Namibia
A Policy Review of Green Hydrogen Economy in Southern Africa
Nov 2021
Publication
Renewable energy and clean energy have been on the global agenda for energy transition for quite a long time but recently gained strong momentum especially with the anticipated depletion of fossil fuels alongside increasing environmental degradation from their exploitation and the changing climate caused by their excessive carbon emissions. Despite this Africa’s pursuit to transition to a green economy using renewable energy resources still faces constraints that hamper further development and commercialization. These may include socio-economic technical political financial and institutional policy framework barriers. Although hydrogen demand is still low in Southern Africa the region can meet the global demands for green hydrogen as a major supplier because of its enormous renewable energy resource-base. This article reviews existing renewable energy resources and hydrogen energy policies in the Southern African Development Community (SADC). The significance of this review is that it explores how clean energy technologies that utilize renewable energy resources address the United Nations sustainable development goals (UN SDGs) and identifies the hydrogen energy policy gaps. This review further presents policy options and recommends approaches to enhance hydrogen energy production and ramp the energy transition from a fossil fuel-based economy to a hydrogen energy-based economy in Southern Africa. Concisely the transition can be achieved if the existing hydrogen energy policy framework gap is narrowed by formulating policies that are specific to hydrogen development in each country with the associated economic benefits of hydrogen energy clearly outlined.
Green Hydrogen Production and Its Land Tenure Consequences in Africa: An Interpretive Review
Sep 2023
Publication
Globally a green hydrogen economy rush is underway and many companies investors governments and environmentalists consider it as an energy source that could foster the global energy transition. The enormous potential for hydrogen production for domestic use and export places Africa in the spotlight in the green hydrogen economy discourse. This discourse remains unsettled regarding how natural resources such as land and water can be sustainably utilized for such a resource-intensive project and what implications this would have. This review argues that green hydrogen production (GHP) in Africa has consequences where land resources (and their associated natural resources) are concerned. It discusses the current trends in GHP in Africa and the possibilities for reducing any potential pressures it may put on land and other resource use on the continent. The approach of the review is interpretive and hinges on answering three questions concerning the what why and how of GHP and its land consequences in Africa. The review is based on 41 studies identified from Google Scholar and sources identified via snowballed recommendations from experts. The GHP implications identified relate to land and water use mining-related land stress and environmental ecological and land-related socioeconomic consequences. The paper concludes that GHP may not foster the global energy transition as is being opined by many renewable energy enthusiasts but rather could help foster this transition as part of a greener energy mix. It notes that African countries that have the potential for GHP require the institutionalization of or a change in their existing approaches to land-related energy governance systems in order to achieve success.
Mapping Local Green Hydrogen Cost-potentials by a Multidisciplinary Approach
Sep 2024
Publication
S. Ishmam,
Heidi Heinrichs,
C. Winkler,
B. Bayat,
Amin Lahnaoui,
Solomon Nwabueze Agbo,
E.U. Pena Sanchez,
David Franzmann,
N. Oijeabou,
C. Koerner,
Y. Michael,
B. Oloruntoba,
C. Montzka,
H. Vereecken,
H. Hendricks Franssen,
J. Brendtf,
S. Brauner,
W. Kuckshinrichs,
S. Venghaus,
Daouda Kone,
Bruno Korgo,
Kehinde Olufunso Ogunjobi,
V. Chiteculo,
Jane Olwoch,
Z. Getenga,
Jochen Linßen and
Detlef Stolten
For fast-tracking climate change response green hydrogen is key for achieving greenhouse gas neutral energy systems. Especially Sub-Saharan Africa can benefit from it enabling an increased access to clean energy through utilizing its beneficial conditions for renewable energies. However developing green hydrogen strategies for Sub-Saharan Africa requires highly detailed and consistent information ranging from technical environmental economic and social dimensions which is currently lacking in literature. Therefore this paper provides a comprehensive novel approach embedding the required range of disciplines to analyze green hydrogen costpotentials in Sub-Saharan Africa. This approach stretches from a dedicated land eligibility based on local preferences a location specific renewable energy simulation locally derived sustainable groundwater limitations under climate change an optimization of local hydrogen energy systems and a socio-economic indicator-based impact analysis. The capability of the approach is shown for case study regions in Sub-Saharan Africa highlighting the need for a unified interdisciplinary approach.
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