© 2022 IAIIAI PAPERS 22 | 17 - JUNE 2022ISSN 2610-9603 | ISBN 978-88-9368-255-8Italy | Pipelines | Energy | Hydrogen | External tradeThe Geopolitics of Clean Hydrogen – Opportunities and Challenges for Italy by Marco GiulikeywordsABSTRACTThe emergence of clean hydrogen as an energy carrier promises to shape the future geography of the energy trade. Under growing contestation of interdependence, such a geography should be read through political lenses alongside commercial and technological ones. Generally, hydrogen is likely to reduce the geopolitical sensitivity of energy trade with respect to a fossil-fuel-based energy order by increasing the share of energy produced domestically, shifting geostrategic competition from a focus on grabbing resources to a focus on mastering technology and setting standards, and offering petrostates opportunities for economic diversification. Italy can exploit the opportunities offered by a hydrogen economy for enhancing its energy security and positioning in the regional energy trade. However, it should be careful with monitoring how geopolitical barriers such as regional instability may affect its hydrogen ambitions.2The Geopolitics of Clean Hydrogen – Opportunities and Challenges for Italy© 2022 IAIIAI PAPERS 22 | 17 - JUNE 2022ISSN 2610-9603 | ISBN 978-88-9368-255-8The Geopolitics of Clean Hydrogen – Opportunities and Challenges for Italyby Marco Giuli*IntroductionThe energy transition is expected to bring about a structural change in many socio-technical foundations of our civilisation,1 including the way in which power and influence are allocated and exerted on the international stage. It is expected to reduce those interdependencies born around fossil fuel trade, and to give ...
