H2 View understands that the Committee on Sustainable Energy discussed a draft ‘comprehensive and science-based terminology classification and taxonomy for hydrogen’ which seeks to extend the UN Framework Classification for Resources (UNFC) to all hydrogen projects and production technologies.

The proposal aims to facilitate discussion on a classification of hydrogen that goes beyond colours, in a hope to catalyse low-carbon and renewable hydrogen production and facilitate its international trade.

UNECE has argued that the current colour coding of hydrogen – green, pink, blue, grey, etc, convey little information about how associated carbon dioxide emissions, or other economic and social consequences of hydrogen production.

Olga, Algayerova, Executive Secretary of UNECE, said, “We urgently need to understand and measure the sustainability credentials of hydrogen. UNECE’s Committee on Sustainable Energy and its subsidiary bodies could help UNECE member States to go ‘beyond colours’ and agree on how to quantify the sustainability of hydrogen.”

According to the draft proposal, the UNECE will look to establish a task force or working group to prepare specification for the application of UNFC to hydrogen as a matter of urgency, to ensure coordination with other entities engaged in similar activities.

Additionally, it plans to develop a hydrogen production project applying UN Resources Management System (UNRMS) principles, with hopes of establishing a Guarantee of Origin for Hydrogen (GOH).

The move follows on from the recent European Commission announcement that it plans to establish a European Hydrogen Bank to invest €3bn to help build the future hydrogen market, which the UNECE hopes its classification could assist.

Francisco de la Flor García, Chair of the Group of Experts on Gas at UNECE, said, “The EU initiative is a most welcome development. I hope that other countries in our region, including Canada, the Central Asian economies, Russian Federation, Turkey, United States, etc., will follow the EU along this path. But for that to happen, many fine details need to be sorted out.

“For example, how do we measure the ‘greenness’ of hydrogen? Are green and sustainable different and, if so, is there a trade-off between them? We should apply the same criteria in all parts of the vast UNECE region. For that, we must speak the same language.”