PE Live: Local hydrogen policies may shape global industry

EU member states and US state governments may have more impact on the development of the hydrogen economy than EU institutions or the US federal government

While the development of a hydrogen economy is likely to become a global enterprise in the coming decades, it may well be that local layers of government take a leading role in its early stages, the panellists on the PE Live 8 webcast discussed. The European Commission announced the EU Hydrogen Strategy in early June to much fanfare. But several national governments within the bloc are already pushing ahead with their own plans and even some regional or local authorities have strategies for nurturing local development. Germany is taking an early lead among European countries. “The most effective one right now was the release of the [German] National Hydrogen Strategy,” says Tobias Merten, se