Pressurized Steel, Missing Demand: Germany’s Hydrogen Backbone In Energy Flows - CleanTechnica

The article critically examines Germany’s planned national hydrogen pipeline infrastructure, arguing that it is being developed for an energy system that does not require it. The current hydrogen backbone is based on assumptions that hydrogen will serve as a primary energy carrier and maintain commodity industrial uses, rather than focusing on high-value, skilled industries. Analysis of Germany’s 2024 energy flows through Sankey diagrams reveals that hydrogen’s role is marginal at best and potentially an inefficient detour in the transition to a decarbonized energy system. The first Sankey diagram illustrates Germany’s 2024 energy system dominated by fossil fuels, with significant energy losses—over half of the primary energy input is rejected as waste heat, highlighting inefficiencies inherent in combustion and thermal conversion. The second Sankey models a fully electrified, renewables-based future where electricity replaces combustion, drastically reducing energy losses and simplifying the system. In this scenario, hydrogen plays no significant role, as electrification, heat pumps, battery electric vehicles, and electric arc furn