“Of course, I would prefer green hydrogen [produced through electrolysis from renewable power and water] over blue hydrogen [produced from natural gas, where CO2 is separated and stored, using CCS],” said Altmaier. However, hydrogen applications in all sectors will be developed and scaled up so quickly that production capacities for green hydrogen will not suffice for some time, he added.

Little was said at the conference about how exactly the government aims to ensure that leadership role. However, Germany is currently working on a hydrogen strategy to be finalised by the end of 2019.

"Green hydrogen is tomorrow’s oil"

In light of the planned coal and nuclear exit, the future role of gas in Germany's energy supply has become a crucial topic of discussion as it is less CO₂-intensive than oil and coal when burned. Natural gas currently covers almost a quarter of Germany’s primary energy consumption, mostly used for heating and cooling in households and public buildings and in industrial process heating systems.

However, to reach ambitious long-term climate targets, it would have to be gradually substituted with CO2-free or CO2-neutral gases, such as hydrogen. This can be used to store energy, as an energy source for sector coupling, and in the transport sector, e.g. in fuel cell cars, or to make synthetic fuels.

In the long term, Germany would not become a leading producer of climate-neutral hydrogen itself. Just like the country imports large parts of its energy today – fossil oil, gas and hard coal – it would import climate-friendly fuels from countries where renewable power is much cheaper, said Altmaier.

Michael Müller, parliamentary state secretary in the education and research ministry, agrees: “Green hydrogen is tomorrow’s oil, in our view. For Germany, I see huge export opportunities not for hydrogen, but for the technologies,” he said at the conference.

China and Japan biggest competitors

“The claims have not yet been staked” in the global hydrogen technology industry, Altmaier told the Berlin conference.

However, while Germany aims for leadership, other countries might be one step ahead on key technologies, such as hydrogen production. Chinese manufacturers of a certain type of electrolyser – used to produce green hydrogen from renewable power and water – have much lower capital expenditures than their European counterparts, write Matthias Deutsch and Andreas Graf from the think tank Agora Energiewende* in a guest post in EurActiv.

Still, “the ship has by no means sailed,” said Altmaier, adding the cost comparison was an old discussion and simply due to lower labour costs. “Despite this, Germany has defended its global technological leadership role, and intensified it in many areas. Our goal has to be to offer the most sophisticated, innovative and environmentally-friendly technology,” said the minister.