Introduction

This introductory chapter provides an overview of the emerging geopolitics of hydrogen. The geopolitics of hydrogen describe the interplay of political, economic, technological as well as resource-related considerations as countries and economic blocs navigate the development, production, distribution, and use of hydrogen in the transition to a net-zero economy. It encompasses the influence of geographical factors essential for hydrogen generation, transport and use, technological choices and their implications for national competitiveness as well as questions of political and economic power—both domestic and international—that shape hydrogen strategies. In the following, we review how these factors are beginning to play out in the development of an international hydrogen economy. We sketch out seven critical dimensions, in which the geopolitics of hydrogen are taking shape: the politics of hydrogen production pathways; competition in clean hydrogen technologies; security of hydrogen supply and shifting energy geographies; hydrogen trade and infrastructure; industrial decarbonization and green industrialization; the uncertainty of hydrogen demand and the politics of risk; and sustainability and global equity. We conclude by presenting how the remainder of this book contributes to our understanding of the geopolitics of hydrogen.