Activities of Jens GEIER related to 2020/2242(INI)
Reports (1)
REPORT on a European Strategy for Hydrogen
Amendments (36)
Amendment 6 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 5 a (new)
Citation 5 a (new)
- having regard to the Commission communication of 19 November 2020 entitled ‘An EU Strategy to harness the potential of offshore renewable energy for a climate neutral future’ (COM(2020)0741),
Amendment 8 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 15 a (new)
Citation 15 a (new)
- having regard to the opinion of the European Committee of the Regions of 1 July 2020 on ‘Towards a Roadmap for Clean Hydrogen – the contribution of local and regional authorities to a climate-neutral Europe’
Amendment 19 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
Aa. whereas the European Parliament has endorsed the target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 60% by 2030;
Amendment 32 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
Ba. whereas clean alternatives to fossil fuels are needed to be able to phase out fossil fuels as soon as possible, fight against energy poverty and ensure the competitiveness of the European industry, and clean hydrogen can be such an alternative;
Amendment 46 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C a (new)
Recital C a (new)
Ca. whereas hydrogen could supply up to 20% of European energy demand by 2050, between 20% and 50% of energy demand in transport and between 5% and 20% of total energy consumed in industry1; _________________ 1European University Institute and European Commission
Amendment 52 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C b (new)
Recital C b (new)
Cb. whereas the current cost of clean and low-emission hydrogen is around 2,5 to 5,5 EUR per kg, while the costs of producing fossil fuel based hydrogen is about 1,50 EUR per kg1; whereas 95% of EU hydrogen production is currently done through steam methane reforming2; whereas the current electricity mix in most Member States would produce an electricity-based hydrogen with higher emissions than fossil-fuel based hydrogen; _________________ 1aEuropean Commission (2020): A hydrogen strategy for a climate-neutral Europe. 1b European Commission: Hydrogen generation in Europe: Overview of key costs and benefits, July 2020
Amendment 55 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C c (new)
Recital C c (new)
Cc. whereas a competitive and sustainable hydrogen economy is an opportunity for the EU to strengthen its economy, especially after the economic downturn due to COVID-19; whereas it can create up to 1 million direct high- quality jobs by 2030 and 5.4 million by20501; whereas this can be an opportunity in particular for regions who are currently heavily dependent on traditional sources of energy and that risk poverty once fossil fuels are phased out; _________________ 1 European Commission (Joint Research Centre), Hydrogen use in EU decarbonisation scenarios
Amendment 63 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Stresses the need to maintain and further develop European technological leadership in clean hydrogen13 through a competitive and sustainable hydrogen economy with an integrated hydrogen market; emphasises the necessity of a European hydrogen strategy that covers the whole hydrogen value chain, including the demand and supply sectors, and is coordinated with national efforts to bring down the costs of clean hydrogen; welcomes, therefore, the hydrogen strategy for a climate-neutral Europe proposed by the Commissionemphasises that the hydrogen economy needs to be in line with the Paris Agreement, the European climate and energy targets for 2030 and 2050, the circular economy, the action plan for critical raw materials and the UN Sustainable Development Goals; welcomes, therefore, the hydrogen strategy for a climate-neutral Europe proposed by the Commission and the growing number of national hydrogen strategies and regional initiatives; underlines that these strategies need to be aligned with the National Energy and Climate Plans; urges the swift and ambitious implementation of such strategies; _________________ 13 According to the Commission, ʻclean hydrogenʼ refers to hydrogen produced through electrolysis of water with electricity from renewable sources. It may also be produced through reforming of biogas or biochemical conversion of biomass, if in compliance with sustainability requirements.
Amendment 71 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Highlights that hydrogen-derived products such as synthetic fuels produced with renewable energy constitute a carbon-neutral alternative to fossil fuels and can therefore significantly contribute, among other emission-reduction solutions such as electrification, to the defossilisation of a wide variety of sectors; stresses that a cross-sectoral application, including road transport, is vital to reduce the price of these energy carriers significantly through economies of scale and to ensure sufficient market volume.
Amendment 72 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Recognises the efforts undertaken by hydrogen valleys in various regions throughout the EU in developing integrated, cross-sectoral clean hydrogen value chains; underlines their important role in initiating the production and application of clean hydrogen towards a European clean hydrogen economy; urges the Commission to build on these initiatives, and to support their development and cooperation for pooling their know-how and investments;
Amendment 74 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 b (new)
Paragraph 1 b (new)
1b. Underlines the significant amount of natural resources such as water needed for hydrogen production and the problems this may cause for water scarce regions in Europe; stresses, therefore, the importance of increasing resource- efficiency and careful resource- management for clean hydrogen production;
Amendment 89 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Is convinced that only clean hydrogen is sustainably contributing to achieving climate neutrality in the long term; notes with concern that clean hydrogen is not yet competitive with fossil fuel-based or low-carbon hydrogen; thus urges the Commission and Member States to incentivise the value chain and market uptake of clean hydrogen;
Amendment 111 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Underlines the urgent need for European standards, certification and labelling systems for clean hydrogen and guarantees of origin for hydrogen and renewable electricity aligned with national registries to ensure that consumers can choose clean solutions consciously and thus minimise the risk of stranded investments; believes that clean hydrogen should be determined according to an independent, science-based review of its lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions; calls on the Commission to provide a regulatory framework as early as possible in 2021;
Amendment 124 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Is strongly convinced that public acceptance is key to the successful creation of a hydrogen economy; stresses, therefore, the importance of public and stakeholder involvement and European safety and technical standards for hydrogen, and high- quality hydrogen solutions respecting those standards; further highlights that the safety protocols in demand sectors need to be updated continuously with regards to hydrogen use;
Amendment 154 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8a. Calls on the Commission to include the legal requirements for a European sustainable hydrogen economy in its impact assessment regarding the revision of relevant legislation to deliver on the increased climate ambition and to increase the economic attractiveness of clean hydrogen; encourages the Commission to especially look into the Renewable Energy Directive, Energy Taxation Directive and the Emissions Trading System Directive;
Amendment 157 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 b (new)
Paragraph 8 b (new)
8b. Highlights the importance to incentivise clean hydrogen production, including financially, through innovative solutions such as feed-in premiums for clean hydrogen;
Amendment 162 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Notes that, in order to build up a sustainable hydrogen economy fast enough to reach our climate goals, low-carbon hydrogen can play a transitional role, especially in regions heavily reliant on fossil-fuels and to timely decarbonise fossil based hydrogen; calls on the Commission to assess in which cases, for how long and how much of this hydrogen would be needed approximately for decarbonisation purposes until solely clean hydrogen can play this role; underlines that the use of low-carbon hydrogen should contribute to European climate goals and should not hamper the development and deployment of clean hydrogen or lead to path dependency on low-carbon hydrogen and stranded assets;
Amendment 172 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9a. Stresses the importance of phasing out and replacing fossil fuel based hydrogen as soon as possible with low- carbon hydrogen, focussing on the cleanest technologies in terms of greenhouse gas emissions, and then with clean hydrogen; encourages the Commission to make sure that the market price of fossil fuel based hydrogen internalises the cost of its greenhouse gas emissions during production and to revise the ETS accordingly;
Amendment 175 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9a. Encourages the Commission and the Member States to assess specific solutions in order to ramp up the hydrogen production in less connected or isolated regions, such as islands, while ensuring the development of the related infrastructure;
Amendment 181 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Underlines that a clean hydrogen economy requires significant additional amounts of affordable renewable energy and the corresponding infrastructure; calls on the Commission and the Member States to step up their efforts in this regard and, to abolish taxes and levies on renewable electricity; and to avoid double-charging of taxes on electricity generated from hydrogen facilities at the EU level, while simultaneously removing tax and levy exemptions from fossil fuels; welcomes the Commission’s plans to increase the renewable energy target for 2030 and the offshore renewable energy strategy;
Amendment 204 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Emphasises the timely need for hydrogen production, storage and transport infrastructure and the parallel development of demand and supply; highlights the importance of developing hydrogen networks with non-discriminatory access; welcomes, in this respect, the Commission’s intention to review Regulation No 347/2013 of 17 April 2013 on guidelines for trans- European energy infrastructure (the TEN-E Regulation)15 and calls for the introduction of hydrogen networks and the repurposing of gas infrastructure in the TEN-E Regulation; notes that, despite the concentration on industrial clusters in the first phase, the planning of infrastructure for transmission over longer distances, distribution infrastructure and its regulation should already be undertaken to avoid stranded costs; notes that this can be done by e.g. including hydrogen infrastructure planning in European long-term planning like the Ten-Year Development Plans; stresses that further data should be collected with the support of stakeholders and relevant authorities like ACER to determine which infrastructure would be needed and where; _________________ 15 OJ L 115, 25.4.2013, p. 39.
Amendment 219 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 a (new)
Paragraph 11 a (new)
11a. Suggests to make cost-benefit calculations for the location of clean hydrogen transport and production infrastructures to minimise costs for consumers; highlights cost-benefits of placing production facilities close to production sites of renewable energy or on-site, especially for small consumers, and linking different demand sectors;
Amendment 238 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Encourages the Commission and the Member States to ensure that any new gas infrastructure is suitable for the transportation of hydrogen and to assess the possibility of repurposing existing gas pipelines for the transport of pure hydrogen in order to maximise cost efficiency and minimise investment costs and levelised costs of transmission;
Amendment 262 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Highlights that, in order to achieve a fast market uptake of clean hydrogen and to avoid carbon lock-ins, demand for clean hydrogen must increase; acknowledges that the initial focus of hydrogen demand should be on sectors for which the use of hydrogen is close to competitive or that currently cannot be decarbonised by other means; believes that for these sectors roadmaps for demand development, investment and research needs should be established at European level; agrees with the Commission that demand-side policies such as quotas for the use of clean hydrogen in specific sectors and carbon contracts for difference (ʻCCfDʼ) are necessary to promote decarbonisation through clean hydrogen; urges the swift development of a pilot scheme for CCfD, in particular for clean steel;
Amendment 273 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 a (new)
Paragraph 13 a (new)
13a. Urges the Commission to review current legislation to eliminate disincentives like legal uncertainties for clean hydrogen for demand sectors;
Amendment 274 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 b (new)
Paragraph 13 b (new)
13b. Stresses that refuelling infrastructure is needed for hydrogen use in transport; underlines the importance of revising the TEN-T Regulation and the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Directive to include hydrogen; further underlines that stronger legislation is needed to incentivise the use of zero-emission fuels including clean hydrogen in heavy-duty vehicles, aviation and maritime;
Amendment 278 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 c (new)
Paragraph 13 c (new)
13c. Urges the Commission to promote lead markets for green hydrogen technologies and systems 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 clean hydrogen as a bonus or eco-innovation for the fleet targets of the EU regulations on CO2 emission performance standards for road vehicles; urges the Commission to soon come forward with the EU strategy for clean steel, which should include an appropriate focus on the use of clean hydrogen;
Amendment 282 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 d (new)
Paragraph 13 d (new)
13d. Highlights that public procurement can also contribute to tangible and predictable demand;
Amendment 288 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Stresses the importance of research, development and innovation along the whole value chain and of demonstration projects on an industrial scale in order to make clean hydrogen competitive; believes that involving SMEs and equipping workers with adequate knowledge about hydrogen are of the utmost importance; regrets that training, up-, and reskilling strategies and a just transition towards a hydrogen-ready workforce do not play a role in the EU hydrogen strategy so far; calls on the Commission to raise data about the possible impacts, opportunities and challenges in the transformation of industry, transport and energy towards the scaling-up of hydrogen; calls on the Commission and the Member States to develop sectoral transformation strategies in this regard, together with the industry and trade unions; suggests the launch of a European skills partnerships on clean hydrogen under the Pact for Skills;
Amendment 302 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Underlines that significant amounts of investment, as well as de-risking of clean hydrogen investments are needed to make clean hydrogen competitive, and that European programmes and financing instruments such as the Recovery and Resilience Facility, Horizon Europe, the Connecting Europe Facility, InvestEU and the ETS Innovation Fund have a key role in fostering a clean hydrogen economy; deeply dnotes with concern that the State of the Energy Union 2020 replores the Council’s cuts affecting these instrumentt showed the necessity to counter the decrease in research and innovation investments in clean energy technologies; calls on the Commission to develop a coordinated investment strategy for clean hydrogen aligned with national research and innovation strategies on hydrogen;
Amendment 322 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Welcomes the European Clean Hydrogen Alliance and the EU Hydrogen Forum, while calling to include a balanced representation of stakeholders, including Trade Unions and NGOs, and the Important Projects of Common European Interest (IPCEIs) as important means to enhance investment in clean hydrogen; encourages the Alliance to come up with an investment agenda and a project pipeline that can ensure the implementation of the hydrogen goals set by the Commission as soon as possible; welcomes the Commission’s plan to revise the State aid guidelines for environmental protection and energy to include clean hydrogen;
Amendment 340 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Stresses the work of the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH JU); asks the Commission to use it as a competence centre for clean hydrogen and provide it with sufficient financial resources;
Amendment 346 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Believes that the importing of clean hydrogen may become necessary to cater to European demand; calls on the Commission to establish mutually beneficial cooperation with neighbouring regions; stresses the need to ensure fair competition between imported and domestic hydrogen; calls on the Commission to engage in an open and constructive dialogue to establish mutually beneficial cooperation with neighbouring regions such as North Africa; underlines that this cooperation should also be beneficial for creating clean and new technology markets, enhancing the transition to renewable energy and achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals;
Amendment 361 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 a (new)
Paragraph 18 a (new)
18a. Underlines that priority should be given to building a clean hydrogen supply chain in Europe to foster first mover advantages, industrial competitiveness and security of energy supply;
Amendment 375 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 a (new)
Paragraph 19 a (new)
19a. Considers that hydrogen should become part of the European international cooperation including cooperation in international organisations like IRENA or the Clean Energy Ministerial meetings, research cooperation, climate diplomacy and neighbourhood policy;
Amendment 377 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Underlines the need for an integrated energy system in order to achieve climate neutrality by 2050; believes that the integration of the electricity, gas and hydrogen grid is beneficial for a well-functioning hydrogen and energy market; notes therefore that the development of the hydrogen economy should not lead to imbalances for the energy system as a whole; welcomes the inclusion of hydrogen in the Commission’s Strategy for Energy System Integration; believes that clean hydrogen can play a key role in terms of energy storage to balance intermittent renewable energy supply and demand; notes, however, that the use of hydrogen as an energy storage is not competitive yet due to high production costs; underlines thus again the necessity to bring down costs for clean hydrogen production and to promote a level playing field for flexibility and balancing solutions across the energy system; encourages the Commission to analyse options and capacities for hydrogen storage;