Seven Shades of Hydrogen and the Vision of Carbon Neutral Energy Futures – An Assessment of the Major Challenges and Opportunities

Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe. In elemental form it can be produced from the hydrogen-containing resources, such as water, fossil fuels of biomass. Hydrogen will play a decisive role in the decarbonization of the global economy and especially of the sectors such as steel industry that are difficult or too expensive to decarbonize (Hydrogen Council 2020). Hydrogen does not emit CO2 and does not pollute air when used. Especially green, i.e. renewable hydrogen has the greatest potential of a direct contribution to the realization of SDG 7, 11, 12 and 13.

In addition, hydrogen could be a solution for the most important problem of the renewables-based energy supply systems – the storage of the energy, which is not possible with solar or wind sources. Combining of renewable energy sources with hydrogen fuel could compensate for the intermittent supply of solar or wind energy and by doing so contribute to the supply security of the energy security of countries with a large share of renewables in the energy mix. Since 2017, as Japan as the first country in the world made its hydrogen strategy public and since then successfully extended its hydrogen infrastructure and contributed to the establishment of resilient international hydrogen supply chain, which integrates Japanese and Australian hydrogen supplies. Since then South Korea (2019), Australia (2019), Netherlands (2019), Norway (2020), Germany (2020), France (2020), Spain (2020), Chile (2020) and Canada (2020) launched their national hydrogen strategies. In July 2020, EU as the first integration block released its hydrogen roadmap and plans to invest $550 billon into hydrogen production and infrastructure by 2050. This roadmap is closely related to the fulfillment of the European Green Deal, which has been designed as a tool, which must assure the congruence of energy transition with EU’s pledges in the framework of Paris agreement (European Commission 2020).

On November 12, 2021 United States Department of Energy (DoE) released an ambitious Hydrogen Program Plan. The mentioned plan is in line with the recommendations of the prestigious Florence School of Regulation and the European University Institute, whereby first the government invests mostly in research, development and demonstration activities and only at a later stage in hydrogen production and infrastructure (US Department of Energy 2020). China, the largest hydrogen producer worldwide follows a similar strategy and invests mostly in research and development of blue, pink and green hydrogen and in the same time generates its domestic hydrogen almost entirely from coal and oil. The hesitations of the US and Chinese energy policies with regards to investments to production and infrastructure of the climate neutral hydrogen is mostly related to the cost disadvantage of hydrogen fuel in comparison to fossil fuel at the production, storage and end use stages, which are linked via the closed hydrogen of the energy value chain (Borgschulte 2016). In addition, the existing incentive structures within the national hydrogen roadmaps do not give sufficient assurance to energy and industry with regards to the long-run public support for realization of the hydrogen economy on the firm level (Institut für Bergbau und Energierecht 2021).

Objectives and Scope

The objectives of the Topic Collection include the exploration of the pathways to a low or carbon neutral hydrogen economy and assessment of the major challenges and opportunities that both governments and private sector companies face. In addition, the contributions delving into the role of hydrogen in fulfilment of climate targets, regional differences with regards to hydrogen economy, complexity of hydrogen transition and issue related to the regulation of hydrogen economy are in the scope of this Topic Collection. Furthermore, contributions that focus on the potential long term effects of rising hydrogen sector in the advanced and emerging economies on oil and gas exporting developing and transition economies are explicitly invited. Both theoretical and empirical inquiries are in the scope of this Topic Collection. The papers will be written by both academic observers and practitioners of the focusing on the role of hydrogen environmental aspect.

This call for Topic Collection welcomes submissions in the following areas:

• Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the role of hydrogen fuels

• Pathways of competitiveness of hydrogen fuels in comparison to fossil fuels

• Perspectives of hydrogen in steel industry

• The potential role of hydrogen in decarbonizing of transportation sector

• Assessment of the competitiveness of hydrogen economy in the short, middle and long term

• Perspectives of hydrogen as a fuel for developing countries

• Potential role of pink and fossils-based hydrogen in energy transition

• Hydrogen cycle and circular economy concept

• Risks related to the implementation of hydrogen economy

• Role of operational and product innovation in abandoning fossil fuel: how fast and how much hydrogen

• Future perspectives on the development of hydrogen energy technologies

• Crowding in clean investment: climate policy and the long-run returns

• Technological changes in developed and developing economies and ecological consequences of sustainable production

• Directed technological change and energy efficiency improvements in the context of hydrogen economy

• Environmentally-friendly production policy, multinational firms and hydrogen innovation

• Multiple energy demands and operational and production innovation

• Productivity, efficiency, and spillovers in sustainable operations and production

• Repercussions of the rising hydrogen OECD economies on the oil-exporting developing economies

Keywords: Sustainable Development Goals; hydrogen economy; hydrogen fuels; energy transition; Competitiveness Pathways