It’s not just about the fuel: it also matters who produces hydrogen

Hydrogen is increasingly promoted as a clean energy carrier that could help replace fossil fuels in key sectors. Yet its success depends not only on technological innovation or cost, but also on whether the public finds hydrogen acceptable — and whether people trust the institutions producing it.

A recent study from the HySUCCESS project, led by researchers from the University of Groningen, sheds new light on how people evaluate hydrogen initiatives. The study experimentally examined how two key features of the hydrogen industry shape public perceptions of companies wanting to start producing hydrogen for sustainability reasons:

1. The type of hydrogen being produced (green versus blue), and

2. The background of the company producing it (renewables-based versus fossil fuel–based).

The research explored how these features influence perceptions of companies' reputation management efforts — such as whether they are adopting hydrogen primarily to improve their public image — as well as trust in the companies, and ultimately, the public acceptability of hydrogen projects.

Results show that green hydrogen is consistently perceived as more acceptable than blue hydrogen, regardless of which company produces it. However, company background strongly influenced trust. Fossil fuel companies were viewed as more likely to adopt hydrogen mainly to improve their public image, and this perception of 'reputation management' reduced both general and integrity-based trust. In contrast, companies with a track record in renewable energy inspired greater trust among respondents.

Interestingly, while trust was strongly affected by company background, it did not significantly affect the acceptability of hydrogen projects themselves. Instead, public acceptance was primarily driven by the perceived sustainability of the hydrogen type.

“These findings offer an important message for policymakers and industry leaders,” says Dr. Gonzalo Palomo-Vélez, lead author and postdoctoral researcher at the Faculty of Behavioural and Social Sciences. “Building public trust in hydrogen is not only about the energy carrier itself, but also about who is producing it and why”. At the same time, since “public acceptability is more strongly influenced by the perceived sustainability of the energy carrier than by the company’s background, sustainability should be a key consideration when designing hydrogen-based energy systems.”

The HySUCCESS project — short for Social, User AC­Ceptable, Economically Sustainable Systems for Hydrogen — focuses on the non-technological dimensions of hydrogen: how public acceptance, economic viability and regulatory frameworks influence the emergence of a green‐hydrogen economy

About the researcher

Dr. Gonzalo Palomo-Vélez is a postdoctoral researcher at the Faculty of Behavioural and Social Sciences, University of Groningen. His work focuses on the psychological and social aspects of sustainable energy transitions, particularly how trust, values, and public perceptions shape the adoption of new technologies.