New strategic agenda published for a European hydrogen economy

Transnational initiative in the European Research Area involves science, industry and civil society in an effort to accelerate the upscaling of the hydrogen economy.

On the initiative of the German Federal Government, experts from throughout Europe jointly identified the most pressing issues of research and innovation on green hydrogen at European level and compiled them in a Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA). The project was coordinated by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). Now the SRIA has been presented to the Innovation Commissioner for Green Hydrogen at the BMBF, Stefan Kaufmann. The Agenda provides the basis for launching concrete steps towards implementation at a hybrid conference on 16 and 17 May. SRIA can be found here.

Background

The European Agenda Process on Green Hydrogen is a pilot initiative of the new European Research Area (ERA) which was adopted during the German Council Presidency in 2020 as part of the reorientation of the European Research Area (ERA) and on which Germany worked closely with its Trio partners Portugal (first half of 2021) and Slovenia (second half of 2021). The conclusions of the European Competitiveness Council on the new European Research Area of 1 December 2020 called on the Commission and interested Member States to carry out an agenda process for a green hydrogen R&I ERA pilot action in 2021. The development of a green hydrogen R&I ERA pilot action is also part of the European Research Area Policy Agenda 2022 – 2024 action 11 “An ERA for Green Energy Transformation”. The aim of the Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA), which was developed in close cooperation with the EU Member States and the European Commission, is to accelerate the development of a competitive European hydrogen economy.

The Agenda Process brings together science, industry, civil society and public administration on a voluntary basis to identify the most pressing needs for research on green hydrogen as an inter- and transdisciplinary community. The Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) coordinated the Agenda Process which involved experts from 27 European countries. They gathered ideas and questions in initial drafts and worked over several months to draw up coordinated position papers. Industry, science and civil society participated via a Europe-wide public online consultation process. Austria, Bulgaria, Italy and Germany held thematic workshops in the fields of transport and infrastructures, market stimulation and production to flesh out the identified positions.
Green hydrogen is crucial for decarbonization in major sectors such as the German steel and chemical industries or in aviation, shipping and heavy goods traffic. It is thus a key element of sustainable European transformation. Furthermore, hydrogen technology offers diverse potential for value creation and may develop to become a core business area for the German and European export industry.

The new Clean Hydrogen Partnership has recently published its first calls for proposals. More information can be found here.

If you have further questions or are interested, please contact Dr Panteleimon Panagiotou, Head of the Department ICT, Natural & Engineering Sciences or Dr Thomas Ammerl, Head of the Department Environment, Energy & Bioeconomy at the following e-mail address: .

Source: BMBF