Bursting of the hydrogen bubble

The phrase "bursting of the hydrogen bubble" itself sounds amusing --- as if one is making a pun on bubble in the literal and in the financial/metaphorical senses of the term.

But, then, I might just be too easy to amuse. My thoughts here are about the financial sense and the hydrogen industry as a candidate for major post-fossil-fuels world, energy space.

The underlying idea is that hydrogen is the key to storing and transporting energy from the more intermittent renewables. Solar power isn't incoming on cloudy days; wind power isn't helpful when the air is still. But either the sun or the wind can be used to split water into its constituent parts and store the hydrogen side of that split.

The stored and transportable gas can then be used for a lot of projects that otherwise would involve the emission of carbon. It can be used for shipping, aviation, the creation of ammonia and methanol, and fuel cells.

That's the theory anyway. In practical terms, the "green hydrogen" thing has never really caught on. It HAS created a bubble. though, as the title of this post already posted. Lots of investors have been buying into "hydrogen economy" projects, and they are only just now realizing it is all a pipedream, and that there is no greater fool around to buy the investment from them.

I have nothing much to say ABOUT this: I just wanted to put it out there so if I do post something related and more interesting, I can link that to this for the critical points I've already outlined.

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