The new federal government is not to be envied. As soon as she is in office, she has to make difficult decisions, such as the one about the new gas pipeline through the Baltic Sea. It hurts to become dependent, but it already exists. And it is not to be expected that the Russians will turn off the tap, they need the income. As contradicting as it sounds, there is no getting around natural gas if carbon dioxide emissions are to be reduced. It is the most climate-friendly of all fossil fuels, so it makes sense to replace oil and coal with gas until you can find something better. That better one should one day be green hydrogen, but that will not be available in a few decades. Around 90 billion cubic meters of natural gas are used in Germany each year. Since hydrogen, based on the cubic meter,Has only about a third of the energy content, that would correspond to 270 billion cubic meters.
Around 1200 terawatt hours of green electricity would be needed to generate this by means of electrolysis.
That is more than double the total German production from all energy sources.
And that would only be a substitute for natural gas.
Even if there were solar cells on every roof and wind turbines on every corner, it will not be possible.
That is why the hydrogen must be produced abroad and come to Germany in some way that is climate-neutral.
Until that happens, blue hydrogen, which is made from natural gas and is increasingly being added, will have to help.
Around half of it was already in town gas a century ago, only the hydrogen was dirty from coal.
Now it's comparatively clean from natural gas.