Gasunie has hundreds of millions of euros in investment plans ready, but how promising hydrogen will ultimately be in transport, industry or in residential areas, Botter says: “No one knows. There are many obstacles, but there are also many opportunities, especially in the Northern Netherlands, which has a very good starting position.”
There is space here and a lot of green energy comes ashore. “It is not without reason that the Northern Netherlands is the first hydrogen valley of the world,” Botter emphasizes in the broadcast.
“Choose to use hydrogen where you can save the most on CO2 emissions. Especially in industry and in heavy transport, such as buses and trucks, hydrogen is a feasible alternative to using electricity,” says Botter, who himself in a hydrogen car came to the recording of Stand van Noord-Nederland.
“I drive 550 kilometers on a full tank of five kilos of hydrogen, so you can get quite far with it.” What is at stake here is that hydrogen is an inefficient energy source, because hydrogen must first be made with electricity and then converted back into electricity if it is to be of any use.