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While hydrogen is already widespread in the production of plastics and fertilisers as well as in chemical processes, he believes additional demand for the gas will be limited. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt has to probably be only used as a fuel for transportation\u201d, with a view towards aviation, said Lalonde, whose think-tank counts companies like Airbus and Total Energies among its members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And for these applications, having CO2 at hand would be crucial. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe main interest of hydrogen is going to be as a component to mix with carbon,\u201d said Lalonde, France\u2019s ambassador for climate negotiations from 2007-2010.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mixing CO2 with hydrogen can produce synthetic fuels, which \u2013 much like regular fossil fuels \u2013 is energy dense and fit for purpose in aviation and maritime shipping. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The major difference is that these synthetic fuels can be climate neutral. For that to happen, the hydrogen used in the process must be low-carbon \u2013 coming from renewable or nuclear electricity \u2013 and use CO2 extracted from existing industrial processes or captured from the air, Lalonde said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The European Commission has sensed the potential of CO2 as a feedstock for industry. Last October, the European Commission announced<\/a> it was working on a strategy for carbon capture and utilisation (CCUS) to be published before the end of the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cA second leg of the molecule economy is CO2,\u201d explains Chris Bolesta, team leader at the EU\u2019s energy directorate in charge of CCUS. \u201cWe don\u2019t have the CCUS strategy yet, but we are working on it,\u201d he added, saying the strategy \u201cis following in hydrogen\u2019s tracks.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Much like the EU\u2019s hydrogen strategy, presented in 2020, the CCUS strategy would aim to give companies a clear perspective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe actually want to impose an obligation on some marketplace to provide CO2 storage capacity, so the market has certainty that there will be storage so that they could invest in capture and transport,\u201d Bolesta explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe first priority has to be stopping emissions from being dumped in the atmosphere,\u201d says Jonas Helseth, director of the think-tank Bellona Europe. \u201cCO2 storage clearly is something we need for that,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, the amount of CO2 storage capacity needed for this can seem daunting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In March, the European Commission set a target to enable 50 million tonnes of annual CO2 injection capacity by 2030, reaching 550 million tonnes of CO2 annually by 2050.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yet, for the whole world, the storage capacity would need to reach one gigaton annually, said Gabrielle Gauthey, in charge of European affairs at the energy giant Total Energies, who spoke at the event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And even that wouldn\u2019t be enough. \u201cIt would be good to have seven gigatons per year, which is huge,\u201d Gauthey said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to Bolesta, the number of projects that have expressed interest in CO2 injection in Europe \u201ctotals up to more than 80 million tonnes per year\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOf course, not all of these projects will happen,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This article follows the EURACTIV-organised policy debate \u201cCO2, H2 and O2 \u2013 Cornerstones of the energy transition?<\/a>\u201d supported by \u00c9quilibre des \u00c9nergies. Watch the full event below.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n By loading the video, you agree to YouTube’s privacy policy.![\"YouTube\"](\"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-content\/plugins\/borlabs-cookie\/assets\/images\/cb-no-thumbnail.png\")
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