Let’s Be Realistic About Green Hydrogen
Green hydrogen has been touted as the Swiss Army knife of clean energy. It generates no greenhouse gas emissions because it is made by applying green electricity to water to create hydrogen and oxygen. This is in contrast to “blue hydrogen” produced with fossil fuels and carbon-capture processes, and “gray hydrogen,” which uses fossil fuels without capturing the carbon. So, green hydrogen’s boosters claim it can serve as a versatile tool for decarbonizing hard-to-reach sectors like steel, cement, trucks and aviation.
But as Robin Gaster says in this Utility Dive op-ed, that’s simply not the case. Like any new technology, green hydrogen must meet three related challenges: production, distribution and adoption. But it faces far higher-than-advertised hurdles at every stage.
