Wednesday

31st May 2023

Industry covertly takes charge of EU's hydrogen alliance

  • With a lobbying group as the secretariat, it appears that industry is in the driver's seat when it comes to the EU's hydrogen policy (Photo: National Renewable Energy Lab)

A fossil fuel-backed lobby group has covertly taken charge of an EU flagship proposal to reduce carbon emissions.

Launched over the summer by three EU commissioners, the so-called European Clean Hydrogen Alliance came with promises of openness and transparency.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

But although not stated anywhere on the alliance's website, EUobserver has since learned that the Brussels-based Hydrogen Europe, a fossil fuel-supported lobbying umbrella group, is now acting as its secretariat.

Asked to comment, Hydrogen Europe says it had not received any explicit request to take on the role.

"Whilst Hydrogen Europe has not received explicitly any request, since the launching of the alliance, HE [Hydrogen Europe] has mobilised members and non-members and other associations to take part in the initiative," it said, in an email.

This includes dedicating staff to handle logistics like setting up a website, preparing meetings with the industry, and disseminating the result of those meetings to the wider public.

The European Clean Hydrogen Alliance has yet to become fully operational.

But Hydrogen Europe's role sends a signal the industry may press fossil-fuel solutions on hydrogen - an energy source the EU is pushing to help reduce carbon emissions.

At the July launch of the event, commission vice-president Frans Timmermans described hydrogen as "the rock star of energy."

An EU commission official, who asked not to be named, broadly echoed Hydrogen Europe's new position.

"It has the technical knowledge to organise the operational work on hydrogen," said the source, noting a code of conduct is currently being finalised.

It remains unclear why no selection procedures were used to admit and promote Hydrogen Europe's leadership bid into the alliance.

Asked to explain, the commission said the group had "demonstrated a clear commitment (signed by more than 90 CEOs) to enable the large-scale production and deployment of renewable hydrogen."

The alliance is currently composed of some 200 companies plus dozens of other organisations.

But civil society and green NGOs working on climate change remain sceptical.

So far only three have joined - including a Ukraine-based group that provides no detail on who is behind it.

'Mind boggling'

"How Hydrogen Europe could become the secretariat - I find that mind boggling," said Tara Connolly of Friends of the Earth Europe, an NGO.

"We are talking about EU subsidies or state aid, preferential regulatory treatment. There is nothing stopping from someone going off and doing whatever they want," she said of the alliance.

She noted that when the alliance was initially conceived, it had a governing board. That board has since been replaced by "CEO roundtables".

"It isn't very clear and is seriously lacking in transparency," Connolly said, adding that Friends of the Earth Europe has no intention of joining.

There is also big money involved.

Estimates suggest some €430bn will be needed by 2030 to scale up hydrogen demand, infrastructure, and production.

And the European Commission says unproven technologies like carbon capture and storage (CCS) will be needed to transition into cleaner energy.

Such statements are likely enticements for a fossil fuel industry that has spent some €250m lobbying the EU institutions over the past decade.

In July, Hydrogen Europe's secretary general Jorgo Chatzimarkakis spelled out his vision for the alliance.

"Many people are asking why is it industry-led, and why do you have CEOs foreseen for that? Because we need fast decisions," he asked, rhetorically.

Chatzimarkakis noted some one-third of the €430bn would be public money, with the rest pooled from private investments.

He also claimed a major portion would go into renewables like solar and wind.

"We are happy that we see the high-level backing of the European Commission, but in fact we also see there are fields in which we need to invest where there is no legislation," he said.

Hydrogen strategy criticised for relying on fossil fuel gas

Civil society organisations criticised that the commission is relying on early-stage technologies that require the continued use of fossil fuels, undermining the EU's 2050 climate-neutrality target set in the Green Deal.

Opinion

Revealed: fossil-fuel lobbying behind EU hydrogen strategy

As with the German government – which presented its own hydrogen strategy last month – the European Commission and other EU institutions appear to be similarly intoxicated by the false promises of the gas industry.

EU 'climate bank' won't rule out carbon capture

The European Investment Bank has billed itself as the world's largest climate change action financier as it plans to phase out gas, oil and coal projects. It has, however, not ruled out backing carbon capture and storage technologies.

Gas and oil spent €250m lobbying EU

BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil, Shell, Total, and their lobby firms have spent over €250m in lobbying the EU to water down climate goals since 2010, a new study shows.

Lobbyists push to greenwash EU rules for renewable hydrogen

A new report from NGO Global Witness reveals how the Hydrogen Europe industry association is lobbying top EU officials to weaken a key climate-focused law known as the Renewable Energy Directive - currently under revision.

Investigation

Hydrogen - the next battlefield

Part Two of Investigate Europe's long-form examination of the EU gas industry looks at hydrogen - touted as the clean, green, future. But with NGOs sidelined, and industry leading the push, how sustainable is it really?

EU: national energy price-spike measures should end this year

"If energy prices increase again and support cannot be fully discontinued, targeted policies to support vulnerable households and companies — rather than wide and less effective support policies — will remain crucial," the commission said in its assessment.

Opinion

EU export credits insure decades of fossil-fuel in Mozambique

European governments are phasing out fossil fuels at home, but continuing their financial support for fossil mega-projects abroad. This is despite the EU agreeing last year to decarbonise export credits — insurance on risky non-EU projects provided with public money.

Latest News

  1. Europe's TV union wooing Lavrov for splashy interview
  2. ECB: eurozone home prices could see 'disorderly' fall
  3. Adapting to Southern Europe's 'new normal' — from droughts to floods
  4. Want to stop forced migration from West Africa? Start by banning bottom trawling
  5. Germany unsure if Orbán fit to be 'EU president'
  6. EU Parliament chief given report on MEP abuse 30 weeks before sanction
  7. EU clashes over protection of workers exposed to asbestos
  8. EU to blacklist nine Russians over jailing of dissident

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. International Sustainable Finance CentreJoin CEE Sustainable Finance Summit, 15 – 19 May 2023, high-level event for finance & business
  2. ICLEISeven actionable measures to make food procurement in Europe more sustainable
  3. World BankWorld Bank Report Highlights Role of Human Development for a Successful Green Transition in Europe
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersNordic summit to step up the fight against food loss and waste
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersThink-tank: Strengthen co-operation around tech giants’ influence in the Nordics
  6. EFBWWEFBWW calls for the EC to stop exploitation in subcontracting chains

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. InformaConnecting Expert Industry-Leaders, Top Suppliers, and Inquiring Buyers all in one space - visit Battery Show Europe.
  2. EFBWWEFBWW and FIEC do not agree to any exemptions to mandatory prior notifications in construction
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersNordic and Baltic ways to prevent gender-based violence
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: Economic gender equality now! Nordic ways to close the pension gap
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: Pushing back the push-back - Nordic solutions to online gender-based violence
  6. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: The Nordics are ready to push for gender equality

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us