Proponents of a transition away from fossil fuels have pinned their hopes on green hydrogen to address the challenge of “clean” energy for industry, but critics have long argued the staggering costs would make the plan go up in smoke. With projects here in the U.S. and across the globe failing, and research confirming the costs are too high, critics’ predictions are turning out to be true.
“You tell people it can’t work. You write about it. And then two years later, it fails. And then people act surprised,” energy analyst David Blackmon, who publishes his work on his “Energy Absurdities” Substack, told Just the News.
The Biden-Harris administration laid out a clean hydrogen roadmap in June 2023, which included $9.5 billion in funding from the 2021 infrastructure law. “Given its potential to help address the climate crisis, enhance energy security and resilience, and create economic value, interest in producing and using clean hydrogen is intensifying both in the United States and abroad,” the roadmap declared.
“Green hydrogen”
While wind and solar can at certain times produce electricity, that’s only about 20% of the energy people consume. Industry and transportation make up the rest. Using wind and solar to power heavy industries — such as steel, ammonia and concrete — is a challenge. The energy demand is enormous. Steel production, for example, requires temperatures in excess of 2,900 degrees Fahrenheit.
Proponents of net zero hoped to address the challenge with hydrogen-based technologies. Hydrogen can be produced in a number of ways, but it’s not an energy source. It’s an energy carrier, meaning you have to use energy to make the product, which can then be converted back into energy. And you lose about 50% to 80% of the energy used in the process. […]
— Read More: justthenews.com
