engleski

VIABILITY OF THE HYDROGEN-BASED ECONOMY: OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES IN THE EUROPEAN UNION

Drastic climate change is the result of burning fossil fuels in the last two hundred years primarily to meet our energy needs. Fossil fuels still participate with 72% of the EU’s energy mix, while the remaining energy sources consist of nuclear energy with a share of 13%, bioenergy and waste with a share of 10%, and other renewable sources with a share of 5%. On a global scale, this ratio is even worse and stands at 80% in favour of fossil fuels. (IEA, European Union 2020, Energy Policy Review, 2020). Therefore, considerable effort is being put into the global energy transition, which will, through decarbonisation, achieve long-term sustainable development of mankind. Apart from renewable energy sources, an important role in this energy transition will be that of alternative clean fuels. The aims of this paper are to explore the role of green hydrogen in the energy transition, as well as the advantages and challenges of the hydrogen-based economy as set by the EU, and its prospects for imposing and phasing out today’s economy based on fossil fuels. The EU recognised all hydrogen potentials for achieving set decarbonisation goals and for boosting the EU economy. Although the potentials for hydrogen application are numerous, this paper shows the complexity and challenges of the energy transition. Though developing a hydrogen economy depends on the specific features and potentials of each member state, the research results show a number of business opportunities in this field. Hence, after several unsuccessful attempts in the past, clean hydrogen could finally play a fundamental role in deep emissions reduction, especially in hard to-abate sectors, however, not as a complete substitute for fossil fuels but instead just one of several possible decarbonisation alternatives. The EU has moved one step forward and announced that it would become the first carbon-neutral continent in the world. In order to meet this objective, the EU sees hydrogen as an integrating force within the energy system as well as an energy carrier which will make it possible to employ renewable energy sources in most current sectors. This paper will explain these trends and the role that hydrogen can play in implementing them.

energy, transition, renewable energy, hydrogen, economy, decarbonisation

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