Ok, #hydrogentwitter. Let's try to get some basic numbers straight.

@gnievchenko and I have been trying to answer the simple question of how much hydrogen in the EU is currently produced by which production method and were puzzled at how difficult it is to find good numbers.

If you've been following the hydrogen debate, you're probably aware that the vast amount of today's global hydrogen production is based on fossil fuels (fossil gas, coal, oil, grey electricity). A vanishingly small share is currently produced from electrolysis and renewables.

To quote the IEA: "Overall, less than 0.7% of current hydrogen production is from renewables or from fossil fuel plants equipped with CCUS. In total, hydrogen production today is responsible for 830
MtCO2/yr."

Of course the hydrogen market quite dynamic at the moment, so any estimate will only be able to show a snapshot, but it is still important to have a basic understanding of where we stand at the moment with sourcing and demand to develop good policy.

So what is what is the exact statistical picture specifically for the EU?

We thought the EU's hydrogen strategy would be a good place to start. So we checked it out. Ok, so there's a typo for electrolysers, but there seems to be a clear answer. 4% of hydrogen production comes from electrolysis...
https://ec.europa.eu/energy/sites/ener/files/hydrogen_strategy.pdf

But we checked the source and couldn't find a single reference to the 4% electrolysis production in the @fch_ju "Hydrogen Roadmap Europe" report cited. In fact, the only mention to energy source refers specifically to feedstock in chemicals and refining. https://www.fch.europa.eu/sites/default/files/Hydrogen%20Roadmap%20Europe_Report.pdf

Ok. This can happen. But unfortunately basic google desk research has also not yielded quick and easy answers. At least @gnievchenko and I have had troubles. Here's what we found.

This recent @DIHK_Research paper estimates electrolysis production to make up 7% of German H2 demand (3,75TWh)

https://www.dihk.de/resource/blob/24872/fd2c89df9484cf912199041a9587a3d6/dihk-faktenpapier-wasserstoff-data.pdf

Somewhat older research with data assumes lower demand puts the figure at 5%.

https://www.uniper.energy/storage/sites/default/files/2017-12/2017_okt_volkswirtschaftliches_kurzgutachten_mep_fur_ptx.pdf
https://www.innovationsforum-energiewende.de/fileadmin/user_upload/Potentialstudie-fuer-gruenen-Wasserstoff-in-Raffinerien.pdf

The German Hydrogen stategy puts the figure at 3,85 TWh for electrolysis and overall current German demand at 55 TWh (that's about 1,4 Mt)

Overall Polish Hydrogen production is estimated at about 1 Mt with hydrogen from electrolysis close to non-existant. https://static.300gospodarka.pl/media/2019/04/alternatywa_wodorowa_raport.pdf

The overall hydrogen consumption in Belgium is estimated at about 0.5 Mt.
https://www.power-to-gas.be/sites/default/files/P2G%20Roadmap%20for%20Flanders%20-%20Final%20report.pdf

French hydrogen consumption is estimated at just shy of 1 Mt.
http://www.afhypac.org/documents/tout-savoir/Fiche%201.3%20-%20Production%20et%20consommation%20d%27hydrog%C3%A8ne%20rev.%20fev2016%20PM.pdf

And this study cites DNV GL hydrogen production figures for the Netherlands from a 2017 study of 110 PJ, which I converted to be roughly 30 TWh or 0,8 Mt.
https://www.newenergycoalition.org/custom/uploads/2020/05/Detz-et-al.-2019-TNO-2019-P11210-Future-Role-of-Hydrogen-in-the-Netherlands_final2-002.pdf

This is in the context of overall European hydrogen production of about 8.25 Mt.
https://hydrogeneurope.eu/sites/default/files/Hydrogen%20Europe_Green%20Hydrogen%20Recovery%20Report_final.pdf
http://www.afhypac.org/documents/tout-savoir/Fiche%201.3%20-%20Production%20et%20consommation%20d%27hydrog%C3%A8ne%20rev.%20fev2016%20PM.pdf

By my basic calculations this would put German electrolysis production at just roughly 1% of overall European H2 production. So where is the rest of the 4% cited in the EU Hydrogen Strategy coming from? Can it be corroborated?

Also my overall hydrogen production/consumption figures for the different countries only add up to less than 5 Mt of the supposed of total 8,25 Mt. If Germany, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Poland are covered, where is the rest coming from?

To sum up, publically available and harmonized data on current hydrogen production seems to be difficult to come by. This makes it difficult to know which energy sources our current production is sourced from and seems like a problematic position to develop policy from.

If you know of better sources or have additional data to contribute, @gnievchenko and I would appreciate. #hydrogentwitter unite!