The country-dependent shaping of ‘hydrogen niche’ formation: A comparative case study of the UK and South Korea from the innovation system perspective

•A comparative case study of ‘hydrogen niche’ in the UK and South Korea.•The nature of ‘hydrogen niche’ at the early stage of transition is discussed.•A country's national innovation system shapes the hydrogen niche formation.•The forms of hydrogen economy can be diverse in different countries.

This paper reports an international comparison of hydrogen niche formation in the UK and South Korea with special regard to policy development. Hydrogen energy development has provided us with a good example of ongoing phenomena during the early stage of socio-technical transition, in other words, the socio-technical niche. The purpose of the case studies was to see the country dependence in shaping the early stage (the period between the year 2002 and 2005) of hydrogen niche formation from the national innovation system perspective. The findings show certain differences in the background of hydrogen energy policies and the manners of policy development. There also are differences in the R&D activities, including not only the way in which they are performed, but also the strategic focussing of R&D, which have been influenced by R&D systems and the industrial structures of the national innovation systems. Vision-articulating processes and the roles and tendency towards intervention of governments are diverse. The research result will contribute to better understanding of the geography of socio-technical transition with empirical evidence. From that, one will be hinted that the hydrogen future may be diverse in different locations.