Taxonomy
In early 2022 – notably before the Russian invasion of Ukraine – the gas sector had been delighted when Brussels decided that natural gas and nuclear energy are sustainable. Chairman of the German gas and water industries association DVGW Gerald Linke said at the time: “The EU Commission’s proposal shows both consideration and foresight: Investment security creates the necessary conditions for the continued reliable and affordable supply of heat, power and fuels to 450 million EU citizens. […] The gas infrastructure in Germany is critical to the success of the energy transition in connection with the essential use of hydrogen.”
AFIR decision
On Oct. 19, 2022, meanwhile, members of the European Parliament voted in favor of the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation or AFIR, demonstrating their agreement with the targets proposed by the European Parliament’s transport committee. In doing so they endorsed the recommendations put forward by report author Ismail Ertug and his colleagues from the Committee on Transport and Tourism. One such suggestion is that in future the maximum allowable distance between individual hydrogen refueling stations in Europe should be fixed at 100 kilometers (62 miles).
Hydrogen Europe called the decision to adopt the AFIR proposal “a clear signal that clean hydrogen mobility is a practical and realistic solution to move away from fossil fuels in the transport sector.” The association reckons that up to 1,780 hydrogen filling stations could be made available across Europe by the end of 2027 as a consequence. These stations could supply up to 59,000 hydrogen trucks, six times more than had been originally planned. The hope is that the construction of sufficient numbers of hydrogen filling stations will encourage vehicle manufacturers to bring more fuel cell vehicles onto the market at an earlier date.
Jorgo Chatzimarkakis, CEO of Hydrogen Europe, seemed equally pleased with the result of the vote on another legal act – FuelEU Maritime. He said: “Today’s vote represents the parliament’s strong position and one that goes further than the commission’s proposals and sends a positive signal for the introduction of hydrogen in road and maritime transport.”
Transformation of the automotive industry
The likelihood and extent to which the German economy ministry is interested in taking a different political approach compared with previous times can at least be partially inferred from the makeup of a new committee of experts. Initiated at the end of June 2022, the 13-member working group entitled “Transformation of the automotive industry” is part of the strategy platform set out in the coalition agreement that is dealing with the readjustment of the automotive and mobility sector. Its members, who were appointed by minister Robert Habeck for this legislative period, include relatively few representatives from large automotive concerns (only the VDA automotive industry association and VW Commercial Vehicles), yet four university professors and two representatives from research institutes. Nonetheless 30 percent of its members are women. The group’s task is to smooth the way for around 15 million fully electric cars to be on the road by 2030.
Author: Sven Geitmann
0 Comments
Trackbacks/Pingbacks