Hydrogen is crucial for the EU’s sustainable prosperity – but vision alone won’t get us there

The EU's current clean hydrogen strategy faces a significant gap between aspiration and achievement, with renewable hydrogen accounting for less than 0.4% of total supply. The authors advocate for a broader definition of clean hydrogen that includes carbon capture-enabled reforming, methane pyrolysis, and nuclear-powered electrolysis to improve scalability and affordability. They recommend prioritising hydrogen for hard-to-electrify sectors like chemicals, steel, shipping, and aviation, while steering residential heating and passenger vehicles toward direct electrification. To overcome high costs—where clean hydrogen can reach €17 per kilogram compared to €3.5 per kilogram for unabated hydrogen—the document calls for additional subsidies and the development of centralised production-consumption hubs to reduce expensive transportation.

• The EU's progress in renewable hydrogen production is minimal, with electrolytic hydrogen making up less than 0.4% of the total hydrogen supply five years after the EU Hydrogen Strategy was published. Consequently, the targets to produce 10 million tonnes domestically and import 10 million tonnes by 2030 are described as "increasingly unattainable".
• High costs are a primary barrier to deployment; clean hydrogen averages €7 per kilogram, while conventional unabated hydrogen costs €3.5 per kilogram, with some clean projects reaching €17 per kilogram. The EU Hydrogen Bank is noted as being "insufficient to close the funding gap".

APA

Carr, A., & Pozvek, M. (2025). Hydrogen is crucial for the EU’s sustainable prosperity – but vision alone won’t get us there. Clean Air Task Force. https://www.catf.us/2025/03/hydrogen-is-crucial-for-the-eus-sustainable-prosperity-but-vision-alone-wont-get-us-there/

Chicago

Carr, Alex, and Maja Pozvek. Hydrogen is crucial for the EU’s sustainable prosperity – but vision alone won’t get us there. Clean Air Task Force, 2025. https://www.catf.us/2025/03/hydrogen-is-crucial-for-the-eus-sustainable-prosperity-but-vision-alone-wont-get-us-there/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Carr |first1=Alex |last2=Pozvek |first2=Maja |title=Hydrogen is crucial for the EU’s sustainable prosperity – but vision alone won’t get us there |publisher=Clean Air Task Force |date=31 March 2025 |url=https://www.catf.us/2025/03/hydrogen-is-crucial-for-the-eus-sustainable-prosperity-but-vision-alone-wont-get-us-there/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{carr2025hydrogen, author = {Carr, Alex and Pozvek, Maja}, title = {{Hydrogen is crucial for the EU’s sustainable prosperity – but vision alone won’t get us there}}, publisher = {Clean Air Task Force}, year = {2025}, month = mar, url = {https://www.catf.us/2025/03/hydrogen-is-crucial-for-the-eus-sustainable-prosperity-but-vision-alone-wont-get-us-there/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }