Let's go green with hydrogen! The general public's perspective

It is well known in socio-economics that the success of an innovation process depends to a great extent on public acceptance. The German HyTrust project analyzes the current state of public acceptance in hydrogen technology in the mobility sector. This paper focuses on cutting-edge results of interviews, focus groups and a representative survey. Based on these results, almost 80% of the Germans are in favor of introducing hydrogen vehicles. But from the perspective of the general public, it is important that hydrogen is produced in an environmentally friendly way. HyTrust is the socio-scientific research project that accompanies the German Federal Government's National Innovation Programme.

► The population has a very positive attitude toward hydrogen-powered cars. ► The possibility of being individually mobile without harming the environment is appealing. ► Hydrogen has to be produced using renewable energy. ► Interviewees did not believe that hydrogen fueling stations were more dangerous than conventional ones.