Why hydrogen’s carbon past matters for hydrogen futures

Abstract

Recent calls for critical social science research on hydrogen have largely focused on “green” hydrogen produced from renewable energy sources. What these calls have not fully considered is that hydrogen is a substance that has been used and produced at scale by hydrocarbon industries for decades. The fossil-based knowledge, technology, and infrastructure of this carbon past remain at the heart of the future hydrogen economy, as exemplified by the socially and environmentally problematic rise of “blue” hydrogen. To achieve a socio-ecological hydrogen transition, social science research on hydrogen needs to start from hydrogen’s carbon past in order to identify and contribute to the active reworking of hydrocarbon path dependencies.