C 15/66
EN
Official Journal of the European Union
12.1.2022
Wednesday 19 May 2021
low-carbon hydrogen — could be considered for a transitional period to promote decarbonisation through hydrogen where that is vital in order to preserve the competitiveness of end users; notes the need to ensure that the compensation remains proportionate and to avoid the duplication of subsidies for both production and use, the creation of artificial needs and undue market distortions; calls for the swift development of a pilot scheme for CCfD, in particular for clean steel; highlights that public procurement of sustainable solutions, such as green steel for construction or renovation, can also contribute to tangible and predictable demand; stresses that demand-focused policies should be consistent with other policy measures and subject to a thorough impact assessment to avoid negative effects on energy-intensive industries facing international competition;
41.
Notes that there are obstacles in some of the current regulatory frameworks to the use of hydrogen; encourages the Commission and the Member States to adapt those regulatory frameworks in order to stimulate hydrogen demand and to eliminate disincentives such as legal uncertainties;
42.
Urges the Commission to promote lead markets for renewable hydrogen technologies and their use for climate-neutral production — especially in the steel, cement and chemical industries — as part of the update and implementation of the New Industrial Strategy for Europe; calls on the Commission to assess the option of recognising steel produced with renewable hydrogen as a positive contribution to meeting fleet-wide CO2 emission reduction targets; further urges the Commission to soon come forward with an EU strategy for clean steel, which should include an appropriate focus on the use of renewable hydrogen;
43.
Recalls that the transport sector is responsible for a quarter of CO2 emissions in the EU and is the only sector where emissions have not been reduced compared to the 1990 baseline; underlines the potential of hydrogen to be one of the instruments used to reduce CO2 emissions in transport modes, in particular where full electrification is more difficult or not yet possible; stresses that the deployment of refuelling infrastructure is necessary to boost hydrogen use in the transport sector; underlines, in that regard, the importance of revising the TEN-T (trans-European transport network) Regulation (20) and the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Directive to ensure the availability of publicly accessible hydrogen refuelling stations across the EU by including concrete objectives to integrate hydrogen infrastructure in transport systems; welcomes the Commission’s intention to develop hydrogen refuelling infrastructure under the Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy and to review the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Directive; further underlines the need to create synergies between TEN-T, TEN-E and alternative fuel strategies, leading to a phased deployment of hydrogen filling stations accompanied by the essential technical requirements and harmonised standards based on a risk assessment;
44.
Underlines that hydrogen’s characteristics make it a good candidate to replace fossil fuels and reduce greenhouse gas emissions for certain types of transport; stresses that the use of hydrogen in its pure form or as a synthetic fuel or biokerosene is a key factor in the substitution of fossil kerosene for aviation; further underlines that hydrogen is, to a limited extent, already used in the transport sector, in particular in road transport, public transport and specific segments of the railway sector, especially where electrification of the line is not economically feasible; stresses that stronger legislation is needed to incentivise the use of zero-emission fuels, as well as other clean technologies, including renewable hydrogen, and, once they are fully available, possibly to start using them in heavy-duty vehicles and for aviation and maritime transport;
45.
Calls on the Commission to increase research and investment within the framework of the Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy and to assess whether the Renewable Energy Directive needs to be revised in order to ensure a level playing field for all renewable energy solutions in transport;
Research, development, innovation and financing
46.
Stresses the importance of research, development and innovation along the whole value chain and of carrying out demonstration projects on an industrial scale, including pilot projects, and of their market uptake, in making renewable hydrogen competitive and affordable and in completing the integration of the energy system, while ensuring geographical
(20)
Regulation (EU) No 1315/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2013 on Union guidelines for the development of the trans-European transport network and repealing Decision No 661/2010/EU (OJ L 348, 20.12.2013, p. 1).