The Next Prize: Geopolitical Stakes In The Clean Hydrogen Race
Yergin could not have picked a better title for the book not just because he was awarded a Pulitzer for it, but because he masterfully exposed how oil was a game of huge risks and monumental rewards. Today, judging by all the excitement, hydrogen seems well positioned to become the next great prize, a zero-carbon version of oil.
Hardly a week goes by without a government or a company announcing a new hydrogen plan or project. The enthusiasm for hydrogen is understandable: whether it is used in a fuel cell to produce electricity or burned in an engine to produce heat, the only ‘exhaust’ it creates is water vapor. As more and more governments commit to net-zero-emission targets by mid-century, hydrogen becomes an appealing energy carrier to decarbonize hard-to-electrify sectors, such as heavy industry and long-haul transport.