No nos dejemos engañar por el frenesí por el hidrógeno

Friends of the Earth International positions hydrogen as a dangerous distraction from real climate action, asserting that most production relies on fossil fuels and that even 'green' hydrogen is inefficient and risks perpetuating neocolonial extractivism. The document critiques various 'colors' of hydrogen, warns against carbon capture and storage (CCS) as an unproven patch, and calls for a systemic shift toward energy sovereignty and community-led renewables instead of industrial hydrogen projects.

• The vast majority of global hydrogen production is derived from fossil fuels, with approximately 62% coming from fossil gas, 21% from coal and lignite, and 16% as a refinery byproduct; only 0.1% is produced via water electrolysis.
• Blue hydrogen, which combines fossil gas with carbon capture and storage (CCS), is characterized as a risky and unproven technology that may actually have a higher greenhouse gas footprint than coal due to methane leaks and high electricity requirements.
• Green hydrogen is criticized for its extreme inefficiency, requiring vast amounts of low-cost renewable electricity and water—approximately 9,000 liters of water to produce one ton of hydrogen—which could lead to water scarcity and neocolonial resource exploitation in the Global South.
• The fossil fuel industry uses the 'hydrogen hype' to justify the continued construction of gas infrastructure, including 'hydrogen-ready' pipelines in Europe and receiving $21 billion in tax incentives and direct spending in the United States.
• Hydrogen projects have been linked to severe human rights violations and environmental destruction, such as the forced displacement of ancestral tribes for the Neom megacity in Saudi Arabia and the devastation of local livelihoods in Cabo Delgado, Mozambique.
• Hydrogen is financially non-competitive and economically unviable, particularly green hydrogen, due to high transport, conversion, and infrastructure costs, especially when produced far from the point of use.

APA

Masson, L., Shaw, S., Booth, T., & Race, M. (2023). No nos dejemos engañar por el frenesí por el hidrógeno. Friends of the Earth International. https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Energia-del-hidrogeno_posicionamiento-de-Amigos-de-la-tierra-internacional.pdf

Chicago

Masson, Lise, Sara Shaw, Tyler Booth, and Madeleine Race. No nos dejemos engañar por el frenesí por el hidrógeno. Friends of the Earth International, 2023. https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Energia-del-hidrogeno_posicionamiento-de-Amigos-de-la-tierra-internacional.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Masson |first1=Lise |last2=Shaw |first2=Sara |last3=Booth |first3=Tyler |last4=Race |first4=Madeleine |title=No nos dejemos engañar por el frenesí por el hidrógeno |publisher=Friends of the Earth International |date=November 2023 |url=https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Energia-del-hidrogeno_posicionamiento-de-Amigos-de-la-tierra-internacional.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{masson2023nos, author = {Masson, Lise and Shaw, Sara and Booth, Tyler and Race, Madeleine}, title = {{No nos dejemos engañar por el frenesí por el hidrógeno}}, publisher = {Friends of the Earth International}, year = {2023}, month = nov, url = {https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Energia-del-hidrogeno_posicionamiento-de-Amigos-de-la-tierra-internacional.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }