'All efforts should be made to avoid hydrogen heating — and blending should be a last resort', EU Parliament agrees
MEPs vote to make it easier for H2 to access gas networks but compromise allows existing boilers to be classed as non-fossil fuel equipment
Hydrogen: hype, hope and the hard truths around its role in the energy transition
Members of the European Parliament’s Industry, Research and Energy Committee (ITRE), acting on behalf of the wider body, voted to allow hydrogen to be transported in existing gas network infrastructure and across borders in a system overseen by the natural-gas industry, in the shape of the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Gas, rather than a new body proposed by the European Commission.
“Hydrogen should be prioritised for feedstock, raw material or energy purposes in hard-to-decarbonise industries such as steel or chemicals and hard-to-decarbonise maritime and aviation applications,” the document says.
“Conversely, all efforts should be made to avoid the use of hydrogen for applications where more energy or cost efficient alternatives exist.”
“The blending of hydrogen into the natural gas system should be a last resort solution, as it is less efficient compared to the use of using hydrogen in its pure form and diminishes the value of hydrogen,” the document states. “It also affects the operation of gas infrastructure, end-user applications, and the interoperability of cross-border systems.
“Member States should therefore prioritise the production and use of renewable and low-carbon hydrogen in their pure form in the hard-to-decarbonise sectors, such as in industry and transport applications. However, all efforts should be made to avoid the use of hydrogen for applications with regard to which more energy-efficient alternatives exist, such as the heating of buildings, and the production of hot water for sanitary use and of low-grade heat for industrial processes.”
The amended directive also left room for blue hydrogen derived from natural gas with carbon capture and storage, even though this Is clearly not the parliament’s preference.
“Renewable hydrogen is the only option with the EU’s climate neutrality and zero pollution goal in the long term and the most coherent with an integrated energy system,” it states.
“However, renewable hydrogen production is not likely to scale fast enough to meet the expected growth in demand for hydrogen in the [European] Union.
“Therefore, low-carbon fuels (LCFs) such as low-carbon hydrogen (LCH) may play a role in the energy transition in line with the Union climate targets, particularly in the short and medium term to rapidly reduce emissions of existing fuels, and support the transition of the Union’s industry in hard-to-decarbonise sectors in which more energy or cost-efficient options are not available, including in heavy-duty transport.”
And it adds: “Low-carbon gases should be regarded as transitional as long as renewable gases, in particular renewable hydrogen, are a scarce source.”
EU directives have to be agreed by the three parties — the European Parliament, the European Commission and the 27 member states acting as the European Council — so parliamentary votes carry considerable weight.
“This vote is the next step towards a climate-neutral Europe,” said Jens Geier, a German socialist MEP that led the work on this directive. “The European Parliament allows — in contrast to the Commission’s proposal — more certainty for investments in hydrogen infrastructure based on the existing natural gas grid, instead of imposing restrictions on investment.”
His colleague, Jerzy Buzek, a Polish Christian Democrat who led the work on the directive's regulations, added: “The age of hydrogen is coming. To make it happen in the EU, we need a stable and well-balanced regulatory framework, financial support as well as investments in new infrastructure. With this legislation, we are preparing it.
“The fight against climate change and moving away swiftly from all Russian energy sources as a response to the criminal invasion of Ukraine, both require us to accelerate our clean and just energy transition and adapt the market. We want to boost the development of biomethane and create incentives for producers and consumers to switch to green and low-carbon hydrogen.”
“Member States shall introduce measures to ensure that the use of fossil fuel heating systems in new buildings is not authorised from [date yet to be specified],” it states.
But it adds that “boilers certified to run on renewable fuels and other technical building systems not exclusively using fossil fuels… shall not be considered fossil heating systems”.
Campaigners say that the boiler compromise will ensure that Europeans will be locked into imported gas and soaring energy bills for decades to come, with consequences for the climate.
“The greenlighting of boilers is scandalous; it would lock us in with expensive fossil fuel gas in our homes — much of which comes from Russia,” said Davide Sabbadin, deputy policy manager for climate at The European Environmental Bureau, a network of 180 citizens’ organisations.
“And with hydrogen shaping up to be inefficient and expensive, the dream of these boilers being green in future just isn't realistic.
“It’s not fair to the European people to go on this way; we need the EU to support a swift transition to alternatives like electric heat pumps in combination with energy renovations.”
The amended directive also states that all new buildings and all publicly owned buildings should be zero-emission from 2028 and 2026, respectively, while residential buildings undergoing major renovation have until 2032 to comply — with some exemptions.
Ciarán Cuffe, the Irish Green MEP who led the work on the EPBD, said: “We want the EPBD to reduce energy poverty, bring down emissions, and provide better indoor environments for people’s health. This is also a growth strategy for Europe that will deliver hundreds of thousands of good quality, local jobs in the construction, renovation, and renewable industries, while improving the well-being of millions of people living in Europe.”
Hydrogen Europe, the Brussels-based trade association, welcomed both directives, arguing: “The European Parliament is moving in the right direction by allowing hydrogen-based heating solutions to contribute to the monumental task of decarbonising buildings.”
Hydrogen Europe CEO Jorgo Chatzimarkakis added: “The position adopted today by ITRE members is a big step towards the establishment of hydrogen as a traded commodity and as a crucial energy carrier in the campaign for net zero.
“It is now up to the [European] Council to develop its general approach in line with the ambition of MEPs and industry, and to shore up all remaining issues in this important legislative package.”
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