The development of Hydrogen technologies and their integration into the market are part of the solution to the challenges of climate neutrality and the energy crisis that European citizens face. Public awareness activities are essential for increasing social acceptance and trust in hydrogen-based technologies throughout the European Union, particularly for addressing the potential lack of knowledge or mistrust of key stakeholders directly involved in the first phases of mass deployment in Europe.
Project HYPOP - HYdrogen Public Opinion and accePtance, aims to raise public awareness and trust towards hydrogen technologies and their systemic benefits, through:
• the preparation of guidelines and good practices that will help to define more effectively how citizens, consumers/end-users and stakeholders can be involved in the implementation of Hydrogen technologies
• the creation of a web platform, and social media, collecting communication material, mainly videos, on new hydrogen technologies, developed according to the early findings of the public engagement activities.
To reach the overall goals of the project, 2 different target groups have been targeted, engaged and involved directly in dedicated activities: citizens, consumers, end users and communication experts; institutional stakeholders such as: first responders, permitting entities, certification bodies and decision makers.
The project analysed the current situation in terms of public perception, as gathered from public surveys and from social media analysis, and in terms of approaches to permitting, safety and certification of hydrogen technologies. The reviews covered Europe as a whole but focused on the countries represented by the project partners (Spain, Italy, Belgium, Poland, Bulgaria), the remaining EU-13 Countries and other EU Countries where hydrogen implementation is most advanced (France, Germany and the Netherlands mainly). A framework for Social Life Cycle Assessment, demonstrated for two application cases (mobility and residential) was developed.
The findings of the first year were discussed within workshops targeting specifically citizens on one side and expert stakeholders on the other. Through these workshops, HyPOP consolidated the set of guidance documents that constitute the main output of the project: guidelines to involve citizen in the development and implementation of hydrogen solutions; guidelines on permitting, safety and certification processes for hydrogen installations. Further support to public acceptance of hydrogen technologies is available through the HyPOP website, which collects videos busting false myths about hydrogen and raising awareness of hydrogen innovation and provides a useful toolkit to support communication of hydrogen projects.
