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Paper short abstract

A startup developing green hydrogen production becomes best known for hydrogen mobility projects. Drawing on a Chinese case and Scottish comparison, this paper examines how policy imaginaries and demonstration strategies reshape hydrogen innovation trajectories.

Paper long abstract

This paper examines how hydrogen innovation trajectories are reshaped in emerging hydrogen sectors. It investigates a paradoxical case in which a Chinese startup focused on green hydrogen production and later became best known for a project supplying fuel cell vehicles using industrial by-product hydrogen. Why do certain technological pathways become prioritised over others?

Drawing on interviews, participant observations, and document analysis, the study analyses how a dominant sociotechnical imaginary of a “hydrogen mobility future” shapes technological expectations and policy priorities. In the Chinese context, this imaginary is operationalised through governance mechanisms such as deployment targets for local government evaluation and hydrogen demonstration clusters built upon earlier fuel cell industrial clusters. These arrangements translate imaginaries into infrastructures and demonstration projects.

For startups operating within this environment, aligning with dominant imaginaries becomes a strategy for survival. As hydrogen markets remain at an early stage and private investment is limited, companies often rely on local government funding obtained by establishing subsidiaries in different regions. This encourages startups to adapt technological narratives and participate in demonstration programmes.

The paper situates these dynamics within the broader “chicken-and-egg” dilemma of the hydrogen sector: green hydrogen remains costly due to limited demand, while demand remains limited without large-scale deployment. Highly visible applications, such as hydrogen mobility, therefore function as demand-creation strategies. Similar dynamics can also be observed in Scottish cases conducted by the author, suggesting that shifts in hydrogen innovation trajectories reflect not only governance structures but also the early-stage dynamics of emerging hydrogen industries.