Scholz ups global hydrogen ambitions, dwarfs EU initiative, plan to invest more than €4 billion into H2Global.
Speaking in Egypt, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced extra funding for the government’s global hydrogen funding instrument, H2Global, to facilitate the global market ramp-up.
Hydrogen, currently produced almost entirely by burning fossil fuels and somewhat damaging to the climate, does not emit CO2 when burned. If made using renewable sources, it can be considered “green.” The odourless and invisible gas has become a beacon of hope for economies hoping to decarbonise.
German Scholz, German Chancellor said during a roundtable titled “Investing in the Future of Energy: Green Hydrogen” at COP27:
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Green hydrogen is the key to decarbonising our economies, especially for hard-to-electrify sectors such as steel production, the chemical industry, heavy shipping and aviation.
About 75 million tonnes of fossil-based hydrogen are already produced annually and usually used locally. Yet, Scholz said, “green hydrogen is not some distant future fantasy.”
To speed up the way there, Germany has rallied the wealthiest industrial nations.
“During our current [German] G7 presidency, we agreed on a hydrogen action pact to accelerate the market ramp-up of low carbon and renewable hydrogen and derivatives,” Scholz highlighted.
The G7 hydrogen action plan is considered controversial for its recognition of low-carbon hydrogen, an alternative term for “blue” hydrogen, where the rising CO2 emissions are captured and stored. “Blue” hydrogen can be just as bad for the climate than burning the gas used for its production, is dependent on high CO2-capture rates and less energy efficient than just burning the gas for energy.
Germany’s steel makers and chemical industry, like world leader BASF, are hungry for hydrogen.
“We are adapting our plans for domestic production of green hydrogen from five gigawatts to ten gigawatts of electrolyser capacity by 2030,” Scholz noted.
“This will only meet one-third of the expected demand. The majority needs to come from abroad.”
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Scholz ups global hydrogen ambitions, dwarfs EU initiative, November 9, 2022
