The Dawn of a Geopolitics of a Hydrogen-based Economy. The Place of European Union

Abstract

As the world economy is confronted with the urgency of climate change, the emergence of new technologies and a redefinition of the balance of power, one of the areas that attracts more and more interest is that of the hydrogen-based economy. The paper proposes a classification of participants into 4 categories and analyses their current and announced strategies and actions related to the utilization of hydrogen in economy. At the same time, the paper offers some arguments in relation to the complementary nature of electrical battery and hydrogen-based utilizations in economy. The global distribution of the key players reflects an important asymmetry and supports the idea of the emergence of a new type of balance of power and of international relations which will translate into a new geopolitical map of the world. In this context, the European Union emerges as one of the main participants in the energy transition towards the goal of net zero carbon emissions in 2050 and even if there are great differences in the degree of preparedness among the member states, the conclusion is that all of them should participate at the earliest stage possible.

Keywords

• hydrogen economy
• hydrogen society
• energy transition
• geopolitics
• net zero carbon emissions