[SMM Hydrogen Energy Policy Express] China Electricity Council: Issues Consultation Letter on the "Clean and Low-Carbon Hydrogen Energy Evaluation Standard"

Recently, the Standardization Management Center of the China Electricity Council issued a letter seeking comments on the industry standard "Assessment Criteria for Clean and Low-Carbon Hydrogen Energy."

The document states that the "Assessment Criteria for Clean and Low-Carbon Hydrogen Energy" specifies the assessment methods and requirements for low-carbon hydrogen, clean hydrogen, and renewable hydrogen.

This document is applicable to the assessment of hydrogen products produced by enterprises primarily engaged in hydrogen energy production as low-carbon hydrogen, clean hydrogen, or renewable hydrogen, in accordance with the life cycle assessment method. Other enterprises involved in hydrogen energy production and downstream hydrogen-using enterprises may refer to this document for the assessment of hydrogen products or the hydrogen they use.

This document covers a total of 8 terms and definitions, listing definitions and explanations related to hydrogen energy production activities, such as hydrogen energy, hydrogen gas, low-carbon hydrogen, clean hydrogen, renewable hydrogen, distribution coefficient, carbon dioxide capture and storage, and carbon dioxide capture and utilization.

Among these, there is currently no unified naming convention for the concepts of low-carbon hydrogen, clean hydrogen, and renewable hydrogen across various countries. Given that the terminology adopted in policies and standards related to hydrogen carbon footprints in major international countries and regions, such as the European Union, the US, the UK, France, and Japan, generally favors the expression system of "low-carbon hydrogen, clean hydrogen, renewable hydrogen," this document adopts the aforementioned conceptual framework for the classification of hydrogen to maintain consistency with internationally accepted naming conventions and better align with international standards.