This study is meant as support to evaluate and raise quality of suggested socio-economic research undertaken in future hydrogen lighthouse projects. The Joint technical initiative which is a subsidiary of the 7th research and develppment framewoprk program. X
A social study-matrix composed in Hy-Approval and HyFLEET:CUTE revealed that social studies carried out in context with hydrogen demonstrations often lacked substantiation, variety and helpful comments from the involved stakeholders.
Often technical and demonstration projects, like some of the national projects referenced here, use vast resources for hardware while neglecting the human interface and cultural variations of both public and private perceptions as well as economic effects in the demonstrating countires. Integrating lessons learned from nationally supported H2 projects, Prepar-H2 will first upgrade the social matrix, by adding results from social studies from recent years and then dig deeper. selected stakeholders at all levels of the hydrogen fuel chain and support mechanisms will be interviewed on cross-disciplinary issues.
Views and comments will also be gatherd from people involved with other alternative fuels and drive trains; Prepar-H2 will simultaneously provide an economic comparison between hydrogen, other alternative fuels and conventional fossil fuel. The final outcome will be information on social comments and values as well as economic data providing grounds for evaluation of the relevancy and quality of proposed accompanying measures in future hydrogen lighthouse projects. More importantly, findings from Prepar-H2 will not only be applicable to future lighthouse projects but also have the flexibility to be applied to other H2 projects thereby successfully promoting H2 in societies through a thorough social and economic understanding of stakeholders’ perceptions, attitudes and actions.
Involved in this project are five partners, Icelandic New Energy sees to the project management. The others are:
-
Stiftelsen for Industriell og Forskning ved Norges Tekniske Hogskole (SINTEF)
-
Berlin University of Technology (TUB)
-
H2-LINK Denmark Association (H2 Link)
-
Italian National Agency for New Technologies and the Environment (ENEA)
The duration of the projects is expected to be 18 months.
