Hydrogen, materials and education - International differences in a world under pressure

When an energy education program is set up in the Western world today, it naturally presents the knowledge base required for the various technological aspects of the value chain components. But it also always includes considerations such as frugality, the environment, ethics and fair trade, safety, societal issues, economics, resources, international cooperation and so on. The same applies to the development of renewable energies, including hydrogen technologies.

The approach is different in China, which is inherently highly centralized in terms of planning and priority management. Enormous efforts have been made since 2010 to develop renewable energies, in some cases with the support of the European Commission.

The international situation since 2022 has strongly shaken convictions about the energy strategy of a number of countries, particularly in Europe, precisely with regard to their dependence on foreign fossil fuels and access to mineral resources, and the need to accelerate the development of decarbonized energies, including nuclear power. These considerations have a strong impact on the way we think about energy policy and the education of the players involved in this policy, at a time when, by 2023, over fifty countries have announced the implementation of major national and regional energy strategies linked to hydrogen.

China is concerned in a different way by what is happening on Europe's doorstep, and instability does not serve its commercial ambitions. In any case, its mining resources shield it from the need for a number of strategic materials, particularly those linked to the development of low-carbon energy.

Nevertheless, whether in the East or the West, there can be a convergent vision when it comes to the absolute priority of combating global warming. Western and Chinese approaches to the deployment of renewable energies, and the associated educational policy, have their advantages and disadvantages, each with its own dynamics and effectiveness, between consensus, societal acceptance and national discipline. We can therefore find a win-win path, taking the best of both worlds, when it comes to the development of renewable technologies, such as hydrogen, and the related educational options.