Hydrogen Europe said Thursday hydrogen is a strategic enabler for the energy transition and an impulse for a new industrial revolution, but some ideological positions risk undermining its full potential, Kallanish reports.

Publishing its second annual report COP27 Special Report on Hydrogen, the trade body emphasises the role of hydrogen as an integral part of a complete green portfolio. Yet, the 68-page report highlights how Africa can become a history-maker with green hydrogen.

Thanks to its abundant natural resources, the continent can become one of the powerhouses of renewable energy and a valuable energy partner for Europe, exporting this excess energy as hydrogen. In turn, it can reap enormous economic benefits from green growth and from the green industrial revolution, the report says.

Hydrogen Europe’s ceo Jorgo Chatzimarkakis notes that for an Africa-Europe energy cooperation to work, “we must acknowledge Europe’s colonial past and strive to ensure the establishment of fair and equitable partnerships with our African partners.” He adds it’s equally important to acknowledge the differences the current condition presents as natural resources employed in renewable power generation are limitless and not transportable elsewhere. This allows African countries to control them and limit the risk of exploitative extractions and prioritise clean hydrogen production “for Africa first, and then for exports.”

To achieve Africa’s economic independence and avert any possible future form of neocolonialism, the ceo says it’s necessary to empower the African countries via socially and environmentally sustainable investments designed to generate prosperity in the region, for the region. “If those investments are used wisely, green hydrogen can be much more than a green fuel for Africa and become the means through which the continent can build a future of development and prosperity,” he concludes.

Frans Timmermans, vice-president of the European Commission, adds that the EU is ready to work with Africa and the rest of the world to make hydrogen an opportunity for a “fair industrial revolution” and a new success story -- just like it did with renewables.

“While cheap fossil fuels will not return, we must act now to avoid getting tied down between expensive fossil fuels and the future promise of affordable green energy. We must all take this jump together to make sure that our citizens and businesses have access to affordable renewable electricity and to renewable hydrogen,” says Timmermans. “This will only happen if we remain focused; facilitate investments in renewables, de-risk and support investments in electrolysers, in hydrogen infrastructure and in hydrogen-based technologies for energy-intensive industrial sectors.