IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/rensus/v182y2023ics1364032123001600.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Economic complexity of green hydrogen production technologies - a trade data-based analysis of country-specific industrial preconditions

Author

Listed:
  • Müller, Viktor Paul
  • Eichhammer, Wolfgang

Abstract

Countries with high energy demand but limited renewable energy potential are planning to meet part of their future energy needs by importing green hydrogen. For potential exporting countries, in addition to sufficient renewable resources, industrial preconditions are also relevant for the successful implementation of green hydrogen production value chains. A list of 36 “Green H2 Products” needed for stand-alone hydrogen production plants was defined and their economic complexity was analyzed using international trade data from 1995 to 2019. These products were found to be comparatively complex to produce and represent an opportunity for countries to enter new areas of the product space through green diversification. Large differences were revealed between countries in terms of industrial preconditions and their evolution over time. A detailed analysis of nine MENA countries showed that Turkey and Tunisia already possess industrial know-how in various green hydrogen technology components and perform only slightly worse than potential European competitors, while Algeria, Libya, and Saudi Arabia score the lowest in terms of calculated hydrogen-related green complexity. These findings are supported by statistical tests showing that countries with a higher share of natural resources rents in their gross domestic product score significantly lower on economic and green complexity. The results thus provide new perspectives for assessing the capabilities of potential hydrogen-producing countries, which may prove useful for policymakers and investors. Simultaneously, this paper contributes to the theory of economic complexity by applying its methods to a new subset of products, and using a dataset with long-term coverage.

Suggested Citation

  • Müller, Viktor Paul & Eichhammer, Wolfgang, 2023. "Economic complexity of green hydrogen production technologies - a trade data-based analysis of country-specific industrial preconditions," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 182(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:rensus:v:182:y:2023:i:c:s1364032123001600
    DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2023.113304
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364032123001600
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.rser.2023.113304?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ricardo Hausmann & Jason Hwang & Dani Rodrik, 2007. "What you export matters," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 12(1), pages 1-25, March.
    2. Timmerberg, Sebastian & Kaltschmitt, Martin, 2019. "Hydrogen from renewables: Supply from North Africa to Central Europe as blend in existing pipelines – Potentials and costs," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 237(C), pages 795-809.
    3. Mark Huberty & Georg Zachmann, 2011. "Green exports and the global product space- Prospects for EU industrial policy," Working Papers 556, Bruegel.
    4. Falko Ueckerdt & Christian Bauer & Alois Dirnaichner & Jordan Everall & Romain Sacchi & Gunnar Luderer, 2021. "Potential and risks of hydrogen-based e-fuels in climate change mitigation," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 11(5), pages 384-393, May.
    5. Qyyum, Muhammad Abdul & Dickson, Rofice & Ali Shah, Syed Fahad & Niaz, Haider & Khan, Amin & Liu, J. Jay & Lee, Moonyong, 2021. "Availability, versatility, and viability of feedstocks for hydrogen production: Product space perspective," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    6. Mikova, Nadezhda & Eichhammer, Wolfgang & Pfluger, Benjamin, 2019. "Low-carbon energy scenarios 2050 in north-west European countries: Towards a more harmonised approach to achieve the EU targets," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 448-460.
    7. Cesar A. Hidalgo & Ricardo Hausmann, 2009. "The Building Blocks of Economic Complexity," Papers 0909.3890, arXiv.org.
    8. Guzmán Ourens, 2012. "Can the Method of Re?ections help predict future growth?," Documentos de Trabajo (working papers) 1712, Department of Economics - dECON.
    9. C. A. Hidalgo & B. Klinger & A. -L. Barabasi & R. Hausmann, 2007. "The Product Space Conditions the Development of Nations," Papers 0708.2090, arXiv.org.
    10. Mahdi Fasihi & Dmitrii Bogdanov & Christian Breyer, 2017. "Long-Term Hydrocarbon Trade Options for the Maghreb Region and Europe—Renewable Energy Based Synthetic Fuels for a Net Zero Emissions World," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(2), pages 1-24, February.
    11. Jehan Sauvage, 2014. "The Stringency of Environmental Regulations and Trade in Environmental Goods," OECD Trade and Environment Working Papers 2014/3, OECD Publishing.
    12. Francesco de Cunzo & Alberto Petri & Andrea Zaccaria & Angelica Sbardella, 2022. "The trickle down from environmental innovation to productive complexity," Papers 2206.07537, arXiv.org.
    13. Barbieri, Nicolò & Marzucchi, Alberto & Rizzo, Ugo, 2023. "Green technologies, interdependencies, and policy," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Mealy, Penny & Teytelboym, Alexander, 2017. "Economic Complexity and the Green Economy," INET Oxford Working Papers 2018-03, Institute for New Economic Thinking at the Oxford Martin School, University of Oxford, revised Feb 2019.
    2. Mealy, Penny & Teytelboym, Alexander, 2022. "Economic complexity and the green economy," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(8).
    3. Bernardo Caldarola & Dario Mazzilli & Lorenzo Napolitano & Aurelio Patelli & Angelica Sbardella, 2023. "Economic complexity and the sustainability transition: A review of data, methods, and literature," Papers 2308.07172, arXiv.org, revised Mar 2024.
    4. Rui Xue & KeYu Li & FeiFei Wang & Claude Baron, 2024. "Research Progress and Hot-spot Analysis of The Economic Complexity Research Based on CiteSpace," Advances in Management and Applied Economics, SCIENPRESS Ltd, vol. 14(1), pages 1-10.
    5. Napolitano, Lorenzo & Sbardella, Angelica & Consoli, Davide & Barbieri, Nicolò & Perruchas, François, 2022. "Green innovation and income inequality: A complex system analysis," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 224-240.
    6. Arnaud Persenda & Alexandre Ruiz, 2023. "Autocatalytic Networks and the Green Economy," GREDEG Working Papers 2023-16, Groupe de REcherche en Droit, Economie, Gestion (GREDEG CNRS), Université Côte d'Azur, France.
    7. Ali Shah, Syed Fahad & Qyyum, Muhammad Abdul & Qadeer, Kinza & Lee, Moonyong, 2021. "Sustainable economic growth and export diversification potential for Asian LNG-exporting countries: LNG–petrochemical nexus development using product space model," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 236(C).
    8. Naima Chrid & Sami Saafi & Mohamed Chakroun, 2021. "Export Upgrading and Economic Growth: a Panel Cointegration and Causality Analysis," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 12(2), pages 811-841, June.
    9. Enrico Bergamini & Georg Zachmann, 2020. "Exploring EU’s Regional Potential in Low-Carbon Technologies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-28, December.
    10. Alje van Dam & Koen Frenken, 2019. "Variety, Complexity and Economic Development," Papers 1903.07997, arXiv.org.
    11. Diogo Ferraz & Fernanda P. S. Falguera & Enzo B. Mariano & Dominik Hartmann, 2021. "Linking Economic Complexity, Diversification, and Industrial Policy with Sustainable Development: A Structured Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-29, January.
    12. Olimpia Neagu, 2019. "The Link between Economic Complexity and Carbon Emissions in the European Union Countries: A Model Based on the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(17), pages 1-27, August.
    13. Koch, Philipp, 2021. "Economic complexity and growth: Can value-added exports better explain the link?," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 198(C).
    14. Alcalá, Francisco & Solaz, Marta, 2018. "International Relocation of Production and Growth," CEPR Discussion Papers 13422, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    15. Vu, Trung V., 2020. "Economic complexity and health outcomes: A global perspective," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 265(C).
    16. Sudeshna Ghosh & Buhari Doğan & Muhlis Can & Muhammad Ibrahim Shah & Nicholas Apergis, 2023. "Does economic structure matter for income inequality?," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 57(3), pages 2507-2527, June.
    17. Marin, Giovanni & Vona, Francesco, 2023. "Finance and the reallocation of scientific, engineering and mathematical talent," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(5).
    18. Lyubimov, Ivan L. (Любимов, Иван) & Gvozdeva, Margarita V. (Гвоздева, Маргарита) & Lysyuk, Maria A. (Лысюк, Мария), 2018. "Measuring Regional Development with the Network Theory Approach [Использование Теории Сетей При Составлении Рейтингов Развития Региональных Экономик]," Ekonomicheskaya Politika / Economic Policy, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, vol. 3, pages 206-233, June.
    19. Zongning Wu & Hongbo Cai & Ruining Zhao & Ying Fan & Zengru Di & Jiang Zhang, 2020. "A Topological Analysis of Trade Distance: Evidence from the Gravity Model and Complex Flow Networks," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-17, April.
    20. Xavier Cirera & Anabel Marin & Ricardo Markwald, 2011. "Explaining the Diversification Path of Exporters in Brazil: How Similar and Sophisticated are New Products?," Working Paper Series 2611, Department of Economics, University of Sussex Business School.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:rensus:v:182:y:2023:i:c:s1364032123001600. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/600126/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.