The European Green Deal aims to reach carbon neutrality by 2050 and make Europe the first climate-neutral continent in the world. To make this ambitious green goal live, the Green Deal defines strategic directions for the transformation of the EU economy and societies. As an important part of the European Green Deal, the EU strategy on hydrogen was adopted in 2020. The hydrogen strategy defines actions across five dimensions: investments; production and demand; creating a hydrogen market and infrastructure; research; and international cooperation. The timeframe includes three phases: from 2020 up to 2024; from 2025 to 2030; and from 2030 to 2050. For each phase, the strategic objective is quantified in terms of the capacity of renewable hydrogen electrolyzers and in terms of the production of renewable hydrogen.
The ultimate integrated target is to increase the share of hydrogen in Europe’s energy mix from the current less than 2% to 13-14% by 2050. In other words, hydrogen, as a primary energy source, should achieve up to about 1/7 of the final energy consumption in Europe by 2050.
There are several important reasons why hydrogen is considered as a key priority to achieve the European Green Deal. The implementation of the hydrogen strategy requires the realisation of both pan-European and country-level projects. The EU policy has introduced the “Hydrogen Valley” term. Hydrogen Valleys are now being created or many more are expected to be created across Europe. Building a dynamic hydrogen ecosystem in Europe and starting the hydrogen economy requires cooperation and joint efforts of public and private stakeholders at different levels: European, national, and regional. European regions play a key role in kick-starting and advancing the clean hydrogen economy concept.
A policy paper by Quitzow et al. (2023) has analysed the ongoing hydrogen policy developments in Europe, placing particular attention on how the European Union can effectively mobilise its domestic hydrogen potential. One of the conclusions is that as of now “regional hydrogen valley initiatives are concentrated in high-capacity Member States, indicating that the overall enabling environment in Eastern and Southeastern Europe is not yet in place to stimulate more ambitious hydrogen-related activities”.
The website by Clean Hydrogen Partnership https://h2v.eu/ – a Hydrogen Valley platform for project developers showcasing hydrogen flagship projects around the world – currently lists 91 Hydrogen Valleys in 34 countries. Cyprus is not on that map. Not yet, as we would like to say.
While the technological preparedness plays undoubtedly the key role in the transition to a decarbonised future, there is also a consensus in the academic literature on the need of convincing the general public of the importance of hydrogen and renewable energy projects. The hydrogen transformation of the economy eventually destroys the former basis of people’s lives and requires adaptation to new conditions. Moreover, it is unclear whether consumers will be willing to adopt hydrogen-fuelled appliances for heating and cooking. Some recent academic studies concluded that hydrogen is yet to permeate the public consciousness due to a lack of knowledge and awareness, owing to an absence of information dissemination.
Is Cyprus society ready to embrace the hydrogen economy? How aware are people in Cyprus of the advantages of hydrogen and its use?
Our own on-going research at the University of Limassol (together with my colleagues Dr Andrey Afanasiev and Dr Andreas Sousanis) aims first to investigate the general public awareness about hydrogen, and then propose strategies for the creation of citizen engagement in Hydrogen Valley in Cyprus.
We are currently gathering responses in Cyprus and will appreciate a few minutes of your time to fill in this SURVEY
English https://forms.gle/PiMZbyhdVrRHKoxA9.
Greek https://lnkd.in/es8V-pMJ
The responses are collected for academic purposes only. The survey is approved by the UoL Ethics Research Board. The results will be used in an anonymous format and are intended for a peer-reviewed publication. We want to thank in advance everyone who participates in this survey!
Source: University of Limassol | News (https://shorturl.at/blrsQ)