With “inconsistent and unsynchronised” funding schemes slowing the ramp-up of hydrogen uptake in mobility, it is time to redesign existing funding mechanisms, Hydrogen Europe says in a new paper released Friday.

Under EU regulations, all new light-duty vehicles and urban buses must be zero emission by 2035. Heavy-duty vehicles are also required to achieve a 90% reduction in CO2 emissions in 2040.

“Industry and policymakers must urgently work on ramping up hydrogen mobility in Europe to transition away from fossil fuels as fast as possible,” the paper highlights. “At the current pace of deployment, the targets will not be achieved.”

In turn, the industry is “unlikely” to meet CO2 emissions reduction targets, missing the 55% greenhouse gas emission reduction target by the end of this decade, it adds.

“A coherent set of financial support measures, ideally coupled with other budgetary and non-budgetary tools, would unlock the potential of hydrogen and speed up the decarbonisation of private and commercial road transport,” the paper notes. “It is also important that the framework conditions are designed in such a way that they give companies planning security and technology openness.”

Both national and EU funding programmes must be evaluated to identify any funding gaps, Kallanish learns from the trade body. At the same time, funding programs should give companies more freedom, instead of “imposing unnecessarily harsh restrictions.” This, the organisation adds, will be especially important during the market’s ramp-up phase.

Hydrogen Europe has called on national governments to update existing funding streams to ensure they are still “fit for purpose,” alongside creating a consistent legal framework to minimise transition times and costs. At the same time, the European Commission must address the low support for mobility projects in the Innovation Fund and European Hydrogen Bank auctions and include support for hydrogen-powered fleets, the paper adds.

Early this week, the European Union Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) warned that the EU is likely to miss its green hydrogen consumption target of 20 million tonnes by 2030. The report cited the bloc’s limited electrolyser capacity and the higher cost of green hydrogen production as reasons for this.