Post-Fossil Transformation?
Contested Decarbonisation, Fossil Continuities and Continued Extractivism in the Global Hydrogen Economy
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.32387/prokla.v54i216.2139Keywords:
Extractivism, Fossil Continuities, Green Industrial Policy, Hydrogen, Postfossil FormationAbstract
How green is hydrogen? The article analyses the emergence of a global, allegedly climate-neutral hydrogen economy. In drawing on the concept of postfossil extractivism, we emphasise three points: Firstly, the hydrogen transformation is contested. Secondly, the hydrogen economy shows considerable fossil continuities. Thirdly, extractivist patterns are being continued. These hamper self-determined strategies of green industrial policy in the exporting countries in the Global South and cause socio-ecological risks and conflicts. The article illustrates these dynamics with a view to Germany and Europe as well as future export countries of South Africa, Namibia, Argentina and Chile.
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