In the universe of clean energy, the world seems to rally around one big technology push each decade. This is when governments introduce subsidies, incumbents announce big projects and a nascent technology gets a chance to scale from tiny to small in the hopes of achieving liftoff.
In the 1990s, it was wind. In the 2000s, solar. In the 2010s, lithium-ion batteries. And in the 2020s, it seems increasingly clear it's going to be hydrogen.
But hydrogen is a different beast.
For one thing, you can't just harness it like you can solar or wind — you have to make it. For another, there is a dizzying array of potential end markets for it, ranging from power to transportation to industry.
And finally, there's the pesky problem of the midstream. Assuming we start producing lots of clean hydrogen, and we find a market for it, how will we store it? How will we transport it?
This week, Shayle is joined by Gniewomir Flis, who spends most of his days thinking about these questions. He's an energy and climate adviser at Agora Energiewende and has spent the last few years laser-focused on the thornier issues of building a hydrogen economy.
We're brought to you by Nextracker. Nextracker is building connected power plants of the future by integrating new solar technologies, storage and advanced control software. At the end of the show, we’ll tell you about some really important tech trends in solar with Nextracker CEO and industry veteran Dan Shugar.
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