A human rights group that claims to have successfully lobbied the EU to drop funding for gas pipelines has released a scathing indictment of the EU's regulatory approach to blue hydrogen, warning it will make Europe as dependent on energy imports as in the past by 2030 and 2021 .

However, the oil industry-backed lobby group Hydrogen4EU, which advocates for the production of 28 million tonnes of blue hydrogen in the EU, UK and Norway by 2030, told Recharge that the Global Witness report was "misleading". The sweeping reforms to REDII proposed by the European Commission would increase member states' renewable energy targets to 40% of primary energy by 2030, including a target to decarbonize 50% of hydrogen production for use as a chemical feedstock, and 2.6% The H2 target for the transport sector.

According to a proposal currently being pushed by European Parliament Rapporteur Markus Pieper - the designated author of the policy proposal - on renewable energy, member states would be allowed to use blue hydrogen to achieve these goals, overturning the Previous regulations that only counted green hydrogen. Similar concessions would apply to the gas package, allowing blue hydrogen to enjoy the same energy infrastructure privileges as green hydrogen.

The Global Witness brief warned that this would spur a massive expansion of blue hydrogen across the continent, with a gas shortage in Europe of 303 billion cubic metres by 2030. This has to be resolved through imports, which could undermine the EU's commitment to ending purchases of Russian gas by the end of the century, it added.

However, EU figures show the group imported 337.5 billion cubic metres in 2021, casting doubt on the group's claims. Hydrogen4EU, whose members include Shell, BP, ExxonMobil and Total, also questioned Global Witness' calculations, telling Recharge that the NGO overestimated the amount of gas needed to make 28 million tonnes of blue hydrogen by about 18 percent.

Its Graphical Pathway to Net-Zero Emissions report, released more than a year ago, predicts that the share of natural gas in the energy mix will remain stable, with a spokesperson noting that gas import dependence is expected to rise even if blue hydrogen does not materialize in the Panel Scenario. Production outlined in . However, Hydrogen4EU acknowledged that the report did not take into account the crisis in Ukraine, adding optimistically that tight supply could lead to a revival of domestic gas production in Europe.

Ukraine effect

In fact, the scarcity of fossil gas following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, as well as long-term pressures on gas production related to the energy transition and the Covid-19 pandemic, are likely to hinder the development of blue hydrogen EU regulations. How much blue hydrogen is going to be produced in Europe now because it is getting rid of a third of its current gas supply and the current demand is short of gas, let alone making blue hydrogen," independent energy consultant Alex Barnes told Recharge. "The only possibility is The exception is the conversion of current grey hydrogen production to blue hydrogen use, as both will use natural gas. "Keywords: engineering construction, engineering news

Global Witness called on the EU to focus only on green hydrogen, saying: “Policy support for renewable hydrogen, made from renewable electricity and virtually carbon-free, would have huge carbon benefits if carefully targeted to the right industries.” Fossil hydrogen is Made from fossil gas, it releases unacceptably high climate heat emissions during production, even when 'carbon capture' devices are used to curb emissions. "Editor/XingWentao