Why Hydrogen Will Likely Be The Gateway To Net-Zero

Why Hydrogen Will Likely Be The Gateway To Net-Zero

GLASGOW, SCOTLAND - NOVEMBER 10: A hydrogen powered zero emission ambulance is displayed on November ... [+] 10, 2021 in Glasgow, Scotland. Day eleven of the 2021 climate summit in Glasgow will focus on driving the global transition to zero-emission transport. This is the 26th "Conference of the Parties" and represents a gathering of all the countries signed on to the U. N. Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Climate Agreement. The aim of this year's conference is to commit countries to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. (Photo by Ian Forsyth/Getty Images) When Plug Power Inc. hosted its grand opening of a fuel cell and electrolyzer manufacturing plant in Rochester, N. Y this year, it explicitly said that hydrogen produced from clean energy would be the next big thing — and something just around the corner. Indeed, the Plug Power Innovation Center will ramp up production of its electrolyzers that are critical to decarbonizing the global economy. What makes this possible is the falling cost of solar and wind energy. And now the hardware is also becoming more affordable — especially the electrolyzers, which are central to hydrogen production: they split apart the hydrogen and oxygen from water.