• Hydrogen Energy: A Critical Review to Ensure Community and Climate Benefits

    the HYDROGEN EJ FRAMEWORK

    This community-created and directed analysis utilizing an environmental justice framework is paired with a technical analysis that looks more deeply at the environmental impacts and potential benefits. This framework provides values for communities to evaluate hydrogen energy concepts and critically analyzes the implications to inform community decision-making. Ultimately, our interests are finding the best solutions to protect marginalized communities from further harm and advance just solutions to address the climate crisis.

    Click here for the Spanish translation

    We must carefully evaluate climate solutions to ensure they are not perpetuating environmental injustices.

    The United States’ reliance on fossil fuels has been a central cause of the climate crisis and a principal element in environmental injustice. Meeting the need for a reliable energy supply will require complex technologies. Hydrogen, until now mainly a chemical commodity, has been proposed as a major energy source. The impacts of producing and using hydrogen as an energy source depend centrally on the production methods and inputs and the end use of hydrogen. These impacts range from perpetuating environmental injustices and the fossil fuel industry to significant net environmental and EJ benefits.

    Impacts must be evaluated at various geographic scales because hydrogen production and use have different effects in different locations; even when net global benefits exist, local negative impacts could still be significant. Thus, net global, site-specific, and application-specific impacts must be considered, including alternatives to hydrogen with lower overall environmental impact and/or more significant climate mitigation benefits for the same or similar inputs.

    Community consent is always essential, even when there are global benefits.

    ABOUT THE JUST SOLUTIONS RESEARCH COLLABORATIVE

    Fundamental to developing this community-directed and informed analysis, Just Solutions convened a Research Collaborative of nine community-based climate and environmental justice organizations, ensuring that the perspectives of various communities, sectors and geographies were represented. After a thorough community scan, we identified organizations with relevant experience and interests in hydrogen energy and its societal impacts and a willingness to deepen their collective understanding of the technology and produce a comprehensive review.

    hydrogen energy production & use

    HYDROGEN EJ FRAMEWORK MESSAGING TOOLKIT

    Download the messaging toolkit for key talking points, graphics, and suggested social media copy for sharing the framework with your network.

    Technical AnalysES

    STORING ELECTRONS

    HYDROGEN: WHAT GOOD IS IT?

    upcoming webinars

    PODCAST EPISODE

    black and silver headphones on black and silver microphone

    Coming soon. For now, listen to our show!