(Darmstadt / Potsdam) – Implementing climate protection goals is a central task for the next federal government. The topic of hydrogen has “fundamental political significance,” according to an analysis that was carried out as part of the Copernicus project “Ariadne”. A scientist and two scientists from TU Darmstadt examined the extent to which different positions on hydrogen are reflected in the party programs for the 2021 federal election. The study looks at four aspects: production, use, imports and infrastructure.
CDU / CSU
With regard to production, the Union primarily aims to produce green But I also want hydrogen blue “Temporarily accept” hydrogen. There is a need for international cooperation for hydrogen imports. Industry as well as shipping and heavy goods traffic are mentioned as potential fields of application, but not air traffic, private transport or heat supply. The transport infrastructure should be built on the basis of existing natural gas pipelines.
SPD
In the SPD program, hydrogen is “mentioned as a condition for climate neutrality in 2045”. The party sees hydrogen as green Hydrogen, but colors are “not explicitly mentioned”. The authors found no information about hydrogen imports in the election program. However, in a position paper by the SPD parliamentary group (“Key points of a sustainable hydrogen strategy”), domestic production is mentioned as a priority, but international cooperation should also be supported. The election program “generally sees the fields of application where electrification is not possible”, emphasizes the position paper “Hydrogen as a perspective for all sectors of industry, transport and heat”. The SPD is also planning to accelerate the expansion of hydrogen pipelines and is in favor of adding hydrogen to the natural gas network, according to the analysis
AfD
In its election program, the Alternative for Germany considers the expansion of the hydrogen economy beyond the current level to be unnecessary, according to the study. “Therefore, no further statements are made regarding production, import, use and infrastructure.”
FDP
In its election program, the FDP names “hydrogen and synthetic fuels alongside electricity as the second pillar of the energy system”. Except green The Free Democrats also wanted hydrogen for this purpose blue and turquoise Setting hydrogen for the market ramp-up. In addition, a “European Hydrogen Union” is proposed, “which is intended to promote hydrogen import relationships with the North and Baltic Sea regions, the Middle East, Africa and Russia as part of a new neighborhood policy.” The party rejects a political limitation of the spectrum of use and advocates openness to technology “in order to be able to realize the potential for hydrogen in industry, mobility and heat”. The design of the infrastructure is not specified.
Die Linke
The left sees hydrogen as “a new pillar of the energy transition”. Be in the foreground green The party explicitly excludes hydrogen and everything else. This also applies to imported hydrogen. According to the study, imports from countries in the “global south” will only be permitted “if they fully cover their own energy needs with renewable energies”. The Left sees the potential of hydrogen in areas that cannot be electrified and “excludes its use in private transport and building heating for social and economic reasons”. However, rail transport and buses are mentioned as possible areas of application. The authors of the background paper found a special feature that “the promotion of hydrogen in the steel and raw materials industries should be linked to the socialization of company ownership”. State aid should only be available “with democratic control and in return for public ownership shares”. There is no information in the election program about infrastructure.
Alliance 90 / The Greens
The alliance only wants hydrogen in its own form green See variant produced and imported. Imports should also be subject to social criteria that are in line with the United Nations' sustainable development goals. The use should be politically limited. Hydrogen should only be used “where it is really needed”, for example in industry as well as in air and shipping traffic, “but not in other areas of mobility or heat generation”. Permits for fossil infrastructure (natural gas pipelines and power plants) should only be permitted for a limited period of time and only if they are designed to be “hydrogen-ready”. “Infrastructures that can only be used for fossil gas” should no longer be permitted.
Hydrogen in the light of coalition possibilities
Compared to the last election, the topic of hydrogen has been included in the parties' 2021 election manifestos, the authors of the background paper summarize. The energy source is “seen by almost all parties as an important element for the transformation of the energy system”. Only the AfD rejects its use above the previous level, “but in the context of a rejection of the energy transition in general”. 
Based on the positions developed, the authors then created eight plausible coalition constellations. For example, a grand coalition made up of the CDU/CSU and SPD “shows the greatest agreement in terms of their hydrogen preferences in the categories considered”. There are only different positions with regard to production. Although the parties favored green hydrogen, the Union also wanted to accept blue hydrogen. Overall, the next government coalition will “make a significant decision as to which target perspective is chosen when it comes to hydrogen.” The energy policy direction of the coming federal government would set the course for “whether hydrogen will become the champagne or table water of the energy transition in the medium and long term,” is the authors’ conclusion.
However, the background paper only describes the options that arise from the programmatic positions of the possible coalition partners in different constellations. One “of course does not assume that the issue of hydrogen will decide in detail whether a particular coalition is formed or not.” “However, it should be possible to show which implementation of the National Hydrogen Strategy is emerging in which coalition.”
Michèle Knodt, Jörg Kemmerzell, Lucas Flath (all TU Darmstadt): “Champagne or table water in the energy transition – what happens next with hydrogen in the next federal government?” Free as PDF (20 pages, October 2021, see deep link).
deep link
www.ariadneprojekt.de/publikation/champagner-oder-tafelwasser-der-energiewende-wasserstoff-bundesregierung/
Information on the Copernicus Project of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and Ariadne
www.kopernikus-projekte.de
www.ariadneprojekt.de
Class schedule
Copernicus projects © Sapera / FZ-Jülich / BMBF
