According to a government analysis, Australia is no longer a global leader in the development of a clean hydrogen economy and urgently needs to advance critical projects.
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The Association of Municipal Companies (VKU) in Germany has raised concerns over the feasibility of the government’s plans to switch to hydrogen gas networks in 2024. VKU Managing Director Ingbert Liebing has warned that the “rigid specifications” in the current draft of the Building Energy Act (GEG) could lead to a failure of the heat transition plans of the Federal Government. Liebing criticized the “rigid requirements” for around 500 municipal utilities with regard to gas and district heating, which he believes are counterproductive and have the opposite effect.
Europe’s largest steel group, ArcelorMittal, is planning to construct a pilot plant for climate-neutral steel production in Hamburg. The company is relying on the expansion of the Hanseatic city into a hydrogen metropolis, without which CEO Uwe Braun says the plan will not work. According to Braun, the company needs “affordable and available” green hydrogen, which is currently not readily accessible.
Morocco’s King Mohammed VI has given instructions for the development of a “Morocco Offer” in the green hydrogen sector, with the aim of accelerating the process of decarbonization of the Moroccan economy.
Calabria, a region in southern Italy, had ambitious plans to lead the experimentation of new hydrogen trains, as part of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) to restart the economy after Covid-19. However, a recent setback has put a significant dent in those plans, as the tender for the supply of eight hydrogen trains, worth a total of 109.6 million euros, has gone unawarded.
Electric trucks are becoming more and more prevalent. Yet, no one has requested funding to buy a hydrogen vehicle in a recent round of subsidies, indicating that driving on hydrogen is not very common. The cabinet is still spending millions on the development of hydrogen truck filling stations, nevertheless.
For Japan’s G7 Presidency, the IEA has produced a wide range of new analysis on important energy and climate topics, including reports on hydrogen, steel, renewables integration, and natural gas. It has also contributed to discussions on important minerals, clean energy supply chains, energy efficiency, and lowering emissions from road transport.
According to the recently published report State of Hydrogen 2022, hydrogen power, the fuel of the future that is intended to support a significant portion of Australia’s and the world’s green fuel supply, is still just a pipe dream.
Federal Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger recently travelled to Southern Africa with a delegation of German experts from the DECHEMA Gesellschaft für Chemische Technik und Biotechnologie e.V. and the ISOE – Institute for Social-Ecological Research to look into the development of a hydrogen economy in Namibia and South Africa.
Global Insight Services’ Global MENA Green Hydrogen Market study is the single most reliable source of information on the MENA Green Hydrogen Market.
