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The idea of green hydrogen seemed like the ideal solution to the climate crisis. It promised clean fuel that wouldn’t pollute the air. Leaders, companies, and investors rushed to support it.
The Dream That Sparked Global Excitement
The idea was simple. Solar or wind-powered electricity splits water into hydrogen and oxygen.
The hydrogen becomes fuel. When you use it, it gives energy and releases only water. No smoke, no carbon dioxide, no harm to the earth.
Everyone loved that. It seemed like science fiction turning into reality. Green hydrogen became a buzzword in speeches, news, and climate plans. Billions of dollars flowed into research and projects.
They were supposed to power trucks, ships, factories, and even airplanes. They said it would change how we live and move. It would replace coal, oil, and gas. It would help save the planet.
But that dream has not come true. Behind all the noise, green hydrogen is struggling. Furthermore, most individuals are unwilling to discuss it.
The reason for the silence is simple: people turned green hydrogen into a symbol of hope. That symbol is hard to criticize, even when facts start to show another picture. This silence slows real progress.
The excitement came from a good place. People want to fight climate change. But they also want easy answers.
Green hydrogen looked like one of those easy answers. Sadly, it isn’t.
Understanding Green Hydrogen in Simple Words
The most prevalent element in the universe is hydrogen. But on Earth, it’s usually mixed with other elements, like in water (H₂O) or methane (CH₄). So we need to extract it.
There are many ways to make hydrogen. The cleanest method is called electrolysis. It entails splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen using electricity. If wind or solar power generates that electricity, we call the hydrogen “green hydrogen.”
They store this hydrogen in tanks. Users can then use it to power vehicles, heat buildings, or run machines in factories. When burned or used in a fuel cell, it releases only water vapor and energy.
It sounds amazing, right? But there’s a big problem: it takes a lot of clean electricity to make green hydrogen. And clean electricity is expensive. That makes green hydrogen costly.
Most people think green hydrogen is already being used everywhere. That’s not true. Only a very tiny portion of hydrogen on Earth is green today.
Most of it is made using fossil fuels like coal or natural gas. That’s called gray hydrogen, and it pollutes the air.
To understand how this works in real life, imagine this: for every unit of green hydrogen you create, you need three to four units of clean electricity. That’s a poor energy trade. Using electricity directly for homes or electric vehicles is more efficient.
Making green hydrogen also needs water—lots of it. For countries already facing water stress, this adds another problem. In areas where clean water is scarce, producing green hydrogen can become controversial.
The High Cost of Green Hydrogen That No One Wants to Pay
The biggest reason green hydrogen is failing is simple—it costs too much.
To make green hydrogen, you need lots of electricity. If that power comes from solar or wind, the cost adds up. Right now, green hydrogen can cost three to six times more than fossil fuels.
That makes it hard to sell. Companies don’t want to pay more when cheaper options exist. Even factories that want to go green struggle to switch. They have bills to pay, and green hydrogen just doesn’t fit the budget.
On top of that, storing and transporting hydrogen is expensive too. Hydrogen needs to be kept at very high pressure or very cold temperatures. That requires special tanks and extra energy. Again, the cost keeps rising.
Because of this, many green hydrogen projects are not moving ahead. They look appealing on paper but don’t work in real life.
Investors back away. Companies drop plans. Governments lose interest.
So while everyone talks about a green hydrogen future, the present is still filled with old fuels.
A closer look at industrial sectors shows that cost barriers are not just small bumps. They are walls. The steel and cement industries, which were expected to switch to green hydrogen, still rely on coal and natural gas.
Even when pilot projects run successfully, they often can’t scale up. The moment production needs to increase, the costs explode. This discourages expansion and innovation.
Where Is the Demand for Green Hydrogen?
Experts thought green hydrogen would replace coal in factories, diesel in trucks, and gas in ships. But that hasn’t happened.
Factories still use coal. Trucks still use diesel. Ships still run on bunker fuel. Why? Because green hydrogen is expensive, hard to store, and not easy to find.
Some small pilot projects use green hydrogen. These are often for show. The real heavy lifting is still done by fossil fuels. Most industries say the switch is too difficult right now.
Even when governments push companies to try green hydrogen, the companies delay. They say the supply isn’t stable or the price is too high.
So the demand for green hydrogen remains small. It has not grown in the way many people expected. The dream of wide use stays far from reality.
In sectors like trucking and shipping, where energy density matters, batteries have become more attractive. Hydrogen fuel cells were supposed to lead, but the technology developers have kept it stuck at a demonstration level.
Some factories tried green hydrogen but returned to fossil fuels because the cost made their products uncompetitive. Others never got started because the supply chain was too weak.
No Roads, No Pipes, No Stations
Let’s talk about infrastructure. That’s a big word, but it simply means the roads, pipes, stations, and systems needed to move and use hydrogen.
Right now, we have petrol pumps, gas pipelines, and electricity wires. But we don’t have many systems for hydrogen. That’s a problem.
Hydrogen can’t be poured into regular fuel tanks. It needs special stations and trucks.
It can’t go through old gas pipelines either. It’s a tiny gas that leaks easily. It can also be dangerous if not handled properly.
To fix this, countries need to build new networks. That means new pipes, tanks, and fueling stations. But building these takes time and a lot of money. It also needs skilled workers who know how to handle hydrogen safely.
Most places haven’t done this yet. That’s why even if someone wants to use green hydrogen, they can’t. The system just isn’t there.
This lack of infrastructure is one more reason why green hydrogen is stuck.
Unlike gasoline or electricity, hydrogen delivery networks don’t exist at scale. In most countries, you can count hydrogen fueling stations on one hand.
Building this kind of network from scratch could take decades. Until then, green hydrogen will remain a promise, not a product.
Projects Announced, Then Silently Delayed
Around the world, hundreds of green hydrogen projects were announced. They held press conferences and they made big promises.
But many of these projects have never started. Others started, then delayed themselves. Some quietly canceled.
Why? Because after the excitement fades, reality hits.
The electricity cost is too high. The demand is too low.
The infrastructure is missing. And banks are not sure they’ll get their money back. So they don’t invest.
Some governments gave subsidies. But those are running out. When the money dries up, so do the plans.
This delay shows that the green hydrogen boom is more of a whisper. The world sees headlines, but the ground remains mostly quiet.
Many flagship hydrogen plants are running at low capacity. A few builders construct them only to test, not to operate long-term. These signs all point to a technology that isn’t ready to scale.
In some cases, even government-backed projects ran into local resistance due to water use, land acquisition, or safety concerns. These hurdles added to the delays and failures.
Dirty Hydrogen Is Still the King
Here’s the secret no one wants to say loudly: most hydrogen used today is not green. It’s dirty.
Around 95% of the hydrogen produced worldwide comes from fossil fuels. That means they use natural gas or coal to make it.
Scientists call this type of hydrogen gray or brown hydrogen. It releases lots of carbon dioxide. It adds to global warming.
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Some companies say they use “blue hydrogen,” where they try to capture the carbon emissions. But that technology is costly and often doesn’t work well.
So when people talk about hydrogen fuel being clean, it’s often not true. Most hydrogen out there is polluting the air.
Green hydrogen is only a tiny slice of the whole picture. And unless things change, that won’t grow.
Even in countries with strong green policies, industries still produce over 90% of hydrogen based on fossil energy. This gap between talk and reality is massive.
The production of dirty hydrogen is also much faster and doesn’t rely on sunny or windy days. That makes it more reliable, even though it’s bad for the planet.
Transport Dreams Are Not Taking Off
Some people said green hydrogen would power airplanes and big ships. They also said it would fuel trucks and buses.
That dream is struggling too.
Hydrogen planes have flown, but only in test runs. Real flights still use regular fuel. Hydrogen is too light and takes up too much space. It also needs heavy tanks, which planes can’t carry easily.
In ships, the problem is similar. Hydrogen needs large tanks and special engines. Making those takes years and money. Meanwhile, ships keep using cheap, dirty fuel.
Even trucks and buses have mostly switched to batteries, not hydrogen. Electric vehicles are easier to charge, safer to store, and cheaper to run.
So the big transport dreams remain in ads and press releases. On the road and in the air, hydrogen is missing.
Hydrogen vehicles need special fueling stations and expensive technology. That’s why most automakers now focus on electric cars instead.
Public transport systems that tried hydrogen buses often faced high running costs. Some cities dropped the idea and returned to electric buses or even diesel.
False Claims and Fake Appearances
Because green hydrogen sounds good, many companies and leaders use it to look clean.
They show nice pictures of green tanks, wind turbines, and happy workers. They release glossy reports full of buzzwords.
But when you look closer, the reality is very different.
Many of these companies still use dirty fuels. Their hydrogen projects are small, delayed, or not even started. Some use hydrogen made from gas, not water. Others count gray hydrogen as green.
This is called greenwashing. It means pretending to be eco-friendly when you’re not.
Greenwashing creates confusion. People think the world is changing faster than it is. They trust the system. But real change isn’t happening.
This makes it harder to know who is telling the truth.
Marketing departments often blur the line between vision and fact. This has made green hydrogen look more successful than it actually is.
In some cases, press releases mention hydrogen “initiatives” that are really just studies or partnerships—without any actual production.
No One Wants to Say It Out Loud
Green hydrogen is failing. That’s the truth. But almost no one is saying it.
Why?
Because it’s a hard thing to admit. Many people have invested money, time, and reputation in green hydrogen. They don’t want to look wrong.
Also, most regular people don’t understand the science or the details. So they trust the big words and promises. They don’t ask tough questions.
Governments avoid saying it because it hurts their clean energy plans. Companies stay quiet because they fear losing support.
So the silence continues.
Behind the silence, the facts are clear. Green hydrogen is too expensive. This needs too much power.
It lacks support systems. It isn’t being used at scale. And most of what we call “hydrogen” is still dirty.
Until someone speaks up, the dream will keep floating. But the ground below remains weak.
Despite all the talk, the numbers don’t lie. Green hydrogen is not being adopted at the rate expected. Most promises remain promises. This isn’t just a slow start—it’s a real and growing failure.
Without open discussion, we can’t learn lessons. And without learning, we will repeat the same mistakes.
