Expanding our Hydrogen Horizons: A symposium on the social acceptance of hydrogen futures

The importance of public acceptance in energy transitions

Societal perspectives on whether, where and to what extent hydrogen should play a role in shaping our energy futures are important.

Social scientific research shows that the opinions and actions of members of the public, alongside those of societal leaders and decision-makers - for example, within business, industry and policy communities - are important in shaping whether new technologies and policies are ‘accepted’ and thus whether they are successfully developed and implemented (or not).

Hydrogen's role for a low-carbon future

As the spectre of climate change and concerns over energy security and affordability increase, interest in alternatives to carbon-intensive fossil fuels for powering our economies is also growing.

Across the world, many national government’s see hydrogen (and affiliated fuels like ammonia) as being crucial in the transition to a low-carbon economy, particularly in hard-to-treat sectors, such as heavy industry and mass-transit.

There are, though, key questions about societal readiness for a hydrogen-based transition. The need to produce, transport, store and use large amounts of hydrogen will necessitate the introduction of new technologies, the upskilling of workforces, the restructuring of supply chains and economic systems, and the evolution of policy, planning and governance structures – to name but a few things.

Crucially, if these ‘building blocks’ of the hydrogen transition are not supported (or at least tolerated) by society, they may not be realised. This is particularly true in countries like the United Kingdom where publics and other societal actors are relatively empowered to affect decisions around the fate of innovative technologies and policies.

Social acceptance of Hydrogen: UK Symposium

The Technology Acceptance Research Group: Energy Technologies (TARG:ET) in association with the UK-HyRES research hub are hosting a free, one-day symposium exploring the social acceptance of hydrogen futures in the School of Psychology, Sport and Health Sciences. 

This unique event brings together a roster of speakers from across the UK, The Netherlands and beyond.

We will explore leading-edge research into the nature and determinants of social acceptance, how it manifests and the implications it has for sectors such as policy, planning, and communications.

There will be a keynote speech from Dr Emma Guthrie (CEO of the Hydrogen Energy Association), a panel discussion focused on industry-academia collaboration and plenty of networking time. There is also a special issue of the Environmental Psychology Research journal accompanying this symposium, providing an opportunity to publish research.