New Belfer Center report identifies countries with the strongest potential impact on green hydrogen value changes in key industries

Global hydrogen demand is expected to increase by 700% by 2050 (BP, 2019), which will drastically impact current value chains and the international order. EIPCC Researcher and PhD candidate at the Willy Brandt School Laima Eicke and Harvard Belfer Center Senior Fellow Nicola De Blasio assessed the extent of this impact in a new report called "The Future of Green Hydrogen Value Chains: Geopolitical and Market Implications in the Industrial Sector" which identifies countries with the strongest potential impact on green hydrogen value changes in key industries.

Eicke and De Blasio first created a framework to categorize countries based on their potential advantages in future green hydrogen markets. Then, they applied the framework to assess countries’ potential for using hydrogen at scale in three key industrial applications. Finally, they analyzed three country cases that demonstrate the challenges and opportunities of these countries positioning in future green hydrogen markets.

Through this research, Eicke and De Blasio conclude that the potential for green hydrogen production and associated industrial applications is distributed unevenly across the globe. This will result in new geopolitical dependencies and tensions as well as economic opportunities. Policymakers must take these considerations into account as they develop industrial policies and as their countries continue to decarbonize.