Europe: The European Commission announced a ground-breaking set of regulations on Monday that could allow some Hydrogen produced in nuclear energy to be included in EU renewable energy goals. This decision suggests that pro-nuclear France may have made significant headway in its efforts for nuclear production to be seen as a viable and renewable form of energy.

Hydrogen is essential in Europe's efforts to reduce the carbon emissions of heavy industry. To encourage investors and industries to switch from Hydrogen derived from fossil fuels to Hydrogen obtained from renewable electricity sources, new rules have been implemented.

In recent months, a dispute has arisen amongst European Union countries regarding what should be recognised as 'renewable'. France is seemingly in favour of including nuclear-based fuels, however, other countries such as Germany do not agree with this idea.

The European Commission has finally announced the three categories of Hydrogen that will be counted towards its renewable energy targets, following a months-long delay as governments across Europe lobbied for their favored options.

Hydrogen produced in factories connected to a new renewable electricity generator can be utilized, as long as the local electricity zone had more than 90% of its energy coming from renewable sources over the past year.

Facilities in certain regions can take grid power, so long as they meet a low CO₂ emissions limit that may be based on nuclear. Moreover, the producer must sign a long-term Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with an electricity provider that produces renewable energy.

The production of Hydrogen is now facing new regulations that are intended to prevent the soaking up of renewable energy capacity, which could potentially lead to a greater utilization of fossil fuels. To achieve this, producers must either make use of newly installed renewable power sources directly or enter a (PPA) in order to support local renewable energy projects.

EU countries and lawmakers have just two months to raise any objections to the rules or else they will come into effect. Disagreements about the use of nuclear energy for Hydrogen production has held up negotiations regarding the EU's new renewable energy targets, which are set to begin again on Tuesday.