is often a focuson “wait and see” and “pilot projects”which isnot sufficient for the scale and speed of the transition needed. Strengthening Europe’s ability to carry outevidence-basedwhole energy system analysis, acceleratelearning and manage risksis requiredto enable climate neutrality and the deployment of hydrogen.
