The European Environmental Bureau is pleased to invite you to the webinar series Gasflix: Popping the Hydrogen Bubble.

The hype about gas as transition fuel, the so-called “blue” hydrogen and the Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), is gaining momentum. Even European Commissions’ Vice-president Timmermans has declared that gas will play a major role in the EU decarbonization effort and that fossil-based gas will play a role in the first decade.

Few voices doubt this narrative. Yet, the EU Strategy on Hydrogen presented by the Commission on 8 July, together with the Energy System Integration Strategy fails to address some crucial questions such as: lock-in into solutions from the past, the actual costs of a massive infrastructure reconversion, the environmental impacts beyond climate and the import dependency.

For those who support CCS, it looks like it is a “now or never” moment to promote this technology, as the combination with so-called “blue” hydrogen would release the huge amount of funds which have been lacking in the past. This narrative is already influencing the allocation of EU Green Deal funds and the Recovery Plan (including InvestEU and the Just Transition Mechanism), which still foresees loopholes to keep financing gas infrastructure in Europe, as does the current Taxonomy under the Sustainable Finance strategy.

It is time for a reality check on fossil-based hydrogen and CCS.

Episode 1: How much hydrogen do we need to be Net Zero by 2040? 18 November 2020, 15:00-16:00

Jonathan Bonadio will tell you how we worked together with the grid operators to sketch a reliable scenario for going 100% green on energy production in the EU by 2040, focusing on hydrogen needs and capacity.

Episode 2: The false dilemma: why a low carbon economy is good for the planet and for employment. 15 December 2020, 10:00-11:00

Riccardo Nigro will inspect the policy strategies needed to ensure the workforce reskilling that our move to a decarbonized economy requires

Episode 3: Hydrogen for industry: how and when? TBC

Davide Sabbadin will investigate what a green-hydrogen-for-industry project looks like and the role of H2 in steelmaking decarbonisation

Episode 4: What are the environmental impacts of blue hydrogen? TBC

Margherita Tolotto and Sara Johansson will lead a discussion on the often overlooked environmental impacts of blue hydrogen on water use and air quality.

Episode 5: What are some overlooked social aspects? TBC

Barbara Mariani will lead us through the allocation of funds to the different hydrogen value chains and their implications.

These events are addressed mainly to EEB members and other civil society organisations.