Federal Minister of Economics Habeck sees great potential in green technology for a climate-neutral economy. Together with Great Britain, Germany now wants to push ahead with the expansion.
Germany and Great Britain want to work more closely together on the expansion of so-called green hydrogen. A hydrogen conference is planned for Tuesday in Berlin. Great Britain already emphasized the expansion of renewable energy in a national hydrogen strategy a good two years ago. “The plan is to establish an industrial hydrogen market based on the model of the British offshore wind industry,” said the federal foreign trade agency Germany Trade and Invest. Hydrogen should also be exported to the EU. Green hydrogen is used when electricity from renewable energy sources is used to produce it.
Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck sees enormous economic potential in the development of hydrogen technology in Germany. Hydrogen should play a central role in the transition to a climate-friendly restructuring of the economy, for example in the steel industry. However, most of the hydrogen has to be imported. On the other hand, hydrogen should serve as an energy source and thus also as an energy storage device. In Great Britain, expanding hydrogen production is seen as an important step towards achieving the British zero emissions target by 2050.
Scotland is promoting hydrogen deliveries to Germany
There are high hopes, especially in Scotland, that the direct export of hydrogen to the EU could not only open up lucrative sources of income, but also accelerate the transition from fossil fuels. Top Scottish politicians had repeatedly pointed out the great potential of the British part of the country and increasingly promoted deliveries to Germany. In the past few months, several business delegations from German federal states traveled to Scotland.
So far, the northernmost part of the UK has financed itself primarily from oil and gas exploration in the North Sea. The British central government in London, which recently announced new funding, wants to keep hydrogen exports in its own hands. It is also about curbing Scottish hopes that contracts with the EU will be seen as support for the independence movement.
Source: Stern
