The unbuilt H2Med pipeline is planned to extract energy from the Iberian Peninsula to central Europe. Large energy corporations profit while communities bear the impacts. Follow the pipeline’s stories along the H2Med and get to know activists who are resisting hydrogen futures.
The storymap ‘Resisting Hydrogen Futures’ offers a panoramic view of the impacts that local communities face under the threat of a gigantic pipeline that would cross the Iberian Peninsula to export hydrogen to Germany and other Central European countries. The stoph2med.org website is being developed and maintained by kollektiv gazpacho – a group of activists and students from Rhein-Ruhr area in Germany and the Spanish state. In spring of 2025, they travelled along the planned route of the H2Med/Spanish Hydrogen Backbone pipeline between Xixón (Asturies) and Huelva (Andalucía) as part of an activist research project in collaboration with the Debt Observatory in Globalisation (ODG) and Ecologistas en Acción.
Europe is planning a big network of pipelines to transport hydrogen and fossil gas. The majority of the hydrogen transported is supposed to come from northern Africa and rural areas in the south of Europe. “Green” hydrogen is widely considered a “sustainable” solution for infinite industrial economic growth without CO2 emissions and a one-size-fits-all solution for the climate crisis we are in. However, along the pipelines, communities question this story, suffering from the impacts on people and land. They are building their own futures in resistance to this mega energy infrastructure.
What is the pipeline?
The planned H2Med pipeline is a large-scale project designed to transport hydrogen from the Iberian Peninsula to Central Europe. It is being promoted as a key part of Europe’s green transition, promising clean energy futures and economic growth. But behind this vision lies a different reality. Multinational energy corporations are already expanding massive infrastructure along the pipeline while local communities and activists question who this ‘green future’ is for, who profits, and who pays the price.
What is ‘green’ hydrogen?
Hydrogen is often presented as a clean energy solution, but not all hydrogen is the same. Today, more than 99% is still produced from fossil fuels. Only a small fraction is “green”, using renewable electricity through an energy-intensive process called electrolysis. Producing, storing, and transporting hydrogen is complex, costly, and inefficient. This raises a key question: if it is so difficult to handle, why are we building massive infrastructures like H2Med around it?
What is H2Med doing to land, water, and rural communities?
So-called ‘green’ hydrogen doesn’t just come out of the void. Its industrial production requires massive infrastructure. Along the H2Med route, this means new biogas production, wind farms, solar fields, and pipelines reshaping entire territories. These projects take up land, consume water, and transform rural areas into energy production zones for distant markets in Northern Europe. In water-scarce regions, hydrogen production risks depleting already stressed aquifers. At the same time, farmland is increasingly repurposed for energy generation rather than food production. What is presented as a green transition can therefore put pressure on local livelihoods, ecosystems, and rural futures. In parallel, the energy produced is exported elsewhere.
Is H2Med just the next wave of energy colonialism?
For many communities, H2Med feels like a continuation of a long history of energy extraction. Regions that already host dams, nuclear plants, or renewable megaprojects are once again being turned into energy suppliers in the name of economic growth. The pattern remains the same: energy is produced in peripheral regions, while profits and decision-making power stay elsewhere. At the same time, H2Med is backed by large private investment and political support despite uncertain demand and efficiency concerns. It risks locking territories into new infrastructures that primarily serve industrial and export interests. For many activists, this is not a just transition, but a continuation of energy colonialism under a green label.