The German government will soon adopt the National Hydrogen Strategy and make Germany a pioneer in green hydrogen and hydrogen technology.
“However, an early commitment to certain technologies and sectors, as the federal government’s draft provides, is not expedient,” says Schäfer-Stradowksy, managing director of the IKEM – Institute for Climate Protection, Energy and Mobility. “This makes it more difficult to start up the hydrogen economy as an economic engine and miss another chance to permanently achieve our climate goals.” From the IKEM’s point of view, the following three points are central to the successful establishment of a hydrogen (energy) economy in Germany:
1. Technology and sector openness
We do not need special funding for special technology, such as water electrolysis with renewable energies, the strategy must take into account the entire range of colors. The benchmark should be the CO 2 footprint and ultimately the Paris Agreement.
When properly designed, the market decides which sector buys hydrogen and which does not. At this point it is simply not possible to predict where hydrogen will be used later. Excluding the building sector and parts of the transport sector as a whole reduces the market potential without need.
2. Diversity of actors
The time of the small steps with which we approached the topic of hydrogen (energy) economy is over. Now we need more than special rules for network operators to operate power-to-x systems and some large real laboratories. We are ready to take the next big step. In the end, it must be possible for all levels, from small and medium-sized companies, to corporations and municipalities, to large infrastructure operators, to participate.
3. Legal security
The hydrogen strategy alone does not change anything, the measures must also be implemented in our laws. Above all in the EnWG, EEG, in emissions trading, in tax laws and in funding guidelines. This requires broad government consensus and staying power. Otherwise the effect of the paper will remain manageable.
Source: IKEM
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