European Union pledges to invest €2 billion to develop Brazil's green hydrogen economy and generate thousands of jobs 

European Union plans billionaire investment in the Brazilian green hydrogen sector. Thousands of jobs are expected to be created in the country..

The European Union announced on Monday (12) its plans to invest 2 billion Euros to develop the green hydrogen economy in Brazil, generating thousands of jobs. The announcement was made by Ursula von der Leyden, President of the European Commission, after meeting with President Luís Inácio Lula da Silva in Brasilia.

Investment is part of the Global Gateway program

According to von de Leyden, the European Union's target is to import 10 million tons per year of green hydrogen over the next decade. Europeans are looking for a reliable partner for the long term and will work with Brazil to do so, generating thousands of jobs.

O investment in hydrogen Verde makes up the Global Gateway program, a European Union initiative launched in 2021 with the mission to move 300 billion euros by 2027 to renewable energy infrastructure projects around the world.

No details were disclosed about the value of the investment of resources. In a speech, Von der Leyden stated that the objective is to promote the entire green hydrogen value chain, from the production of renewable electricity and its transformation into clean hydrogen to the production of green steel and export infrastructure.

O Green hydrogen is considered one of the keys to highly polluting sectors such as maritime transport and steel can mitigate their greenhouse gas emissions. Countries with great potential for the production of clean energy, the most important input for the production of green hydrogen, are natural candidates to generate a new export industry.

Government seeks to use green hydrogen to decarbonize the economy

Brazil is one of these countries and several national and international groups are developing studies to build plants for the foreign market, generating thousands of jobs. However, a definitive announcement of investment in larger projects has not yet been made.

The expectation is that there is a demand for green hydrogen worldwide, but the European Union is urgent to develop this market to reduce dependence on fossil fuels imported from Russia.

The federal government also aims to use hydrogen to decarbonize the country's economy and generate the so-called neo-industrialization of the country. Ursula von der Leyden also announced a donation from the European Union to the Amazon Fund of 20 million Euros, a value that can be complemented by individual investments by countries.

In addition, the president said, also without going into details, that the European Union plans to support with 430 million Euros the fight against deforestation and sustainable practices in the Amazon region. Von der Leyden claims that the forest is a key ally in the fight against global warming.

Better understand the fuel of the future that promises to unlock thousands of new jobs

Hydrogen, or H2, is the most abundant element in the universe, yet it is not found free in nature. Industrial processes are needed to separate the hydrogen molecules contained in other substances, such as water or methane gas.

The fuel that is produced without the emission of gases that cause the greenhouse effect wins the green classification. The world already consumes large amounts of hydrogen, however it is not green.

Currently, the main challenge encountered is to refine the technology and scale up to mitigate the cost of producing green hydrogen. Several color names are linked to hydrogen according to the intensity of emissions in the production process, such as gray, blue, pink hydrogen, among others.