EU States Remain Divided Over 'Low Carbon' Hydrogen in EU Transition

The European Union's plans to increase its use of renewable energy in order to achieve carbon neutrality by the middle of the century have been hindered by disagreements over the role of hydrogen in the transition.

France and eight other EU member states are calling for the European Commission to include hydrogen made by so-called “low carbon” technologies, like nuclear, in the bloc’s Renewable Energy Directive, according to a letter from economy and energy ministers to the bloc’s executive branch. The term “low carbon” is also seen as including hydrogen produced by gas with the emissions captured, in addition to renewable energy.

The European Union sees hydrogen as a major pillar of its efforts to slash emissions 55% by the end of the decade. Hydrogen produces only water as a byproduct when burnt, making it a clean fuel source. However, disagreement over which fuels are used to produce hydrogen – and how clean they are in turn – is threatening to undermine talks over boosting renewable energy in the bloc.

Germany is opposing the efforts to expand sources of hydrogen, meaning discussions are deadlocked between the two camps, according to people familiar with the matter. However, senior officials say that publishing rules classifying renewable hydrogen could help the two sides to reach an agreement.

"A renewable-only approach would limit the speed of development of a hydrogen economy to the pace of renewable energy sources, leaving untapped potential for low-carbon hydrogen production," said a letter addressed to energy commissioner Kadri Simson and internal market commissioner Thierry Breton. "Opposing low-carbon is a collective dead-end which endangers our goal to reach carbon neutrality by 2050."

The European Union is working to reach a deal on the directive before the summer. A key element will be whether the bloc boosts the target for clean technology’s share of energy consumption to 45% by the end of the decade, as proposed by the European Commission. Member states are currently advocating for a lower 40% goal.

The bloc aims to produce 10 million tons of green hydrogen by 2030, with the same amount imported from abroad. In addition to France, Romania, Bulgaria, Poland, Slovenia, Croatia, Slovakia, Hungary and the Czech Republic were set to be the other signatories of the letter.