Hydrogen innovation: An exploration of its determinants across Europe

Hydrogen technology has advanced significantly in recent years, making it a promising future energy source. It is, in fact, a clean, safe, and valuable fuel, offering a solution to renewable energy intermittency and redirecting energy for various applications. Since hydrogen technologies can potentially represent the energy of the future, understanding the determinants facilitating innovation is of paramount relevance. This study aims at understanding the determinants of hydrogen technology innovation across EU member states. Three sets of determinants are considered: human capital (Stock of graduates), institutional quality (Size of Government, Legal System and Property Rights, Sound Money, Freedom to Trade Internationally, Regulation), and sustainability endorsement (Hydrogen public R&D, Sustainable competiveness index). From a methodological perspective, a panel model comprising 27 EU member states is used. The final dataset consists of 540 observations from 1998 to 2019. Of the three sets of determinants, our results show that investment in human capital, the legal system, property rights protection, and investment in R&D activities could support the development of hydrogen technologies.