WP7: Socio-economic aspects and implementation of hydrogen.

An important question is how the role of hydrogen in the energy system might evolve, given policy, technology, economies of scale, consumer and investment behavior, and how it will relate to other sustainability options and competition and cooperation with other countries. To gain more insight into this, socio-technical system models can be developed to analyze the role of hydrogen in light of the other energy system and economic activities. This includes, for example, cost developments, displacement effects, regulation and market design, and life cycle analysis.

All parts of the hydrogen value chain - production, transportation, storage, conversion and application - can only get off the ground successfully if a number of conditions are met. First, there must be an adequate business case that fits into an appropriate energy sector market design. If not, there must be sufficient other incentives for investors to bet on hydrogen. Second, laws and regulations must provide clear legal frameworks for further market development. Third, there must be sufficient public support so that no objections are raised from society against hydrogen development. It is therefore important to analyze these intersecting aspects in all parts of the value chain in advance and to ensure public support for technological development.

Scope:

Within this WP

• Development of a full transition perspective for the potential and optimal role of hydrogen in the future energy system for different geographical scales (North Sea region, European, international) and markets (industry, built environment, logistics...)
• Analysis and optimization of the business case for introducing hydrogen (grey, blue, green) at different aggregation levels
• Identifications and analysis of the legal and regulatory factors for the introduction of hydrogen: identification of legal obstacles, legal and regulatory framework (national, European, UN) etc.
• Identification of the public acceptance factors for the introduction of hydrogen

Activities include:

• Model development: interlinked multi-scale modeling approach to quantify the role (production, deployment, transport) of hydrogen over time as part of the overall energy system
• Business case development
• Identification & legal regulatory framework
• Identification factors of public acceptance