Dr. Hans-Jürgen Witschke: “The national hydrogen strategy must set the right course because the industry needs enormous amounts of hydrogen at affordable prices and in high quality on its way to the climate targets.”
The VIK Verband der Industrielle Energie- und Kraftwirtschaft eV supports the Federal Government’s plan to strengthen the role of hydrogen as a raw material and energy source and to use the associated economic opportunities.
“Hydrogen, with its numerous fields of application, is an important key for achieving the climate targets set, especially for industry. For the decarbonization of industrial processes with the help of hydrogen, but also for example to build a CCU circular economy, we need enormous amounts of hydrogen, “explains Dr. Hans-Jürgen Witschke, general manager of the VIK.
Currently, the production capacities are still far too small and the production of hydrogen is clearly too expensive, not least because of the burden of taxes and duties. “The National Hydrogen Strategy must keep this in mind and now set the right course: First, an adequate supply of hydrogen must be ensured.
To this end, the expansion of renewable energies in Germany and the establishment of nationwide infrastructures must be urgently pushed ahead in order to enable the production of CO2-neutral hydrogen in the long term. At the same time, strategic energy partnerships with foreign countries should be concluded, since the future need for hydrogen cannot be met by domestic production. Second, the legal framework must be designed in such a way that hydrogen production can be carried out as cheaply as possible.
The use of hydrogen can only be economically demonstrated if the price of hydrogen drops significantly. “We need internationally binding standardization early on to build up international hydrogen trading. We need an internationally connectable classification system that is based on the CO2 footprint of hydrogen in addition to the currently common color theory, ”says Dr. Hans-Jürgen Witschke.
VIK Association of the Industrial Energy and Power Industry eV
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