Geographies of hydrogen: A review of trends, themes and concepts

Research on hydrogen – embraced as a cornerstone of the so-called global ‘energy transition’ – has mushroomed in recent years and has expanded into new disciplinary, empirical and conceptual terrains. Geographers and geographical thought have been at the forefront of an incipient yet thriving body of social science scholarship on the topic, enriching understandings of spatial, societal, (geo)political and (geo)economic dimensions of hydrogen in decarbonized development and beyond. In this article, we systematically review this literature and pursue three aims. First, we situate the evolution of geographical research on hydrogen by reference to historical and contemporary trends in the hydrogen economy. Second, we dissect key empirical and conceptual approaches in the literature along five themes: (a) geopolitics and geoeconomics, (b) territoriality, spatiality and infrastructural politics, (c) socio-ecological risks and energy justice, (d) coloniality and extractivism in North–South relations and (e) fossil capitalism. Third, we identify lacunas in existing scholarship and suggest ways forward by advancing a call to critically rethink the notion of a ‘hydrogen transition’. In outlining the current state of geographical debates on hydrogen, this article further highlights the potential of geographical perspectives to foster critical thinking and reflexivity on a rapidly evolving yet still uncertain industry with multi-faceted implications across spatial scales.