The Emerging Geopolitics of Hydrogen Value and Supply Chains: A Focus on EU’s Future Relations with the Eurasian Supercontinent
by Jacopo Maria Pepe
<저자소개/About the author>
▶ Jacopo Maria Pepe
Jacopo Maria Pepe is Senior Researcher in the Global Issue Division of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP) and since 2022 head of the project “Geopolitics of Hydrogen.” He is currently also a non-resident Visiting Fellow at the Edwin Reischauer Center for East Asian Studies at SAIS-Johns Hopkins University. Previously, he has worked as a lecturer at the Freie Universität Berlin, where he holds a PhD from. His latest book Value Chains Transformation and Transport Reconnection in Eurasia: Geo-economic and Geopolitical Implications was published by Routledge in 2021.
<초록/Abstract>
Hydrogen is gaining momentum as countries prioritize decarbonization of hard-to-abate sectors. However, hydrogen production entails technological and resource-intensive processes, resulting in intricate value chains and complex dependencies along them. Apart from that, hydrogen trade and market dynamics have the potential to alter not only economic but also power relations between countries and the geopolitical landscape. Eurasia, often overlooked in the context of Europe’s hydrogen plans, emerges as a pivotal macro-region due to the concentration of technology and abundant resources (fossil fuels, renewable energy and critical minerals) along important transit routes as well as evolving intra-continental trade ties beyond Europe and the geographic West. Thus, the present paper will explore Eurasia’s anticipated role within hydrogen value and supply chains and delve into how the European Union’s (EU) hydrogen initiatives may reshape Europe’s energy and geopolitical relationships with countries spanning the supercontinent. It underscores the importance of considering agency, priorities, interests, and motivations of potential hydrogen partners in effectively managing the arising dependencies. The findings highlight the need for a comprehensive understanding of the evolving hydrogen landscape, which promises to reshape energy relations and geopolitics across the Eurasian supercontinent.
<목차/Contents>
Ⅰ. Introduction
Ⅱ. Geopolitics and Hydrogen
Ⅲ. The Eurasian “Supercontinent”: Mapping the Future Hydrogen Landscape
Ⅳ. EU’s Hydrogen Push and Eurasia
Ⅴ. Conclusion
Key Words: Hydrogen, Geopolitics, Value chains, Resources, Eurasia, EU