TECHNOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT OF HYDROGEN (FUTURE SCENARIOS: SOCIOLOGICAL, ENVIRONMENTAL, ECONOMIC, AND ENERGETIC ASPECTS)

Sammanfattning: Nowadays, the term energy transition is coming into vogue, as many countries are adopting the climate change agenda across the world to achieve sustainable development goals and change from nonrenewable energies to those coming from inexhaustible energy sources, that are more efficient and less polluting. Power-to-hydrogen is an auspicious solution for storing variable renewable energies. The role of hydrogen up till now in the industry is crucial not only to create products in different sectors but for the storage of energy and the creation of new energy produced with hydrogen which is the goal for the future of the industry sector. Clean hydrogen is basking in the glory of the tremendous momentum with the unprecedented political discussions and the number of policies and projects occurring worldwide. Further studies are primordial to ensure a significant share of hydrogen in the energy system. This paper’s main goal and objective were to analyse the implementation of hydrogen within this transition and to come up with a few scenarios in the near future for this new technology in the environmental, social, energy, and economic fields. The scope of this assessment was to assess future design for green, blue, grey, and turquoise hydrogen technology regarding the areas mentioned above, along with the risks and opportunities that could arise during this time. By comparing the current situation and the predicted future scenarios of hydrogen generation technologies, the goal is to respond to these questions: ¿What are the main differences among the different hydrogen production technologies? ¿What are the possible consequences of implementing this technology, and how could it be implemented with less detrimental effects? From the derived scenarios, the literature review showed that in the event of an economic decline, the reduction of financial resources will deter the continuous improvement of technology, and governments will create supportive schemes and reduce taxes to help citizens cope with the crisis and unemployment rates. By contrast, in the scenario where an improvement in technologies occurs, an increase in employment will be discernible, striking techniques will decrease energy consumption and there will be an imminent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions. In anticipation of external events, relocations and alterations in different sectors would take place, leading to social penurious conditions. The Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis revealed that green hydrogen production is the best procedure for a more sustainable system and the least propitious technology was the grey hydrogen generation.