We would like to extend a warm thank you to all the speakers and members of the committee for their participation and contributions to the SELA Annual Meeting 2024 that was held at the World Trade Institute, Bern, Switzerland. The annual meeting focused on the Hydrogen Revolution: Legal and Regulatory Challenges for Switzerland.
The event was indeed a great success and we learned much about the current challenges and future priorities for research concerning the potential of hydrogen as a key energy carrier in Switzerland and Europe. The speakers emphasized the role of hydrogen in energy storage, production challenges, and regulatory frameworks.
The event jumpstarted with the introductory session by Mr. Christian Bach (EMPA) on hydrogen’s technological potential and role for Switzerland’s energy system with particular regard to the opportunities and challenges raised by hydrogen’s potential for lorry transportation an as a storage solution for surplus energy, especially from renewable source.
Adv Brigitta Kratz (Badertscher Rechtsanwälte AG), Mr Luka Curderman (AXPO) and Adv Tom Plainer (Kellerhals Carrard). critically discussed the challenges that the Swiss legal and regulatory landscape are facing regarding the utilization of hydrogen as a renewable source from an industry’s perspective. Contributors emphasized the importance of establishing a clear and stable legal framework to support investment in hydrogen market development and ensure competitive conditions for green fuels.
The second part of the meeting focused on the opportunities and challenges raised by the EU’s regime applicable to hydrogen and other renewable fuels of non-biological origin (RFNBOs) and speakers included Dr Romain Mauger (CIIAE, via videoconference), Dr Moritz Wüstenberg (StreamTech Solutions AG), Prof Ilaria Espa (USI), Dr Kateryna Holzer (UEF) and Dr Tetyana Payosova (Van Bael & Bellis). The need for clear, robust, and harmonized sustainability standards for hydrogen was stressed, drawing on lessons from the biofuels sector to avoid potential regulatory pitfalls.
Finally, the keynote speech given by Mr Martin Föhse (Deputy-Director of Fedpol and former Chief of the Legal Service of the Swiss Federal Office of Energy) focused on the complexity of energy law and policy, particularly with regard to hydrogen. The challenges of creating coherent regulations in the face of competing interests and the impact of recent events on energy strategies were emphasized.
Please feel free to check out the presentations by the speakers and a short summary highlighting the key discussions and the relevant takeaways from this very topical matter. Your comments are most welcome!
Thank you all again!
Short Summary of 2024 SELA Annual Workshop
PRESENTATIONS:
Scaling Green H2 (CH)-Luka Cuderman
Energierecht: Herausforderungen einer getriebenen Disziplin-Dr. Martin Föhse
Scaling up Swiss Domestic Production of Hydrogen-Dr. Tom Pleiner, LL.M. (UCLA)
Hydrogen and hydrogen derivates-Christian Bach
Legal and Regulatory Challenges for H2, New Regulations for Power-to-Gas- Brigitta Kratz
