IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hal/journl/hal-05264605.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Red Lights On Green Hydrogen: The Case Of Hyphen Green Hydrogen Development In The Tsau ||Khaeb National Park

Author

Listed:
  • Antoine Latarge

    (EDYTEM - Environnements, Dynamiques et Territoires de Montagne - USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry] - Université Savoie Mont Blanc - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - Fédération OSUG - Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble)

  • Marie Emilie Forget

    (EDYTEM - Environnements, Dynamiques et Territoires de Montagne - USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry] - Université Savoie Mont Blanc - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - Fédération OSUG - Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble, Labex ITTEM - Laboratoire d'excellence Innovations et transitions territoriales en montagne - USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry] - Université Savoie Mont Blanc - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement - UGA - Université Grenoble Alpes)

Abstract

To reach the net-zero emissions goal by 2050, many nations have identified hydrogen as a key solution. In its green form, produced from renewable energy sources, hydrogen could contribute significantly to decarbonizing society. However, significant challenges remain: less than 1% of hydrogen produced globally is currently green. Estimations from the International Energy Agency suggest global demand could increase from 97 million tons to 400 million tons by 2050. Therefore, meeting decarbonization targets will require large-scale projects of green hydrogen development. This large-scale production of green hydrogen requires vast areas exposed to strong and steady wind and/or high solar radiations to produce hydrogen from renewables. Despite being among the highest consumers of hydrogen, European, Korean, or Japanese territories do not have enough territorial resources. As a result, numerous territories in Africa and Latin America are being identified as strategic locations to support the projected global surge in demand for green hydrogen, particularly for applications in road and maritime transport as well as industrial processes. This presentation examines a case in Namibia, where 20,000 km² of a southwestern national park have been allocated for the development of a global green hydrogen hub. Drawing on reports and semi-structured interviews from a fieldwork in 2025, this study explores the creation of such ex-nihilo energy territories, focusing on stakeholders' interplays and power dynamics. Through the controversies it generates, the project reveals the environmental impact of the massive infrastructure required to meet global green hydrogen demand. The local analysis will be complemented by a reflection on the integration of this project into national networks, as well as on the dynamics that may be considered neocolonial in nature. In this context, the narratives of energy transition will be critically analyzed through the lens of a just transition.

Suggested Citation

  • Antoine Latarge & Marie Emilie Forget, 2025. "Red Lights On Green Hydrogen: The Case Of Hyphen Green Hydrogen Development In The Tsau ||Khaeb National Park," Post-Print hal-05264605, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05264605
    DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.14182.89922
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    To our knowledge, this item is not available for download. To find whether it is available, there are three options:
    1. Check below whether another version of this item is available online.
    2. Check on the provider's web page whether it is in fact available.
    3. Perform a
    for a similarly titled item that would be available.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:hal:journl:hal-05264605. 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.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using 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: CCSD (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/ .

    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.