Hydrogen is seen as an important energy carrier in a future sustainable economy. For example, it can be used in various industrial processes, but only when hydrogen is produced with renewable energy, it is called 'green'. Green hydrogen is in itself technically challenging. However, the transition to a hydrogen economy will also require and imply social, legal, economic and geopolitical changes which comes with challenges as well. The transport and storage infrastructure will take up space, and the spatial incorporation of electrolysers and the wind turbines and solar panels from which the green electricity is to be generated may also cause social resistance. Global production and supply chains involve new environmental and geopolitical risks. To study these changes and challenges, the HySUCCESS consortium, of which the UT is part, has been granted over 13 million Euro.
HySUCCESS, which stands for Social, User aCCeptable, Economically Sustainable Systems for hydrogen, aims to comprehensively investigate the socio-economic factors influencing the role of hydrogen for a sustainable energy system. From the UT, BMS researchers dr. Kornelia Konrad, dr. Nicole Huijts and dr. Anne M. Dijkstra contribute to analysing, amongst others, hydrogen discourses and expectations, implications of different system configurations, risk perceptions and justice considerations, utilising socio-technical scenarios and co-creation methods with public engagement and stakeholder workshops. The UT budget is 520.000 Euro.
The HySUCCESS consortium consists of ten universities, five universities of applied sciences (UAS), four commercial parties and a trade association. These parties bring in a variety of expertise needed to understand the social, legal and economic challenges. The investment programme runs until 2028.
Involved UT researchers
- Dr. Kornelia Konrad, associate professor of Anticipation and Assessment of Emerging Technologies
- Dr. Nicole Huijts, assistant professor Risk Psychology and Technology Acceptance
- Dr. Anne M. Dijkstra, associate professor Science Communication and Public Engagement
The news release from NWO and the National Growth Fund Programme GroenvermogenNL can be found here: Consortium launched to examine socio-economic aspects and implementation of hydrogen | NWO
