Greening the European economy at the expense of other world regions? Tracing the EU's quest for green hydrogen in Chile

Julia Eder and Jakob Rammer

Chapter 14 in Critical Political Economy of the European Polycrisis, 2025, pp 209-224 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: In response to the polycrisis, the EU promotes green hydrogen (GH2) as key to its green agenda, targeting 10 million tons of imports by 2030. While framed as mutually beneficial, critics argue that trade partnerships with producers in the Global South reinforce uneven development. This study examines how the EU's GH2 strategy impacts EU–Chile relations through a dependency theory lens, focusing on financial and technological capital, commodity export dependence, and control of global value chains. Based on 11 expert interviews and policy document analysis, we find that Chile will primarily export GH2 due to low domestic demand, exacerbating its debt and trade deficit with the EU. The global market structure exposes Chile to demand volatility, while limited state intervention, capital shortages, and geographical isolation constrain domestic upgrading opportunities and risk the creation of enclave economies. Ultimately, Chile's GH2 economy likely reinforces prevailing dependencies, with potentially adverse socio-ecological effects.

Keywords: Green Hydrogen; Commodity Exports; Dependency; EU–Chile Relations; Energy Transition; Enclave Economy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
ISBN: 9781035347933
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