Germany remains committed to purchasing green hydrogen from Saudi Arabia, Environment Minister Carsten Schneider said on Tuesday as he visited Riyadh.

“They want to know whether there is still a prospect of Germany becoming a buyer of climate-friendly hydrogen,” Schneider told dpa. “We need this cooperation to make our industry in Germany climate-neutral.”

Hydrogen can be used as a clean source of energy if it is produced in a climate-neutral way, such as by using solar power. Saudi Arabia has been investing in production of the gas, while Berlin has in recent years begun expanding its infrastructure for hydrogen.

The gas could be used to generate electricity in new gas-fired power stations when insufficient wind or solar power is available. It can also be used instead of coke in blast furnaces for steel production, thereby avoiding huge amounts of carbon dioxide emissions.

An agreement was signed last year between Saudi firm ACWA Power and Germany’s state-owned Securing Energy for Europe (SEFE) for the provision of up to 200,000 tons of green hydrogen by 2030.

However, the new German energy minister, Katherina Reiche, has warned that hydrogen is not available in sufficient quantities and remains too expensive.

Schneider is also pinning his hopes on Saudi Arabia in the effort to reach a global agreement on plastics.

Crude oil is an important component of plastics, which pollute the environment worldwide.

“We must work together to find global solutions to the flood of plastic,” said Schneider. “We won’t find perfect solutions right away, but the important thing is that we start somewhere.”

Germany wants to reduce the use of plastic overall, while Saudi Arabia could focus on higher-quality materials, he argued.

“A big problem today is that plastic remains in the environment for so long,” the minister said.

“There are alternatives, and Germany and the EU should make use of them,” Schneider added. “But above all, we need to consume less and recycle more.”