Aliaksei (Alex) Patonia

Towards a system-level framework for the costs of clean hydrogen adoption

Aliaksei (Alex) Patonia is a DPhil student in the School of Geography and the Environment, working on the infrastructure systems, economics, and governance of hydrogen deployment for net-zero energy transitions. His research examines how hydrogen infrastructure interacts with wider energy systems, markets, and policy frameworks, with a particular focus on uncertainty, risk, and decision-making at scale.

His work combines techno-economic analysis with systems thinking to assess hydrogen production, transport, storage, and end-use infrastructure, and their implications for energy security, investment, and justice. A key aim of the research is to inform robust infrastructure and policy choices under deep uncertainty in the context of decarbonisation.

Alongside his DPhil, Alex is a Research Fellow at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, where he works within the Hydrogen Research Programme. His research engages closely with policymakers, industry, and international organisations on the practical challenges of scaling hydrogen infrastructure across regions and sectors.

• Patonia, A. and Poudineh, R. (2026) Clean Hydrogen for Decarbonisation: Beyond the 'Next Oil' Narrative. Palgrave Macmillan.
• Patonia, A. and Rushton, H. (2026) Why clean hydrogen projects get financed in China but typically struggle elsewhere. Oxford Energy Forum, 150: 82-86.
• Patonia, A. and Yu, Y. (2026) Electrolysers after the hype: Technology maturity, China’s rise, and the new economics of green hydrogen. Oxford Energy Forum, 150: 4-11.
• Achhammer, A., Fioriti, D., Patonia, A. and Sterner, M. (2026) The impact of hydrogen underground storage on export dynamics and system resilience: A GIS-based integration of salt caverns into PyPSA-Earth. Energy, 360(141729): 1-13.
• Patonia, A. and Milicevic, B. (2026) Water use considerations for clean hydrogen production. United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE).
• Patonia, A. and Rushton, H. (2026) The real bottleneck in scaling clean hydrogen is demand, not technology – here’s why. World Economic Forum.
• Patonia, A. (2026) Beyond the parity illusion: rethinking hydrogen’s competitiveness with natural gas. Oxford Energy Forum, 148: 55-59.
• Patonia, A., Lambert, M., Gomes, I., and Honoré, A. (2026) Gas decarbonisation: scaling up biomethane despite the LNG wave. Oxford Energy Forum, 148: 51-55.
• Patonia, A. and Rushton, H. (2026) Bankability of hydrogen projects: Key risks, financing challenges, and mitigating solutions. Oxford Institute for Energy Studies.
• Lin, N., Patonia, A., Shuster, M., Lambert, M., and Zhang, T. (2026) Natural hydrogen techno-economics and valuation. Applied Energy, 408: 1-18.
• Patonia, A. (2025) Green hydrogen and its unspoken challenges for energy justice. Applied Energy, 377: 1-11.
• Patonia, A., Lambert, M., Lin, N. and Shuster, M. (2025) Underground storage for decarbonisation: Hydrogen, carbon dioxide, and natural gas. Oxford Institute for Energy Studies.
• Lentschig, H., Patonia, A., and Quitzow, R. (2025) Multilateral governance in a global hydrogen economy. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 97: 76-87.
• Patonia, A., Lambert, M., Lin, N., and Shuster, M. (2024) Natural (geologic) hydrogen and its potential role in a net-zero carbon future. Oxford Institute for Energy Studies.
• Lambert, M. and Patonia, A. (2024) Europe’s REPowerEU Hydrogen Plan two years on: a progress update. Oxford Energy Forum, 141, pp. 38-40.
• Patonia, A., Lenivova, V., Poudineh, R., and Nolden, C. (2023) Hydrogen pipelines vs. HVDC lines: Should we transfer green molecules or electrons? Oxford Institute for Energy Studies.