The Green Hydrogen Economy and the Global Net Zero Agenda: A Green Powershoring & Green Watershoring Perspective

Abstract

The global Green Hydrogen economy offers the opportunity to unleash a new global energy paradigm, and a new virtuous cycle of global sustainable economic growth and development. The Green Hydrogen economy addresses the urgent need for global decarbonization, addressing a number of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) established in the 2030 agenda. This paper addresses the promises and challenges permeating the establishment of a global Green Hydrogen economy. This paper introduces two new approaches and concepts, Green Powershoring and Green Watershoring, to assess and analyze how the global Green Hydrogen will evolve, and which countries will take the leadership in the global Green Hydrogen economy. Given the renewable energy-intensive and fresh water-intensive nature of green hydrogen production, countries which are more endowed with these natural resources will develop a clear lead and a competitive advantage over countries that do not possess these natural resource endowments. Thus, the creation of a global Green Hydrogen Divide is inevitable, leading to a number of global geoeconomics and geopolitical consequences.