The EU Hydrogen Strategy will give a boost to clean hydrogen production in Europe. Hydrogen can be used as a feedstock, a fuel or an energy carrier and storage, and has many possible applications which would reduce greenhouse gas emissions across industry, transport, power and buildings sectors. The Commission’s economic recovery plan ‘Next Generation EU’ highlights hydrogen as an investment priority to boost economic growth and resilience, create local jobs and consolidate the EU’s global leadership. It is an important part of the solution to meet the 2050 climate neutrality goal of the European Green Deal.
Today, the amount of hydrogen used in the EU remains limited, and it is largely produced from fossil fuels. The aim of the strategy is to decarbonise hydrogen production - made possible by the rapid decline in the cost of renewable energy and acceleration of technology developments - and to expand its use in sectors where it can replace fossil fuels.
This stockshot shows three examples of hydrogen use: a hydrogen-powered vessel, the production and use of hydrogen from wind turbine electricity, and the construction of the world’s largest electrolyser for producing hydrogen from renewable sources.