Hydrogen: the major player in the energy transition

• Date: Monday, May 22nd
• Hour: 5:30-7:00 pm (CET)
• Location: online through Zoom

Short description:

In the desire to decarbonise the economy and production, there is one element that resonates above all else: green hydrogen. In order to develop it, the aim is to reproduce the same transport and consumption model as with fossil gas and, for this reason, the European Union, the Spanish state and countries of the Global South have developed their roadmaps to make hydrogen a reality.

Furthermore, both because of the European green transition and the need to break energy dependence on Russian gas, the European Union has created public funds and mechanisms that can finance projects for hydrogen production and transport. This has meant that in recent years, energy and fossil fuel companies such as Repsol, Iberdrola, Enagás, among others, have been lobbying for the development of hydrogen, promoting old gas infrastructures to transport hydrogen.

With the idea of continuing to meet the current demand for fossil gas with hydrogen, the European Commission is looking beyond the European continent. Chile is one of the countries that has been defined as a strategic partner to carry out the energy transition in the European Union and has a national roadmap for the development of green hydrogen. This will be used for decarbonisation of the mining sector and for export, and international investment funds and European fossil and energy companies will play a relevant role.

Green hydrogen projects pose a threat to the way of life of the indigenous communities, in this case the Chango people who live in the coastal villages, as they are mainly engaged in fishing and seaweed gathering. Already with the installation of thermoelectric plants two decades ago, they have seen how the desalination process alters marine ecosystems and increases marine and air pollution, putting their health at risk as well.

What is the green hydrogen strategy in Spain based on? How will it be financed and which companies will benefit? What is the green hydrogen strategy in Chile? Which companies and international funds are involved? What impacts will green hydrogen projects have on the indigenous communities of the Chango people? Are their fundamental and environmental rights being violated?

Speakers:

• Marina Gros Breto. Graduate in biotechnology, she has been monitoring public policy and climate governance since 2018. She is currently the coordinador of the gas campaign at Ecologistas en Acción, activist and member of its energy and climate area.
• Natalia Lueje Seeger. Bachelor of Arts at the University of Chile and Master in Sustainable Development of Environments and Territories by the UAHC. She has more than 12 years of experience in various areas of social and environmental sustainability, with a focus on working with communities, political ecology and more recently, on just energy transition. She is the territorial coordinator of the NGO Sustentarse and collaborates with the Chango People’s Council of the Antofagasta Region (Chile).
• Marcelo Silva Miranda, regional leader of pueblo chango, in Antofagasta region, Chile.
• Moderated by Josep Nualart, energy researcher at the Debt Observatory in Globalization