Green hydrogen: robbing ‘electricity Peter’ to pay ‘transport Paul’?

(EurActiv, 21 Jun 2021) An upcoming EU Delegated Act should stipulate that green hydrogen be produced from additional renewables, argues Geert De Cock.

Geert De Cock is the electricity and energy policy manager at sustainable transport group Transport & Environment.

Do you know the expression “robbing Peter to pay Paul”? It refers to a 16th-century event whereby the assets of a church with patron Saint Peter were used to pay for repairs of the cathedral of Saint Paul.

The expression generally means that a person borrows or even steals money from someone to settle a debt owed to another person. Needless to say, this is not prudent financial management, as the person will have to keep stealing or borrowing money to pay off an ever-increasing number of debts. Today, we’d maybe refer to it as a Ponzi scheme.

This old expression came to mind while thinking about green hydrogen, made from renewables. If electrolysers source renewable electricity from the grid, isn’t this a bit like “robbing Peter to pay Paul”?

The net effect of diverting renewable electrons away from powering our homes or electric cars towards an electrolyser to produce green hydrogen would be that flexible sources of power will fill the gap left behind.

External link

EurActiv, 21 Jun 2021: Green hydrogen: robbing ‘electricity Peter’ to pay ‘transport Paul’?

More Related News

hydrogen

12 Apr 2024: Shift to hydrogen networks: EU Parliament adopts laws for new gas era

8 Mar 2024: Germany's plans for a hydrogen network are oversized, critics say

13 Feb 2024: Will hydrogen overtake batteries in the race for zero-emission cars?

13 Feb 2024: Hydrogen hype: Why the EU should be cautious about uncertain imports from far-flung places

6 Feb 2024: Berlin agrees diminished plan for hydrogen back-up power plants

30 Jan 2024: Green hydrogen is the only viable route for aviation and shipping

26 Jan 2024: Railroad transport of Germany’s hydrogen imports a key component of cost-efficient industry – report

16 Jan 2024: ‘Gold’ hydrogen: natural deposits are turning up all over the world – but how useful is it in our move away from fossil fuels?

18 Dec 2023: Making sense of green hydrogen costs and recent market developments in Europe

7 Dec 2023: Heat pumps and district heating instead of hydrogen needed for Berlin’s heating transition – analysis

28 Nov 2023: The last piece in the EU’s hydrogen policy puzzle: grid ownership rules