hydra Project

The HYDRA project, which stands for "HYDrogen economy benefits and Risks: tools development and policies implementation to mitigate possible climAte impacts", will assess the potential impacts of hydrogen adoption on a large scale. The project, which will last 4 years, has received a contribution of over 4 million euros from the European Union under the Horizon Europe framework of Climate sciences and responses for the transformation towards climate neutrality. HYDRA is coordinated by Isella Vicini, CEO of the Belgian company beWarrant – Tinexta Group, and accounts for seven international consortium partners from Belgium, Greece, Italy, Spain, and the UK. The project acronym encapsulates its core focus areas: hydrogen as an energy carrier, the safety considerations surrounding its production and utilization, and the environmental and climatic scenarios associated with this energy transition. HYDRA aims to analyse possible climate impacts associated to a large-scale penetration of hydrogen-based technologies on the market and provide insights into policies and guidelines for a sustainable development of the hydrogen economy. HYDRA's comprehensive approach will involve providing energy, socio-economic, and emission scenarios with a focus on environmental effects (e.g., land use and water consumption), assessing climatic impacts of a hydrogen economy accounting for potentially higher hydrogen emissions and their effect on atmospheric composition, water vapour, ozone layer, and radiative forcing. “Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HADEA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.”