No place for hydrogen in the decarbonisation of buildings – NGO letter

Europe has plans to renovate some 35 million homes and public buildings in the coming years, making them more energy efficient to reduce their massive carbon footprint and keep people warm.

Hydrogen has been often looked at as a solution to help decarbonise the sector. However, because of current production costs and limited availability, hydrogen should rather be used to replace the use of fossil fuels in Europe’s most energy-intensive industries and transport, where electrification may be more challenging.

In this letter, we ask Commission Vice-President Frans Timmermans to ensure the EU executive prioritises energy efficiency and technologies based on renewable energy (such as heat pumps) for the decarbonisation of Europe’s buildings, rather than hydrogen.