Researchers at Teesside University have been examining what the socio-economic impacts of hydrogen development on Teesside might be. They have been thinking through what the consequences of such innovation might be here in the North East and what the potential might be for hydrogen development to help bring about the just transition to a low carbon, sustainable and prosperous economy, we have been waiting so long for.
Hydrogen as a fuel
The authors of the research note that hydrogen is not a new fuel and that there are several varieties of hydrogen. They state that:
“hydrogen production is currently dominated by relatively cheap ‘grey’ hydrogen, commonly produced from natural gas through steam methane reformation (SMR). ‘Blue’ hydrogen combines this process with carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) techniques (though has yet to be demonstrated at scale). ‘Green’ hydrogen is produced through the electrolysis of water, powered by renewable energy sources. The latter is currently produced in much smaller quantities and at higher cost than grey hydrogen. Hydrogen innovation policy is dominated by a ‘scale up, green later’ narrative within national and regional energy strategies.”
Production on Teesside
The researchers also note that Teesside has become an important sub-region for the developing UK hydrogen economy, with plenty of infrastructure already in place, which can be used to help facilitate the production of hydrogen. They point out that Teesside is an area of the country which has suffered from de-industrialisation in recent decades and that consequently, “successive governments have sought to regenerate the Teesside sub-region primarily through policy support for innovation and industrial decarbonisation. One key feature of this agenda is support for a nascent hydrogen industry. Teesside enjoys substantial hydrogen production, utilisation, storage, and transport infrastructure.”
So, Teesside is ahead of the game in some respects, when it comes to hydrogen production, but will be the impacts of greater hydrogen production on Teesside? And can it lead to the long awaited just transition?
The socio-cultural and socio-economic impacts
The researchers asked key stakeholders for their views, sought further qualitative interviews with members of the public who had experience of current and former steel, energy and chemical industries, held a day-long citizen-stakeholder workshop in Middlesbrough in partnership with the Institute of Public Policy (IPPR) North and also supplemented responses from a regional survey with 1021 adults, conducted by YouGov covering residents across the North East of England.
The findings
The researchers found that, unsurprisingly, the greatest supporters of hydrogen innovation on Teesside were the representatives within the industry interviewee group. Members of the general public were not so sure, with the view being expressed that it might be a ‘red herring’. It was also found that many participants talked about potential risks to public safety, others talked about risk in the context of climate change and air pollution, with these sentiments said to be “related to the by-products of hydrogen burning as opposed to burning fossil fuels”.
A just transition?
The researchers noted that Teesside has long been an area of great socio-economic deprivation and it is therefore unsurprising that many respondents, including community groups and local authorities in the area, want to see that the development ensures “what is now commonly referred to as a just hydrogen transition for vulnerable communities.”
Indeed, the researchers found that, “some public participants noted the importance of the distributive justice dimensions of risk and economic benefit associated with hydrogen innovation, calling for costs to be passed on to affluent rather than economically marginalised areas of the Teesside sub-region, (while) participants also called for alternative low-cost, low-carbon fuels so that the technology could have a direct positive impact on fuel poverty and health inequality:”
Interestingly, the researchers also found that Teesside’s industrial past and future are “deeply influential in the cultural identity of its people, and the loss of former heavy industries and the hope for green growth from industrial innovation play heavily in the emergent sociotechnical configurations of a hydrogen economy constructed by our respondents:” There was a feeling that Teesside is often overlooked when it comes to investment and development and that there were “feelings of hopelessness connected sentiments about the sub-region being ‘overlooked’, ‘underrated’, and burdened by historical and geographically situated stereotypes and stigmatisation.”
Research conclusions and recommendations
The researchers made a number of recommendations regarding a fair development of the hydrogen industry on Teesside:
Policy authorities to recognise energy and infrastructure choices create industrial legacies and path dependencies that are difficult to correct in the future.
The development of hydrogen innovation in specific locations such as Teesside must not result in distributive injustice, with Teesside communities bearing the safety risks and costs of industrial development, while national and international benefits are more broadly shared.
Promises of local jobs in green industrial transitions will not alleviate entrenched social inequalities unless matched by targeted increased public and private investment in the sub-region, including investment in training, education, and job-promotion initiatives across schools and institutions.
To achieve a just hydrogen transition, marginalised communities must be directly involved in socio-economic development through subsidiarity – the devolution of transition planning and decision-making to the most local level possible. This could include the establishment of bodies such as people’s assemblies to help facilitate decision-making.
Jake Milner
I asked one of the researchers, Jake Milner, a PhD Student at the School Of Social Sciences, Humanities and Law at Teesside university for his thoughts on the research and its findings:
Jake commented as follows: “Our research at Teesside University, conducted through the Research England Hydrogen Innovation Project, highlights that hydrogen development is not solely a technical or economic matter – it is fundamentally a question of justice. Teesside faces distinct social, economic, and environmental challenges. Hydrogen innovation presents a meaningful opportunity to address each of these through new jobs, industrial innovation and research, but progress can only be reached if communities are actively involved in shaping this transition within their local economy. For hydrogen to be a success we need stronger, locally driven decision-making, including mechanisms such as citizen assemblies and devolved planning to ensure that those most affected by industrial change have a genuine stake in the process.”
Comment
This is important and very useful research. At a time when the government are seeking to develop hydrogen energy, with Teesside in the as one of the important hubs, it is vital that they remember that there is more at stake than simply the environment, energy and economics. People’s lives are also an important consideration.
Consequently, any development of hydrogen on Teesside must also take into accounts the views and aspirations of the people living there. In that way, one part of the North East can see movement towards the long-awaited just transition.
