In a news conference yesterday, Deputy Secretary of Energy David Turk said that clean hydrogen is a “high priority technology for this administration.” “There is one reason for this, and that is adaptability.”
Hydrogen is seen as a viable replacement for fossil fuels. It might be a more environmentally friendly fuel for aircraft or ships, for example. There is also optimism that utilizing hydrogen as fuel might possibly cut greenhouse gas emissions from industrial operations that need very high temperatures, which renewables like wind and solar find difficult to achieve. When hydrogen is produced from surplus wind and solar energy, it also functions as “energy storage,” comparable to a battery, ensuring that copious renewable energy does not go to waste when electricity demand is low.
