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Paper short abstract

Electrolysers require large amounts of materials and electricity to transform water into green hydrogen. This paper, based on ongoing research in Brittany (western France), demonstrates that this symbiosis may create environmental justice issues that actors may have to address.

Paper long abstract

Brittany, in western France, aims to develop green technologies to both transition away from fossil fuels and enhance its energy sovereignty. Green hydrogen plays an important role in this transition, supplying transportation systems and providing solutions for major local industries (public transportation, shipping, and the production and use of “billigs”, etc.). This development creates new forms of industrial symbiosis (Chertow, 2000), as electrolysers require significant amounts of electricity and water to produce green hydrogen. While constituting a potential solution for using captured CO₂ from major emitters through e-fuel production, it also creates new links between industries and materials. This talk aims to assess these new symbioses in terms of environmental and social justice. It highlights that new conflicts of use may emerge from these developments. However, rather than creating entirely new situations, this transition may instead tend to reinforce pre-existing injustices. This paper presents the results of a collective study conducted across several field sites in Brittany on the deployment of hydrogen technologies. It aims to lay the groundwork for a just energy transition by enabling stakeholders to rethink existing models of energy transition.