Green hydrogen: Is the Global South paying for Germany's energy transition? | DW News

Germany needs to decarbonize its industry. It is betting on green hydrogen, imported from countries with huge potential for renewable energies. But critics say Germany is going green at the expense of the Global South.

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[joebloggsgogglebox]

The land usage issue is laughable. Namibia is one of the least densely populated countries in the world at 3 people per square kilometer vs 234 people per square kilometer in Germany. Furthermore its mostly desert.

[AlbertCloete]

Saying Namibia is going to become a battery country for other countries is like saying Saudi Arabia became fuel station for other countries. Yes, they gained massively from it.

Any country that can become a massive energy producer should do so. Why would you purposefully stay poor?

There is no quicker way for poor countries to become rich than to form mutually beneficial relationships with rich countries. This is how China's meteoric rise happened. They would never have been able to grow so fast if it wasn't for exporting to the USA and Europe.

[DanielClarkeJ]

they really are stretching to find downsides.

All the negatives they say; labour standards, exporting resources that are needed locally because you can get higher prices abroad, using water & land for an export industry, the existence of competition.. All of these apply to every industry and every form of economic development, e.g. agriculture. It's something to manage for sure, but if the potential existence of these issues are deal breakers then you are against all trade, not just energy.

The positive view is that today some countries have a lot of sun, but cannot leverage that as a resource to benefit their population. if this industry can work, that situation will change and there can be a win-win situation with investment, employment etc.

Ultimately It is far preferable for the world economy to have many countries who can produce and export energy compared to the current situation where effectively we are all coerced into funding oppressive regimes because a substantial part of the worlds energy resources are in countries with no respect for human rights and there is no alternative except to buy from them. If many countries produce green hydro, then we can prefer to purchase energy from countries who are good neighbours.

[delos]

I'm not seeing the issue with one country producing and exporting an energy source to anther country. Particularly if it helps a developing economy in the process. Trade can be mutually beneficial to all parties. So if a country has a lot of sunlight and/or wind, they absolutely should leverage those advantages in every way possible including through hydrogen production.

[myilmaz]

The land is unused, empty desert and the water comes from the ocean. I really did not understand what the problem here is.

[ivanbasson]

Nonsense arguments by this journalists... In Namibia it is not a case of using valuable lands. Thousands of Miles of desert where no -one can and will ever live. Pse just visit such countries....

[jdg]

The West "paying honestly" in a trade is very ironic. It doesn't exist in your playbooks.

[nissanp]

Being successful has taught me that Investing rightly today can save you a whole lot of stress in the nearest future, I pray that anyone who reads this will be successful in life.

[gotfan]

Namibia is a country of just 2 million people. If there is no water scarcity then they can make a killing out of green hydrogen.

[banyaong]

The excellent idea is that Germany does not depend on natural gas from Rasia anymore. Namibia and Chile also could benefit and develop for the needs of local consumption from the project. That is a win-win situation.

[suspendedtwicesayingrasis]

0:40 “so how can rich countries like Germany import green hydrogen from countries in the global south without exploiting them?”
Uhm, by paying them for it? Y’know, like TRADE? 😄

[udavster]

The take of Chilie professor is just not smart. Chilie can literally set up any regulation on export that it wants, and it can get a lot of money from such exports, and how exactly diesel water trucks correlate with hydrogen export?

[JoeyBlogs]

It could turn deserts into green pastures offering shade to the vast desert lands. However, it would have to be done via solar desalination and not using the drinkable water. Otherwise they are effectively exporting water from a desert region via hydrogen production. The whole operation has to be done via renewable energy.

[DataDuncan]

Space for solar panels is not an issue in Namibia and it will create jobs and capacity that did not previously exist.

[xax]

These are both democratic sovereign countries, its up to them how they want to do this. I see opportunity for them, in Namibia most of the country is unihabited and its their decision if they want to use that vast resource for hydrogen.

[fredlenz]

If Germany doesn't invest then someone else will, most likely China. And China will exploit as has been seen where ever they invest. And these countries need investment. Also give these countries some semblance of knowing what is best for their people. They may be in the southern hemisphere but there are lots of intelligent people there. They have learnt from the past as well and don't need their noses rubbed in it. This is global business.

[gustavderkits]

If Germany is serious it should create training programs in both Namibia and Germany to raise a cadre of solar/hydrogen engineers. Otherwise it’s back to colonialism.

[Kelvins]

Somehow Western Australia has similar conditions in Asia pacific. It's very dry, mostly desert, sunny most of the year. There are various mining sites in the state but land is too vast and empty perfect for solar and green hydrogen projects. Only issue is it's remote even for most part of Australian population centres.

[HansKeesom]

Basis rule to remember : Once you start transporting hydrogen it becames expensive. Use hydrogen locally yes, transporting it is waiste of mony and green energy from renewable source.

[ilovemokona]

Unpopular opinion:

Our world do not run on charity, Germany did its part on the deal with bringing in the capital and technology that Namibia lacks while complying the local laws, it is up to Namibia to consult its citizens and execute the distribution of wealth
If every single formerly-colonized states rely on the investing nation on solving their social inequality which by the way they chose to inherit it from the colonial system instead of reforming it, well, they may as well as giving up their sovereignty.