H2Tech - Q1 2022 - 15

REGIONAL REPORT: EUROPE
Striving to net-zero: Europe bets big
on H2
to decarbonize the region
LEE NICHOLS, Editor-in-Chief/Associate Publisher
For decades, Europe has been the leader in establishing new
directives and initiatives to promote cleaner transportation fuels
and power generation. Over the past few years, the region
had made significant strides to establish and expand the use of
H2
within the European Union's (EU's) borders. This initiative
was the result of the Paris Agreement drafted at COP21 in 2016.
The aim of the agreement-which has been ratified by nearly
190 countries, representing nearly 97% of global emissions-
is to reduce global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to limit
global warming to 1.5°C-2°C in this century.1,2
To combat GHG emissions in the EU, the region has and
will continue to invest heavily in new H2
production and infrastructure
capacity. According to the European Commission
(EC), H2
least 55% by 2030 and reach net-zero emissions by 2050.3
H2 does not produce carbon dioxide (CO2
is forecast to reduce Europe's GHG emissions by at
Since
) when used, it can
be an efficient feedstock for power generation and for use in the
industrial and transportation sectors to mitigate, and eventually
eliminate, carbon emissions. The EU intends to create a vast H2
supply/value chain to help decarbonize the EU's industrial, mobility
and energy sectors to reach net-zero goals by 2050.
According to the EC's H2
strategy,4
phased approach for implementing H2
of renewable H2
(e.g., H2
the EU will conduct a
infrastructure and production
to 2050. These phases include:
* Phase 1 (2020-2024): Install at least 6 GW of
renewable H2
electrolyzers to produce up to 1 MMtpy
. This phase includes scaling up
electrolyzer production and capacity, the start of
H2
framework for the EU's H2
sector.
* Phase 2 (2025-2030): Install at least 40 GW of
renewable H2
10 MMtpy of renewable H2
. Photo courtesy of Zero Carbon Humber.
electrolyzer capacity to produce up to
. Due to the scale-up of clean
OPENING PHOTO: View of the Saltend Chemicals Park in the UK. The park is part of the Zero Carbon Humber project, which will see industrial
and commercial industries powered by green H2
H2Tech | Q1 2022 15
infrastructure builds for the transportation sector
fueling stations), and finalizing a regulatory

H2Tech - Q1 2022

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