Non-fossil Fuel Categories in EU Legislation and their Significance for Hydrogen
This paper provides an overview of the different fuel categories defined in EU legislative texts, detailing their respective definitions and regulatory requirements.
The classification of fuels into distinct categories is critical for regulating and promoting emerging energy carriers like hydrogen and Power-to-X (PtX) technologies, which convert renewable electricity into other forms of energy such as synthetic fuels. These classifications play a pivotal role in ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements, understanding certification approaches and accessing market incentives. Depending on the production pathways, hydrogen and its derivatives can be classified as different kinds of fuels under the EU framework.
Additionally, in this paper we contextualise these categories by illustrating how different hydrogen and PtX production pathways correspond to specific fuel classifications.
