Don't Let China Dominate the Hydrogen Future

[Caribbeans]

Don’t Let China Dominate the Hydrogen Future

RealClearEnergy.org | Heather Reams | June 06, 2025

The race for global leadership in hydrogen is underway—and the United States is dangerously close to falling behind.

It's official - the US has fallen behind. Don't believe this post, search "China hydrogen". While 'Muricans argue, China builds

China is making a massive, coordinated push to control the hydrogen supply chain and dominate the next era of energy. In 2024 alone, Beijing committed nearly $680 billion to clean energy investments—almost as much as the U.S. and European Union combined, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).

Back in 2020, China held less than 10% of global manufacturing capacity. Today, it commands over 60%. In March, Beijing formally directed its provinces to “steadily develop” hydrogen and sustainable fuel infrastructure—laying out a clear, coordinated strategy to corner the hydrogen market, just as it did with solar. China's hydrogen electrolyzer orders in the first four months of 2025 have surpassed the total orders placed throughout 2024...

....This is a moment. If we hesitate, we won’t just fall behind. We’ll be locked out of one of the most consequential energy markets of the 21st century—dependent on foreign supply chains in a world where energy equals power. The decisions we make today will determine whether the U.S. leads—or follows—in the global hydrogen economy. Let’s lead. Let’s compete. Let’s not get left behind. more
https://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2025/06/06/dont_let_china_dominate_the_hydrogen_future_1115028.html

"You don't need tariffs, you need a Revolution!" Oh, and good luck ditching your Petrodollar!

[Klarkashton]

1. It's too fucking late. We are stuck with.gasoline until

This whole cha cha collapses.

[Sailingdiver]

2. that ship has sailed

The US has the stupidest, anti-science administration they'd never understand.

Their major focus is to bring back the buggy whip industry.

And, sadly, they have a few million cult members who keep encouraging them.

[OKIsItJustMe]

3. Who Cares if China "Dominates" Clean Energy Technology?

(I don’t.)

I only care about saving the planet, and part of that effort is seeing that clean energy technologies are deployed ASAP. If China deploys them faster than we do, well, that’s embarrassing, but I’m OK with that. Due to our relative populations, China’s net production of CO₂ is currently somewhat higher than ours.

Our increased use of Solar PV is thanks (in large part) to Chinese advancement of low-cost PV. Annoying? Yes. Embarrassing? Yes.

Get over it.

[NNadir]

4. Bullshit.

One needs to be nearly or completely uneducated to call hydrogen a "clean technology," really, really, really, illiterate in fact.

From something called "the primary scientific literature:"

Subsidizing Grid-Based Electrolytic Hydrogen Will Increase Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Coal Dominated Power Systems Liqun Peng, Yang Guo, Shangwei Liu, Gang He, and Denise L. Mauzerall Environmental Science & Technology 2024 58 (12), 5187-5195

The text is clear enough.

From the introductory text:

... Currently, nearly all hydrogen in China is either produced directly from fossil fuels (55% from coal gasification and 14% from steam methane reforming (SMR)) or as a byproduct of petroleum refining (28%), with only 1% coming from water electrolysis. (2) Producing 1 kg of coal- or SMR-based hydrogen emits roughly 19 and 10 kg of CO2, respectively. (3) In 2020, hydrogen production from fossil fuels in China emitted approximately 322Tg of CO2, equivalent to 25% of total CO2 emissions from industrial processes, a number expected to rise with increasing hydrogen demand. (4) Industrial processes include production of nonmetallic mineral products, chemical, and metal products, as well as production and consumption of halocarbons and sulfur hexafluoride. (4)

.

The bold, italics and underlining is mine.

EST: Chinese Hydrogen Production Is Making Climate Change Worse.

The solar industry is useless, in China, and everywhere else on the planet and in any case has nothing to do with exergy destruction to make hydrogen, a thermodynamic nightmare.

It is hardly surprising though, to hear an antinuke cheering for coal, methane and petroleum though. It's par for the course.

[OKIsItJustMe]

5. Kindly keep your bullshit to yourself

I’m tired of your fiction.

I’m pro-nuke, I’m also pro-renewable. I’m especially pro-survival.

You are not pro-nuke. You are a zealot, and will not tolerate anyone who does not share your zealotry.

[NNadir]

6. I unkindly refuse to not call out bullshit when it's bullshit.

Bullshit can kill people. I have what's called a reference in a prominent journal showing that "green hydrogen" is, as it's been for half a century, bullshit. It makes things worse, not better.

If one wishes to criticize a journal article, one can, submit a comment in a paper to the journal. There are usually one or more such comments published in each issue of the main journals I read regularly.

However publication of a comment generally requires scientific standing.

The authors of the paper to which bullshitters object because it points out that "green hydrogen" in China is well, bullshit, are from Princeton University, and it seems that several are connected directly with China given their names.

The paper states quite clearly that Chinese hydrogen is making climate collapse worse, and thus the issue is ethical and thus my ethics behoove me to point it out. I do understand that bullshitters from the orange slime mold in the White House down to bloggers who also neither know nor value science are either ethically challenged or merely ethically indifferent.

Nevertheless when fossil fuels are consumed, especially when used to greenwash them with consumer toys, they kill people. This is well known, even if fossil fuel advertising and greenwashing types are into denial.

Have a nice day.