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No to tax advantages for climate-damaging hydrogen | Global 2000

How sustainable hydrogen really is at the moment!

The environmental protection organization GLOBAL 2000 points out in the course of the Commentary procedure on the “Tax Amendment Act 2023” points out that tax advantages for climate-damaging hydrogen can no longer be tolerated: 

“The draft law currently provides for a tax break for hydrogen even if it does not come from renewable sources. Hydrogen from natural gas or nuclear sources has no place in a clean energy system, and the tax advantages for hydrogen, which is harmful to the climate, are an obstacle to a climate-friendly future. We demand Finance Minister Magnus Brunner to abolish this tax advantage and thus make a contribution to the greening of the tax and levy system," says Johannes Wahlmüller, climate and energy spokesman for GLOBAL 2000.

Although hydrogen has a green image, however, most of the hydrogen used today is made from natural gas. Hydrogen produced in this way, including the upstream chain, has around 40% higher greenhouse gas emissions than natural gas. It is therefore a fossil-based energy source for which no tax breaks may apply. The current draft assessment of the “Fees Amendment Act 2023” envisages the elimination of the natural gas tax for hydrogen for heating purposes. However, if hydrogen is used for transport purposes, the natural gas tax will continue to be levied. The reduction of this tax advantage would provide an incentive to rely on renewable energies.

Climate-damaging hydrogen is taxed at EUR 0,021/m³, natural gas at EUR 0,066/m³, with even lower rates applying until June 2023. The tax rate for hydrogen is therefore less than a third, even though it is an energy carrier that has much higher greenhouse gas emissions. GLOBAL 2000 is in favor of no longer privileging fossil fuels with favorable tax rates. "In order to remedy this imbalance in taxation in the short term, climate-damaging hydrogen for heating purposes must not be exempted from the natural gas tax. In the medium term, the most sensible thing to do would be to introduce a tax on all energy sources based on their CO2 content, so that all unjustified preferences come to an end and there is an incentive to switch to renewable energies“, Johannes Wahlmüller continues.

The environmental protection organization GLOBAL 2000 is also in favor of reducing all environmentally harmful subsidies in Austria. According to WIFO, there are environmentally harmful subsidies totaling 5,7 billion euros in Austria. So far there is no political process to initiate reforms. "We call on the federal government to quickly initiate a reform process so that environmentally harmful incentives are reduced and we no longer distribute billions of dollars that undermine the achievement of our climate goals," Johannes Wahlmüller concluded.

Photo / Video: VCÖ.

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