Relevant climate neutrality scenarios identify hydrogen as an important energy carrier for achieving climate neutrality. Low-carbon – blue – hydrogen from non-renewable energy sources is increasingly becoming the focus of discussion. This is also shown by the currently consolidated EU delegated act on low-carbon hydrogen, which defines the emission limits. Although the German government ascribes a role to low-carbon hydrogen as a bridging technology in the market ramp-up, no direct support for production is planned. There are no explicit production targets at either national or EU level. Domestic production and storage in Germany would require legislative adjustments and the expansion of the CO₂ infrastructure.
The techno-economic analysis shows that the production costs for low-carbon hydrogen from natural gas with capture and storage could be between €3.4 and €3.9/kg H₂, depending on the scenario. It is clear that the production costs are characterized to a greater extent by operating costs than by investment costs. A CO₂ capture rate of 95% would comply with the currently discussed emission threshold of around 3.4 kg CO₂-eq/kg H₂. These and other aspects are examined in the research report “Low-Carbon Hydrogen: A techno-economic and regulatory analysis”, with the financial support of the Förderinitiaitve Wasserstoff der Gesellschaft zur Förderung des Energiewirtschaftlichen Instituts an der Universität zu Köln e.V..
