What is the best way to talk to communities about hydrogen?

We have learned during this course that understanding a community, the information they need and their communication preferences is critical to developing and maintaining social licence.

The best way to communicate with communities about hydrogen is contingent on the project and stakeholders involved. In broad terms though, the following themes can be followed:

Clear information

Provide clear information, avoiding excessive complexity and focus on the details of your project that are of most importance and interest to a wider audience. While it is tempting to convey the chemical composition of hydrogen or share entire technical reports, this level of detail is often unnecessary and may cause confusion. Keeping your message targeted and easy to understand will make it more widely accessible.

Consistent information

Make use of the HyFAQ resource, a compendium of hydrogen information providing a range of messages to support you in developing a consistent message. The colours of hydrogen, while not standardised, also provide a consistent language and visual representation for discussing carbon emissions.

Comparable examples

Because hydrogen is different to the other more widely used fuels, using comparable examples can help communities to understand.

Comparable examples might be:

• 1 kg of hydrogen can power a passenger car for about 100km. It takes around 9 litres of water (a large bucket) to make 1kg of hydrogen.
• There are a range of safety protocols in a petrol station (no smoking, no mobile phones) which work together to allow drivers to fill up their cars safely. This is the same in a hydrogen refuelling station only the protocols may be slightly different.

Demonstrate to demystify

In the early stages of the hydrogen transition, communities will have limited access to hydrogen technologies so demonstrating the technology makes it tangible. Examples may include hydrogen BBQs, bikes, cars and/or other tangible technology where the community can experience working hydrogen and develop an understanding of how it applies in real life settings.

Your task

Think about what you have learned about hydrogen and how to communicate a fact in an understandable way. Can you think of a comparable example you might use? Share in the comments below.