Paper short abstract

In my contribution, I reflect on future failure as a central theme in the acceleration of green hydrogen. I examine how the looming presence and simultaneous absence of the future failure of implementing green hydrogen at scale shape discussions at hydrogen conferences and within hydrogen projects.

Paper long abstract

Hydrogen is presented as a key element of the energy transition. With its capacity to store energy from renewable sources, it carries the promise of leading the way toward climate neutrality. At the same time there is a lingering uncertainty about the success of establishing hydrogen technologies on a large scale. The discrepancy between the hope that hydrogen can fix the energy transition and skepticism about whether hydrogen technologies will in fact be widely implemented forms a tension deeply embedded in the promise of hydrogen.

Drawing on perspectives from anthropology and STS I examine this tension focusing on future failure as a central theme of the acceleration of green hydrogen. Building on participant observation at hydrogen conferences and interviews with experts working on hydrogen projects, I describe how future failure of the implementation of green hydrogen at large scale appears as both present and absent in expert discourse. This paradox emerges in speeches, panels, and informal conversations at hydrogen conferences. In my contribution I’ll ask: How is the possibility of future failure articulated, managed or displaced in hydrogen expert spaces?