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Vol. 69 No. 4 (2025): Symbolic Boundaries in Social Communication

Articles and essays

Green Hydrogen: Energy Justice Through the Lens of Press Discourse Analysis, 2016–2022

DOI: https://doi.org/10.35757/KiS.2025.69.4.4
Submitted: January 8, 2025
Published: December 12, 2025

Abstract

In the face of the global challenge of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the countries of the European Union are striving to achieve emission neutrality, among other strategies, by introducing hydrogen technologies in the energy diversification process and by implementing a just transition. This article is based on an analysis of press discourse on hydrogen in 2016–2022, using Corpus-Assisted Discourse Studies (CADS) methods and qualitative content analysis based on framing analysis. The collected material comprised 1,896 articles (totaling approximately some 1.75 million words) from the highest-circulation press in its category on the Polish market. The analysis indicates the dominance of expert and specialist groups in shaping the hydrogen narrative. It reveals that the discourse has been taken over by representatives of big business, with only marginal participation by the academic community, local government, and the third sector—which may hinder the realization of the just transition. The authority of science is exploited to conceal the rhetorical tools applied in expert discourse. This implies the need to critically rethink communication strategies on innovative technologies and to engage diverse sections of society in dialogue on the energy transition, of which energy justice is a component in the process of change towards a post-carbon society.

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