Socio-LCT – Social Acceptance of Low-Carbon Technologies in Australia, Germany and Austria
Introduction and Objective
This collaboration brings together leading professorships at the intersection of energy technologies and climate policy to strengthen joint research in the fields of energy, climate, and sustainability policy, as well as natural resource management, energy technologies, and the energy transition. At the center of the initiative are Prof. Miranda Schreurs (Chair of Environmental and Climate Policy, HfP/TUM) and A/Prof. Katherine Witt Centre for Natural Gas, University of Queensland, UQ), supported by a strong interdisciplinary network.
Prof. Schreurs specializes in comparative and international analyses of environmental and climate policy. The Socio-LCT project is headed by Dipl.-Ing. Ana María Isidoro Losada, who brings her expertise in hydrogen and sector coupling, along with in-depth knowledge of socio-technical challenges, to the project in a systematic and leading role. A/Prof. Witt brings more than a decade of experience in researching the social and economic dimensions of Australia’s LNG industry and applies these lessons to hydrogen development. Her comparative studies across Australia, the USA, the UK, China, and Germany provide valuable global perspectives. Adding further depth, Prof. Francisca Weder (Institute for Strategic Organizational Communication, Vienna University of Economics and Business, WU) contributes expertise in sustainability communication, storytelling, and framing, highlighting how communication practices shape societal acceptance of low-carbon technologies.
Building on this interdisciplinary foundation, the initiative will conduct comparative studies on the social acceptance of low-carbon technologies, with a particular focus on hydrogen, in Germany, Australia, and Austria. While the global hydrogen research landscape remains dominated by industrial engineering, energy systems, and natural sciences, social and political science perspectives are still underrepresented. Existing contributions have largely focused on “hydrogen justice” and the Global South, leaving a gap in the analysis of societal processes and acceptance challenges in the Global North. This project aims to address this blind spot.
Hydrogen has emerged as a cornerstone of global low-carbon strategies. Advances in production methods are accelerating efforts to establish international markets, but public perception and acceptance will be decisive for success. Comparative analysis of how hydrogen and related technologies are perceived and communicated across societies will generate insights crucial for shaping effective policy frameworks, guiding investment decisions, and designing public engagement strategies.
The initiative aligns closely with the flagship partnership between the University of Queensland and the Technical University of Munich and has received funding under the Excellence Strategy of the federal and state governments.
