Fortescue’s Forrest says German hydrogen deal is just the start – Reuters

Fortescue’s Forrest says German hydrogen deal is just the start – Reuters

FRANKFURT, Jan 17 (Reuters) - Australian miner Fortescue Metals' (FMG.AX) newly-announced deal to supply green hydrogen to Germany is just the start as the rest of the world will catch up with Europe's lead, Fortescue's chairman told a Berlin industry conference on Monday.

European policymakers and industry have been embracing hydrogen as a way to meet an EU goal for net zero emissions by 2050, but critics say it serves to prolong the use of fossil fuels when the aim should be to get rid of them entirely and it requires large amounts of energy to produce.

Green hydrogen has the best environmental credentials of the various shades of the clean-burning fuel because it is produced by using renewable energy to electrolyse water, rather than relying on carbon-based fuel.