Presentations

Muhammed Patel (TIPS): Green H2: a potential export commodity in a new global marketplace

Jason Bell (CREDD): Insights from green hydrogen for sustainable (re)industrialisation in South Africa paper

Sören Scholvin (UCN): Green hydrogen and linkage-based development in Chile

Bruce Young (Wits Energy Centre): TIPS Development Dialogue Green hydrogen and industrial policy slides

Background

This Development Dialogue seeks to unpack whether green hydrogen is really the technology of the future and its commercial viability. As well as to understand global demand and some of the miss information in the industries for carbon neutralisation.

Globally, countries are mobilising resources to deal with the climate crisis. Climate change stands to impact countries collectively, with the impacts most severely felt by the vulnerable in society. Countries, including South Africa, have to think carefully about improving their resilience to the direct physical impacts of climate change and the effects of the transition. Part of the response involves transforming notorious, high-emitting industries, such as energy and petrochemicals, towards cleaner production.

Given South Africa’s high dependency on coal, and the combustion of coal being associated with high CO2 emissions, South Africa will have to transform key value chains towards more sustainable production. This transformation not only protects the country’s resources from future climate events but also secures South Africa’s future in the global marketplace. The hydrogen economy offers one potential and complementary pathway to a sustainable future. South Africa’s rich endowment of ideal weather conditions for solar and wind power generation, technological capabilities around the Fischer-Tropsch (FT) process, and access to platinum resources, place the country at an advantage for developing the hydrogen value chain and being a key supplier into the global hydrogen market.

While green hydrogen development has gone through a number of historical waves of interest, the current momentum is being driven globally, with a number of countries developing hydrogen roadmaps and strategies to capitalise domestically and in the global marketplace.

This provides South Africa with a window of opportunity to investigate and develop a domestic hydrogen economy, attract investment into developing a new capability, and benefit from this heightened interest in the creation of a new export product. Developing this sector has many potential benefits for the country.

TIPS is partnering with the Department of Trade Industry and Competition (the dtic).

About the Speakers

Presenters

Muhammed Patel is Senior Economist at TIPS. Muhammed’s background spans work in industrial development, and competition and regulatory economics as well as telecommunications and the energy sectors.

Jason Bell is an Economist and Researcher at the Centre for Competition Regulation and Economic Development. He is interested in political economy and industrial development issues, focusing on the role of regulation, governments and institutions in fostering growth and the evolution and distribution of power. his sectoral focus covers metals, machinery and equipment, development finance institutions, automotives, climate change and green hydrogen in South Africa.

Bruce Young is Senior Lecturer, Africa Energy Leadership Centre, Business School, University of the Witwatersrand. He is a Chemical Engineer with broadly based business development and technical experience related to the global petrochemical industry with specific expertise in petrochemicals. Expertise in chemical opportunities associated with Fischer Tropsch technology and synthesis gas processing. Specific expertise in formulating business unit technology strategy to support the business strategy. Significant commercial experience relating to technology and licensing agreements. Experienced in mergers and acquisitions in the chemicals business area.

Sören Scholvin is a professor at the Department of Economics, Catholic University of the North, in Antofagasta, Chile. He is affiliated with the Policy Research in International Services and Manufacturing (PRISM) unit at the University of Cape Town. Sören's research interests are extractive industries, global value chains and regional development.

TIPS Dialogues bring together academics, policymakers, civil society organisations, workers, and practitioners
to discuss important issues and share ideas on industrial policy.

TIPS is partnering with the Department of Trade Industry and Competition (the dtic).

This case study focuses specifically on the emerging export opportunities for South Africa in the development of green hydrogen. This refers to hydrogen that is produced through the process of electrolysis that is combined with a renewable energy source of power. While green hydrogen development has gone through a number of historical waves of interest, the current momentum is being driven globally, with a number of countries developing hydrogen roadmaps and strategies to capitalise domestically and in the global marketplace.

It is part of a research project for the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition examines the vulnerability of South African trade to evolving climate change legislation. It aims to shed light on the trade-related risks faced by South Africa as a result of the global transition to a low-carbon economy. From a trade and industrial perspective, this transition has implications on the composition and dynamics of entire value chains. This concerns what inputs are accessed, the processes that underlie production, what goods and services are produced, as well as what happens to these products post-consumption. The research is available in a number of related documents.  A main report on The global climate change regime and its impacts on South Africa's trade and competitiveness: case studies on various sectors; detailed briefs that explore South Africa’s trade risks with different countries; and key data in Excel format. 

These reports are available here: Climate change and trade risk.

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