Will White, Blue and Green Hydrogen Fuel a Clean-Energy Future, or Fizzle?

The basic strategy in the fight to limit climate change is to power everything with electricity, generated from wind, solar or other clean sources. But there’s a problem: Some things can’t easily run on electricity. Think steel mills, cement plants and long-distance passenger jets — they need a clean fuel that can be stored and burned, sometimes at high temperatures. This is where hydrogen comes in. Depending on who you ask, this controversial technology is either a crucial piece of the puzzle to reduce greenhouse gases or an over-priced, over-hyped distraction. For now, though, the industry is awaiting detailed guidance on government tax breaks and subsidies, which have the potential to make hydrogen viable for the first time.

Electricity can’t provide the intense heat needed for industrial processes like making steel or concrete. Similarly, planes and boats can run on electricity for short hops, but batteries that could power long-distance trips don’t yet exist. Hydrogen could clean up each of these hard-to-abate cases. It can be burned without producing CO2, or it can be fed into a device called a fuel cell, which generates electricity through an electro-chemical reaction rather than combustion. Airplanes, cargo ships and trains could conceivably run on fuel cells paired with hydrogen storage tanks, giving them a way to eliminate their carbon emissions without the need to stop and recharge.