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Photo by Daniel Olah on Unsplash Image: Photo by Daniel Olah on Unsplash

Policy Paper: How can hydrogen fuel climate-neutral aviation in the EU?

EPICO KlimaInnovation published the report “How can hydrogen fuel climate-neutral aviation in the EU?”. The paper advances concrete policy recommendations to scale up the use of green hydrogen in the aviation sector.


The aviation sector accounts for 2.5% of global CO2 emissions and about 5% of the EU’s total greenhouse gas emissions. With passenger demand and air traffic expected to double by 2050, Europe must quickly decarbonise the aviation sector if it aims to achieve climate neutrality.

Green hydrogen is key to the decarbonisation of the sector. The versatile usages of hydrogen in aviation enables a range of applications that can significantly reduce both CO2 and non-CO2 emissions. Yet, strong policy signals and industry support are lacking.

This Policy Paper puts forward 4 main policy recommendations to ramp up hydrogen in aviation:

  1. Scale up finance and R&D;
  2. Develop a hydrogen market to ensure supply;
  3. Ensure infrastructural capabilities throughout the value chain;
  4. Level up the domestic and international playing field.

The paper’s results will be presented at our online conference, taking place on 2 October, at 11 am, followed by a panel discussion with Jane Amilhat, Head of Unit, DG RTD, Hildegard Bentele MEP, EPP/DE, Nathalie Errard, Senior Vice President, Head of EU Affairs, Airbus, and moderator Dave Keating. For more information on the event and registration, please follow this link.

This policy paper marks the end of EPICO’s sustainable aviation project. Its recommendations were designed during EPICO’s Policy Accelerator workshops, which took place on 20 and 25 June in Brussels and Berlin.”

Read the Policy Paper here.