IEEFA – Bad News for Blue Hydrogen, Dec 2023

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is currently in talks with several companies to create hydrogen hubs that extract hydrogen from methane. However, these projects are expected to be expensive, and the DOE must carefully consider the potential risks before committing funding. The DOE is being urged to prioritize the development of unproven technologies and untested markets, which may not align with the current trends in the electric vehicle (EV) market. By the time the selected applications are processed and projects are completed, the market for EVs is likely to have grown significantly, making hydrogen less desirable for most vehicular uses. Therefore, if the DOE does not thoroughly assess and finalize the proposals for these hydrogen projects, it may result in a waste of taxpayers' money on an economy that may never materialize.