Ariadne – Synthetic fuels: hydrogen and hydrocarbons

Hydrogen from renewable electricity will play a central role in the energy transition.  As part of the largest German research initiative on the subject, adelphi is developing critical import scenarios and political strategies.

The federal government wants to make Germany climate neutral by 2050 at the latest. To achieve this, a lot must change, from energy generation to transport and consumption. The Kopernikus projects are intended to create the conditions for this and promote the energy transition. Business, science, civil society and politics are to work together to find effective solutions.

Ariadne – A Kopernikus Project

As one of the four Kopernikus projects, Ariadne is part of the largest German research initiative on the energy transition. A network of 26 research partners is searching for strategies and tools to make Germany climate neutral. The project includes ongoing input from citizens in order to take the acceptance of specific actions into account. The aim: to identify measures that are both possible and have a high level of acceptance.

Hydrogen for a climate-neutral Germany

Hydrogen from renewable electricity – so-called green hydrogen – plays a central role in the energy transition. The federal government made this clear in its German hydrogen strategy, published in June 2020. Together with the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and the Fraunhofer Research Institution for Energy Infrastructures and Geothermal Energy, adelphi is researching the role of hydrogen and its derivatives in the German energy system. The think tank focuses on import scenarios and political strategies to safeguard them. This involves developing the international dimension of the German hydrogen strategy, including market ramp-up times, on-site sustainability aspects and transport costs.

The study contains four scenarios that show how Germany’s energy import requirements will decrease sharply, both in absolute terms and proportionally, on the way to climate neutrality. Instead of importing large amounts of fossil fuels and uranium, as has been the case in the past, Germany will import much smaller amounts of climate-neutral energy. The risk analysis not only focuses on the export countries and transport routes, but also on risk factors in Germany and the EU.