Policy support required to scale hydrogen in North America

Is American hydrogen’s future green? Unless the political climate changes dramatically, a panel at this week’s Low-Carbon Hydrogen Conference said.

When people think of a decarbonized, hydrogen-based economy, they usually think of so-called green hydrogen, which is made by extracting hydrogen from water using renewable energy.

Experts told guests at Wood Mackenzie’s inaugural Low-Carbon Hydrogen Conference last week that the technology needed to build a worldwide hydrogen economy currently exists or will be accessible soon. However, policy ambiguity has caused uncertainties in the hydrogen business in North America.

While the introduction of more than $8 billion in potential hydrogen funding through the infrastructure bill has piqued interest in the resource, uncertainty remains about a proposed hydrogen production tax credit, according to Peter Findlay, a Wood Mackenzie principal analyst specialising in carbon capture technologies.

Findlay noted that debates over which types of hydrogen deserve more support have become almost comedic, while a proposed rise in the carbon capture tax credit is likely to succeed in the next year or two if Republicans get control of the House and Senate.